Pakistan Gain Control on Day 2 Against England

Pakistan set England a mammoth first innings target as they declared on 528-8 and left England to bat the final 15 overs of the Day. But England hold on to their wickets until close to gain a little confidence going into day 3.

It was another long day in the field for England as they failed to claim a wicket in either of the first two sessions and Pakistan racked up the runs. Malik continued his excellent form from yesterday, scoring a double century on route to his team declaring with 2 hours left in the day. England were put in to bat 15 overs from close of play but Alastair Cook and England’s new opener Moeen Ali held on to finish on 56-0.

England had hoped to start the day with some quick wickets, but far from that, Pakistan were able to put themselves into a commanding position. Malik and Shafiq put on a Pakistan record fifth wicket partnership of 248 as the hosts began to seize control of the test match. Before lunch Shafiq reached his century and shortly afterwards Malik reached 200. The English attack was struggling to find any movement or pace, especially new man Adil Rasheed who continued to struggle, finishing the day on 0-163 from 30 overs.

The partnership was finally broken in the 3rd session when Mark Wood trapped Shafiq LBW, dismissing him for 107 and leaving Pakistan on  499-5. Soon after, the hosts surpassed 500, but the wicket had given England real confidence and Ben Stokes took 3 late wickets to force the hosts into a declaration. Ahmed was dismissed for 2 after he misjudged a short ball from Stokes chipping it into the hands of Ian Bell for a simple catch which he wasn’t going to drop this time.

England finally got Malik in the next Stokes over as the combination of caught Bell, bowled Stokes struck again. This time, Malik slogged an attempted big hit into the arms of Bell at Mid-off who took a great catch. The Pakistani batsman was applauded off the field and congratulated by the England fielders for his score of 245, he was at the crease for over 10 hours and put in a brilliant knock. Stokes took his third wicket when Babar, who had clearly been given instructions to smash the ball around, hit a big shot into the hands of Anderson at deep square leg. This prompted Pakistan to declare on 528-8 leaving England to bat 15 overs before stumps on day 2. Ben Stokes finished the innings with very impressive figures of 4-57 from 17 overs after a strong evening session.

After a short break Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali came out to bat. The part-time spinner has always batted lower down the order but his consistent performances with the bat have earned him a call up to opener as England search for a permanent partner for Cook. They knew that if they wanted to stay in this match, England would need to reach the end of the day’s play with both their openers still at the crease, and they did exactly that. England ended the day on 56-0 but are still 472 runs behind with Pakistan in a commanding position.

England had 2 scares, the first came when Cook chopped a ball into the turf and as it bounced up heading for the stumps, he went to push it away with his hand, pulling away at the last second so as to not be given out “handled the ball”. To his relief the ball just missed the stumps and the Captain remained at the crease to put on a score of 39*. Moeen Ali survived an LBW appeal given not out on the field, Pakistan reviewed the decision but the call stood as the ball struck Ali’s pad outside the line of off stump. He finished the day on an unbeaten 15*.

So at the end of day 2, England trail by 472 runs with the hosts still in a very strong position, but a good start to their batting innings mean England go into tomorrow with the game far from over.

Come back tomorrow for the review of day 3…

SCORECARD (Close of Play- Day 2)

Pakistan (First Innings) 528-8 dec

Hafeez                 98 (170)                   lbw Stokes

S. M. Khan         2 (6)                          b Anderson

Malik                   245 (420)                c Bell b Stokes

Y. M. Khan         38 (57)                     c Cook b Broad

Niazi (c)              3 (17)                       c Buttler b Anderson

Shafiq                  107 (218)                lbw Wood

Ahmed                2 (7)                         c Bell b Stokes

Riaz                     2* (9)

Babar                  0 (4)                        c Anderson b Stokes

EXTRAS             26                           1nb, 4b, 21lb

FOW: 5-1, 173-2, 247-3, 251-4, 499-5, 514-6, 521-7, 523-8

 

England (First Innings) 56-0

Cook                   39* (62)

Ali                       15* (65)

EXTRAS           2                              1nb, 1w