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| - Pakistan paceman Naseem Shah dismissed in-form England batsman Ollie Pope but the home side somehow got through the rest of a difficult session without losing another wicket in the first Test at Old Trafford on Friday. The hosts were 159-5 at lunch on the third day, a deficit of 167 runs, in reply to Pakistan's first-innings 326 that featured opener Shan Masood's Test-best 156. Wicketkeeper Buttler was 38 not out and all-rounder Chris Woakes unbeaten on 15 after England resumed on 92-4, a significant improvement on their dire position of 12-3 on Thursday. Pope started the day on 46 not out and Buttler on 15, with no more specialist batsmen left to come. Buttler, with just one hundred from his previous 44 Tests, was under particular pressure to score runs after costly mistakes behind the stumps. He dropped Masood on 45 and then missed a chance to stump him on the same score -- errors that intensified a debate about whether the World Cup-winner should remain England's red-ball wicketkeeper. Pope completed a composed 81-ball fifty including six fours that followed the 22-year-old's 91 against the West Indies in last month's third Test at Old Trafford. Buttler was fortunate when, without having added to his score, his edge off teenage quick Naseem dropped short of Babar Azam at first slip. Both batsmen came through a probing first hour against accurate seam bowling, with wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan standing up to Mohammad Abbas in a bid to out further pressure on the fifth-wicket duo. But there was little Pope could do when, on 62, an 87 mph Naseem delivery climbed late off a good length to take the shoulder of his bat, with Shadab Khan holding a good low catch at gully. New batsman Woakes, still on nought, was then hit on the helmet third ball by a Naseem bouncer that meant he had to call for a change of headgear. jdg/jw
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