Ben Duckett conceded Pakistan "bowled so well" and "were right at" England during the second day of the second Test in Multan.

Duckett top-scored for the tourists, with a knock of 114 giving him his fourth Test century.

However, it was overshadowed by Pakistan's spin bowlers – particularly Sajid Khan, who ended the day with an impressive 4-86.

After claiming Ollie Pope early on, Sajid also struck out Duckett, Joe Root and Harry Brook, while Noman Ali took Ben Stokes as Pakistan picked up four wickets in the space of just three overs.

England finished the day at 239-6 – trailing their opponents by 127 runs – and Duckett could only salute the hosts' impressive bowling.

"Obviously, I'm happy with how I played," he told Sky Sports. "It would be nice to be going back out there tomorrow, maybe a couple of wickets less, but credit to them, I think they bowled so well throughout our whole innings.

"I felt like that's a period where you can step off and get some runs at the end of the day, but they didn't want to make it easy for us.

Stumps on Day 2

A day to remember for Ben Duckettpic.twitter.com/ggrN8BQ7Dr

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) October 16, 2024

"I think they did [bowl slower] to me, knowing I was going to sweep a lot more. We thought the new ball was going to be the hardest phase, but looking back, that was when it was at its truest and sweeping was a lot easier.

"When that ball becomes a lot softer, it doesn't travel as far off the bat, and you're sweeping for two rather than four and the runs come a lot tougher.

"I think they bowled well, they were right at us until the end of the day, and got their rewards late on."

"We can see it's spinning, and I always think in situations like this, we can win that first hour tomorrow, get as close as we can to their score and then make it a one-innings match."