The 35th National Games were declared open amid fanfare at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on Saturday.

Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who served as the chief guest, formally inaugurated the multi-sport spectacle.

Sindh athletes Mahoor Fatima and Mohammad Zubair administered the athletes’ oath, after which the Games’ cauldron was lit by Pakistan’s Olympic gold medallist Arshad Nadeem, hockey great Islahuddin Siddique, and South Asian Games gold medallist Naseem Hameed.

An estimated 11,000 athletes will feature in the Games, which will be contested across multiple venues in the metropolis.

“I want to welcome you all — welcome, welcome to Karachi,” Bilawal said in his address. “I hope all the people coming from all regions will enjoy the National Games. You will all compete and, [God willing], this beginning will help create a positive atmosphere for Pakistan and for the youth of this province.

“The passion you show represents the people of Pakistan, and our youth is our future. The children standing before me today will, tomorrow, bring medals home for Pakistan — and then we will remember that it all started here.”

Athletes were made to wait since before noon for their marchpast, which finally began after the dignitaries had completed their speeches. The participants waved to the cameras as they stepped onto the track, their excitement evident.

More to follow.

Mitchell Starc made a late-career bid for all-rounder status when he scored a half-century and grabbed two wickets under the Gabba floodlights to push Australia to the brink of victory at the close of day three of the second Ashes Test on Saturday.

Tailender Starc made 77 in a sparkling 141-ball knock to help Australia to a 177-run lead before working his magic with the pink ball as England staggered to 134 for six at stumps, still 43 runs short of making Australia bat again.

Ben Stokes and Will Jacks were both four not out, tasked with restoring a shred of dignity to an England side who were ineffective with the ball and foolhardy with the bat.

England have had many lows on Australian soil since their last Test win in Sydney 15 years ago but day three at the Gabba may rival them for infamy.

They started the day with genuine hope of at least containing Australia, who had a 44-run lead with four wickets in hand.

They finished it demoralised, with Australia putting 511 on the board before scything through their batting order like a knife through warm butter.

Stokes’s team are now staring at a 2-0 series deficit that should prove impossible to turn around.

Only one team in the history of Test cricket has ever come back from 2-0 down to win a series — Don Bradman’s Australia in the 1936/37 Ashes.

Michael Neser and Scott Boland joined Starc with two wickets apiece as England lost 6-89 in a calamitous night session in front of a crowd of 35,574.

The collapse came after openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had raced out of the gates with an unbroken 45-run partnership in six overs to the dinner break.

“Great fun. We thought the ball was going to come alive in the night session and we just wanted to put as many balls as we could in the right areas. We bowled pretty well,” said Boland, who bowled Duckett (15) and had Harry Brook (15) caught behind.

Neser missed a tough caught-and-bowled chance to remove Duckett but got the next two to dismiss Crawley (44) and Ollie Pope (26), both batters falling with loose drives.

Joe Root (15) was also culpable, driving away from the body to send a nick flying to wicketkeeper Alex Carey off the bowling of Starc, who later had Jamie Smith caught behind for four.

Starc now has 18 wickets in two Tests of the series.

Earlier, though, it was all about the big left-arm quick’s batting.

He grabbed his 11th Test fifty and fifth against England to go with his six first-innings wickets.

Starc smashed 13 fours and combined with tailender Boland (21 not out) in a record 75-run partnership for the ninth wicket at the Gabba.

When Starc finally holed out with a miscued slog, Brendan Doggett (13) and Boland soaked up another seven overs before Doggett mercifully nicked the spin of all-rounder Jacks to wrap up the innings.

Australia put on 133 for the day after resuming on 378 for six, denying England any chance of batting during safer daylight hours.

Carey, dropped twice on day two, ended up scoring 63, one of five half-centuries in Australia’s first innings.

Seamer Brydon Carse finished with 4-152 for England, but conceded more than five runs an over. Stokes was nearly as expensive for this three wickets.

As to England’s shot selection, coach Marcus Trescothick was left to shield England’s batters in post-match interviews.

“We get it right sometimes and when we do we dominate opposition,” he said.

“And when we don’t…. we play bad shots and that gets highlighted. It is what it is. You’ve got to have some way of trying to play the game.”

Justin Greaves produced an epic unbeaten 202 in a remarkable fourth innings display to help West Indies thwart an injury-depleted New Zealand attack and snatch a thrilling draw in the opening Test in Christchurch on Saturday.

Chasing an improbable 531, West Indies, who were bundled out for 167 in their first innings, displayed remarkable character to reach 457-6, the second highest fourth-innings total in Test match history, when players shook hands at Hagley Oval.

Player-of-the-match Greaves led their remarkable fightback first with a 196-run stand with Shai Hope (140) and then a 180-run partnership for the unbroken seventh wicket with Kemar Roach, who made 58 not out.

“Obviously, a Herculean effort by Justin Greaves,” West Indies captain Roston Chase said. “He’s someone that I grew up playing cricket with, so I’m very proud for this moment, for him, and obviously for Kemar Roach … He’s a modern day legend, and I’m happy for these guys, and happy that we could achieve what we did.”

Having set West Indies a mammoth victory target, New Zealand would have been justified in believing their victory was just a matter of time but they could not get the job done with their thin bowling resources.

Having lost the services of Nathan Smith (side strain) and Matt Henry (calf) through mid-match injuries, they relied heavily on the part-time spin of Michael Bracewell and Rachin Ravindra but it could not compensate for the absence of two frontline bowlers.

To make things worse, New Zealand ran out of reviews and could not challenge a couple of close calls that went against them on the final day.

After West Indies resumed on 212-4, New Zealand prised out two wickets in the morning session to stay in the hunt for a victory.

Jacob Duffy, who bowled 60 overs in the match, ended Hope’s stellar knock when he bounced out the batter, and Zak Foulkes dismissed Tevin Imlach for four.

Greaves and Roach batted resolutely to deny New Zealand any wicket in the second session, and continued their fightback after the tea break.

Greaves looked rock solid while Roach had an eventful stay at the other end, where the lower-order batter survived two dropped catches, one run out chance and a couple of strong lbw calls.

Greaves hit Duffy for a four to bring up his maiden Test double hundred.

“It was a Test match that had it all,” New Zealand captain Tom Latham said.

“It was a great Test match to be involved in, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the breakthroughs that we wanted to put some pressure on that lower order.

“When you have two of your seamers go down during a test match, it’s never ideal.”

The second Test is scheduled in Wellington from Tuesday.