Pakistan use patio heaters to prepare pitch for third Test

After flourishing on a tired, cracked pitch in the second Test, Pakistan are employing every method at their disposal to get the Rawalpindi surface in a similar state for the deciding match starting on Thursday - with the aid of a pair of giant windbreaks, two outsized fans and six patio heaters.

- Simon Burnton

The fans were used before the second Test to accelerate the deterioration of the pitch in Multan, with the intention of creating a surface that would offer Pakistan's spinners maximum turn and grip. The approach proved so successful that two of them, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, took all 20 English wickets as the home side won by 152 runs to level the series, revelling in conditions that Ben Stokes, the England captain, called "pretty extreme”.