Eng v Pak, 1st Test, Day 2 Review: Wickets tumble as result hangs in the balance

Six Pakistan wickets fell on Day 1 of the First ENG v PAK Test at Lords. However, the fact that 11 wickets fell on Day 2 proved that the Lords wicket had indeed lived up to its predicted expectations. Apart from the numerous records broken, Day 2 saw two feisty individuals get their names up on the prestigious honors board at Lords. Chris Woakes put the cherry on the cake as he added two more scalps to his four while Yasir Shah, the 30-year old Pakistan leg-spinner concluded the day with 5 wickets to his name.

While Day 1 saw Misbah-ul-Haq unbeaten on 110, Day 2 was perhaps a tad bit more disappointing compared to the previous days’ proceedings. Sarfraz Ahmed, the newly appointed T20I skipper for Pakistan underlined his credentials with the bat as he made his way to a quick-fire 25. However, similar to the 42-year old skipper’s innings, the Pakistan tail as well as Sarfraz’s wickets were short lived. They were soon bowled out for 339, adding a mere 57 runs to their overnight score.

The England first innings began rather poorly as Alex Hales’ gentle prod found its way into the safe grasp of Azhar Ali at third slip. It seemed as though the Brits were thrown into a crisis as early as the second over as Joe Root, perhaps the crisis man made his way out to join his skipper. To his credit, Alastair Cook began to face the bowling in a surprisingly aggressive manner. The England skipper raced away to his half-century as Joe Root played the Pakistan bowling attack with the respect it perhaps deserved.

The duo managed to stitch a 110 run partnership as the home team looked destined to take a much-anticipated lead in the first innings. However, disaster struck once more in the form of the wily Yasir Shah. The 30-year old pulled out perhaps one of the oldest tricks in leg-spin – beat the batsman in the flight. Thus, one of the cricket’s riskiest shots saw Root become the umpteenth batsman to be denied a half-century by just 2 runs.

The wicket of Joe Root brought an unprecedented spring in the step of Yasir Shah. The highly rated leggie quickly removed James Vince for 16 as the latter continued his poor run with the bat in Tests. Garry Ballance too lost his wicket soon after as his comeback was cut short rather abruptly.

Mohammad Amir, who had been off the pace for a while soon marked his comeback with an important wicket. The 240year old bowled a peach of a delivery to Alastair Cook as the latter eventually chopped onto his own stumps, missing out on yet another Test match century. Yasir Shah secured his spot on the honors board after dismissing Moeen Ali for 23.Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad led a fightback with both batsmen remaining unbeaten at the end of the day’s play.

Brief Scores

Pakistan 1st Innings: 339 all out (Misbah-ul-Haq 114; Chris Woakes 6/70)

England 1st Innings: 253/7 (Alastair Cook 81; Yasir Shah 5/64)