John Higgins v Shaun Murphy live: Latest score from compelling World Snooker Championship semi-final

Wu gets back in and builds his lead to 78-51 but then misses the final green. Allen trails by 27 points with only 25 left on the table but he’s playing on for snookers.

We might be about to challenge the longest frame in Crucible history, which was 85 minutes and 22 seconds between Mark Selby and Yan Bingtao in the second round of the 2022 World Championship.

We’re about to reach the 82-minute mark…

Life for Mark Allen? A poor safety shot from Wu Yize gives the Northern Irishman a look at the pot but he misses it. HOWEVER, Wu then tries a thin safety and misses the red entirely…

This will be the final frame of the session by the way (two short of the scheduled amount) – it’s reached the 75-minute mark and counting. And there’s still plenty of life left in it…

Wu now leads 61-51 with two reds still left

Wu Yize makes a break of 41 before running out of position and rolling up behind the blue to snooker Mark Allen. The Chinese star leads 61-47 but two reds are still on the table.

“This is the dark side of snooker, this is,” grumbles seven-time world champions Stephen Hendry in the commentary box. But…

WE HAVE A RESOLUTION! Forced by the referee to get things moving, Mark Allen decides to pot the black, hoping that the reds will block each other and none will pot.

He gives away the seven penalty point but Wu Yize DOES have a pot on. Knocks in one of the reds, screws back and is on the black (which is now on its spot).

A golden chance to clear up and win the frame. Allen looks frustrated

We finally have some movement, over an hour into this frame.

Rob Spencer, who will referee the final and is one of the tournament directors, comes out to have a word with referee Marcel Eckhardt.

Eckhardt then addresses both players and says they’ll have three shots each to resolve this situation or he’ll order a re-rack.

Mark Allen is not happy, unsurprisingly given his healthy lead in the frame but there we go.

“Come on ref, you’ve got to do something here,” says John Parrott on commentary. Fans are cheering every shot like it’s a football match. I can’t remember this ever happening at the Crucible before. This is bizarre…

We are no closer to ending this extraordinary frame. Wu and Allen are just tapping reds around. Surely the referee needs to call a re-rack?

Let me bring you up to speed with the other semi-final between Wu Yize and Mark Allen. Allen has been sensational in this afternoon session, winning five successive frames to go from 6-2 down to 7-2 up – and he recorded the highest break at the Crucible this year with a stunning 145 clearance en route.

However, the pair are now locked in an almighty scrap – a ball hasn’t been potted for 25 minutes! – with the black blocking the right corner pocket which all eight reds are clustered near.

This frame might never end…

Higgins was particularly impressive in this morning’s exchanges, with the 51-year-old bidding to become the oldest world champion in snooker history, as he chases his fifth world title.

He notched breaks of 72, 57 and 86 to open up a two-frame advantage, but Murphy – the 2005 world champion who is enjoying an impressive season – rallied to bring the scores level at 8-8 in their best-of-33 encounter. The pair will play eight more frames this evening before finishing their battle on Saturday.