Watch: Nauman Ali dismisses Joe Root for a golden duck in the Pakistan vs England third Test

England and Pakistan are locking horns in the third Test match at National Stadium, Karachi. Having an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, England bundled out Pakistan for 304 on Day 1. Pakistan came into Day 2 desperate to give a strong reply to England with the ball and spinner Nauman Ali didn’t disappoint his captain as he dismissed Ben Duckett and Joe Root on consecutive deliveries in the first session.

On the third ball of the 14th over, Root nicked Ali to Agha Salman in the first slip and got dismissed on a golden duck. Interestingly, the left-arm spinner trapped Ben Duckett on the previous ball and was close to claiming a hat-trick. However, Harry Brook eased the ball towards point on the hat-trick ball.

Watch the dismissals here:

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

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

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.

After starting the year on a high, scoring five Test hundreds in the first seven months, Root has struggled in the last few innings in Test Cricket. He has been able to surpass the 50-run mark just once in the last nine innings during the first Test of the ongoing series against Pakistan.

The 31-year-old had a phenomenal year with the bat in 2021 where he scored 1708 runs at an average of 61. He carried his sensational form into this year as well as he has 1098 runs to his name in 2022 at an average of 45.75.

England eyeing a 3-0 whitewash in the series

England put up dominating performances in the first two Tests 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 in the historic series.

In any case, both Pakistan and England are out of contention for a spot in the final of the 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.