Rain delays frustrate England on the first day of the Test- England vs Pakistan, Test 2, Day 1
England entered the second Test 1-0 up in the series after a thrilling win in the first Test at Old Trafford.
Pakistan won the toss in the second Test and put themselves into bat much like they did in the first Test in Manchester. Both teams made changes to their sides for the second test. The visitors brought in Fawad Alam who is playing his first Test in eleven years.
The hosts, England, were forced into one change and elected for the other. Ben Stokes had to leave the bubble and return to New Zealand for family reasons. Zak Crawley came back into the side as Stokes’ replacement, Crawley will bat at number three and Root will slide down into his more familiar role of number four. The other change is Sam Curran in for Jofra Archer. With the bowling attack being Anderson, Broad, Woakes, Curran and Bess.
England got off to the best possible start in this Test match. Anderson in his second over of the day trapped Masood on the crease. An in swinger hit the left hander on the pads and he was given out lbw. Masood who made 156 in the first Test was out plumb lbw for 1, his wicket was massive for England as Masood was the crutch of Pakistan’s first innings in the first Test.
The Pakistan pair of Azhar Ali and Abid Ali built a good partnership which surpassed 50 runs. The pair survived numerous scares with the England slip cordon dropping chances, but the pair battled on into the afternoon session.
The England slip cordon finally took one of the chances that was presented to them. Anderson bowled a full-length delivery that was moving slightly away from the Pakistan captain Azhar Ali, he edged the ball with the catch being taken by Rory Burns. England dismissed the Pakistan Captain for 20 and reduced Pakistan to 78-2.
Rain delayed the afternoon session. The covers came on and there was a significant dent to play in the afternoon with play not resuming until four o’clock in the afternoon.
When play resumed the England bowlers began to probe the Pakistan batting line-up. Curran dismissed Abid Ali for 60. Curran angled in a shorter ball and found the outside edge of Ali’s bat. The ball was caught in the slip cordon by Burns. Ali was the only batsman in the Pakistan line-up that looked like he could go on and make a big score and so his wicket was a major plus in for England.
Stuart Broad then got the wicket of Ashad Shafiq with a similar delivery. The Nottinghamshire bowler pitched up the ball and found the outside edge of the Pakistan batsman and the ball was once again caught in the slip cordon by Dom Sibley. The slip cordon of England had improved throughout the day since the morning session in which they were subpar by their high standards.
Woakes soon got his name in the wicket column after he trapped Fawad Alam on the crease. The ball hit Awad’s pads, the umpires gave the Pakistan batsman not out. But upon a clever review from Root, the ball was seen hitting the middle of middle stump and the decision was reversed. Awad was out for 0 on his return to Test cricket after eleven years.
The rain then started to come down again and the covers came back on. Play was delayed for the third time in the day.
The rain eventually stopped but bad light took its place and there was still no cricket. Bad light eventually put an end to the days play. Pakistan finished on 126-5 and were lucky with the bad weather. In the morning session England were firmly on top and threatening to take wickets, even though they were not forthcoming. The rain delay to preceded lunch stopped play at the right time for the visitors.
Despite frustration for England, they can be pleased with the days play. The hosts managed to take key wickets of key batsman. They also managed to keep large partnerships to a minimum meaning that they pegged back Pakistan in their first innings.
Both England and Pakistan will look to push on early in the day on the second day and make up for lost time.
