Twitter Reactions: Mohammad Rizwan stands tall with a gutsy half-century in Southampton

Stitching a gritty 53 off 109, Rizwan struck 5 fours in his knock and saved Pakistan from a collapse.

By Ameya Barve

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Mohammad Rizwan
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Mohammad Rizwan. (Photo by Stu Forster / POOL / AFP)

England kicked off their second Test against Pakistan at Southampton by delivering impressive performance with the ball on the first day. With James Anderson providing early breakthroughs, Pakistan were left reeling with the scoreboard reflecting 126/5 on Day 1 after rain played a spoilsport.

Anderson took 2/35 from 15 overs to move to within eight wickets of becoming the first pacer with 600 Test scalps. Coming on to Day 2, Pakistan suffered an early blow as Babar Azam was dismissed on 47 by another England veteran, Stuart Broad. What followed was Pakistan losing wickets in quick succession.

Yasir Shah was dismissed off an away-shaping Anderson delivery while Shaheen Afridi had to walk back after falling well short of his crease. Afridi was run out for a duck when Dom Sibley, running round from the slip cordon, threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end.

While the Pakistan wickets kept tumbling at one end, wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan ensured that they cross the 200-run mark by amassing his second Test half-century. Stitching a gritty 53 off 109, Rizwan struck 5 fours in his knock and saved Pakistan from a collapse. Rizwan was also given a lifeline on 14 when Jos Buttler dropped a difficult leg-side catch off Broad’s bowling.

Pakistan amassed 223/9 before bad light stopped the play

On the back of Rizwan’s half-century, Pakistan registered 215/8 on the board at Tea. Rizwan, in the process, became the first wicket-keeper batsman to score a half-century in the last 10 Tests of Pakistan in England. Twitter was flooded with congratulatory wishes for Rizwan as people heaped praise on his gritty innings. 28-year-old Rizwan enured more than 100 deliveries during his knock while staying at the crease on the second day.

Before Rizwan, Abid Ali had hogged the limelight on Day 1 after scoring 60 off 111 deliveries. Apart from Rizwan and Abid, no Pakistan batsman was able to tick the 50-run mark in his knock. Regarded as a modern-day great, Babar Azam also fell short of his half-century after being dismissed on 47 at the start of Day 2.

Pakistan amassed 223/9 before bad light stopped the day’s play. After suffering a defeat in the first Test, Azhar Ali and Co will be aiming to retaliate and put up a dominant show in Southampton.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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