ENG v PAK, 3rd Test, Day 1 Review: Sohail Khan puts Pakistan ahead

Making his first appearance in the series, Sohail Khan made a mark for himself with a five-wicket haul that saw Pakistan bowl out England on the first day of the match. In spite of some decent contributions with the bat from the likes of Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali, England still could not get to the psychological total pf 300. While Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali made the much-needed inroads for the visitors, the rest of the bowlers in the form of Mohammad Amir and others made their way into the wickets tally shortly after. At the end of Day One, it would seem as though Pakistan has their noses in front.

Having won the toss, Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq decided to invite his counterpart Alastair Cook to have a bat first. The innings got off to somewhat of a solid start when Cook and his opening partner Alex Hales began to negotiate the reformed Pakistan bowling attack with much ease. However, disaster struck when Hales, clearly not aware of his off-stump played down the wrong line and nicked one back to the keeper. Sohail Khan, making a comeback to international cricket after a long hiatus, soon removed Joe Root with the latter failing to trouble the scorers.

The next wicket, in the context of what Misbah-ul-Haq had said in the pre-match presser was perhaps the biggest one of them all. This time, it was England skipper Alastair Cook who was made to depart the scene following a peach of a delivery from Rahat Ali. Although Cook seemed as though he wanted to go in with a review, sanity prevailed as Cook made his way back to the dressing room.

James Vince and Gary Ballance began to play the Pakistan bowling with more patience compared to the ones showcased by their predecessors. They began to express themselves before disaster struck once again. Although James Vince had been given chance after chance, one of his frailties with the bat was well-documented when a thick outside-edge from his bat found it’s way to Younis Khan at second skip and Sohail Khan had his third wicket of the match. Jonny Bairstow for some reason, failed to recapture his form from the Sri Lanka series as he fell for 12, leaving the home side in a spot of bother.

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However, Ballance and Moeen Ali notched up 70 and 63 respectively as they went on to erase the blues the English batsmen were facing and brought them into a zone of safety as far as their batting was concerned. They added supremely valuable runs for England as it now seemed as though England would be well able to bat into Day 2 as well. However, it was the brilliance of Sohail Khan as well as some help from the off-color Yasir Shah that helped remove the two batsmen as Pakistan came roaring back into the match.

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Despite some quick runs, the Brits could not manage any longer as they were eventually bowled out for 297, thus bringing an end to the first day’s play.

Brief Scores:

England, 1st innings: 297 all out (Ballance 70; Sohail Khan 5/96)