PAK Vs ENG, 1st Test: England Debutant Carse Hopeful Of Closing Ground On Pakistan

Test debutant Carse took 2-74 but could not hold Pakistan back as the hosts scored 556 in their first innings.

It left England, shorn of opener Ben Duckett due to an injury, facing a daunting task. But despite Ollie Pope going for a duck in the second over of their chase, the tourists were steadied by the excellent Zak Crawley and Joe Root.

Crawley got to 64 from as many deliveries, while Root moved onto 32. He is now on 12,434 Test runs, meaning he is only 39 short of surpassing Alastair Cook (12,472) as England's all-time leading run scorer in the longest format.

With the pitch having been kind to batters so far, Carse believes England are well in contention.

"We spoke last night. To have them 328 for 4, I think if you had that score back home in England you're probably behind the game a bit," he said.

"We've scored nearly 100 there in 20 overs.

"If we could come here tomorrow and bat positively and put their score under pressure, let's see where we're at at the end of the day, with two days still to go."

Reflecting on his first innings as a Test bowler, Carse said: "It's been hard work and hard toil over the last two days. But I've thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and being out there with this group of lads.

"I've had loads of messages over the last two days, from friends and family, from people that have supported me over the last 10 years since I moved to England.

"A couple of the guys and Stokesy [Ben Stokes]?said to me after we fielded, 'Look Brydon, it's not going to get tougher than these first two days.' They promised!"

Carse also offered an update on Duckett, who sustained a thumb injury while fielding.

"Ben’s OK. He's just taken a knock," Carse said?via BBC Sport.?"He'll be assessed overnight and he'll be back batting tomorrow."