PAK vs ENG 2022: Nauman Ali traps Joe Root as ex-England captain registers third golden duck in Test cricket

Former England skipper and Test specialist Joe Root endured a blow as he was dismissed for a duck by Pakistan’s Nauman Ali. Babar Azam-led Pakistan have locked horns with the Three Lions in the third and final red-ball contest as the latter look for a series sweep in Karachi.

Opting to bat first, the hosts managed to score 304 with skipper Babar (78 runs) and Agha Salman (56 runs) scoring half-centuries. In response, England looked slightly rattled after losing their opener Zak Crawley early. However, the highlight during the innings was when spinner Nauman trapped Root for a golden duck.

Golden duck for Joe Root!
#PAKvENG #NumanAli 🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/PhTcyqcdig

— ERRO 404 💖🦋 (@error_koshur) December 18, 2022

On the third ball of the 14th over, Root nicked the spinner to Agha Salman in the slips. Interestingly, the left-arm spinner bamboozled Ben Duckett only on the previous ball and was close to scalping a hat-trick, however, Harry Brook eased the ball towards point on the hat-trick ball.

Notably, Root registered only his third golden duck in Test cricket. Earlier this year, he fell for a duck in the series decider against the West Indies held in Grenada.

England look for a 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan

England put up dominating performances in the first two red-ball matches and earned victories in Rawalpindi and Multan to take a 2-0 lead in the series. The Three Lions will aim for another result in Karachi to complete a whitewash away from home.

In any case, both Pakistan and England are out of contention for a spot in the summit clash of the ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle. Despite this, Babar Azam and Co. will look to put up a tough fight and obtain a win before concluding the series.