#ENGvPAK Day 1: Recess for England, distress for Pakistan
Post a dramatic duel in Manchester, the caravan had moved to Southampton, where the day was fought between three teams – England, Pakistan, and Rain. The raining lords played their cards while test cricket danced during the intervals.
Pakistan’s decision to bat first was reasonable given the hot weather and England’s vulnerability to a heavy scoreboard. The visitors showed some confidence in Fawad Alam, who was asked to play after missing 88 tests. The last time he featured in the playing eleven (2009), Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steven Smith, and Kane Williamson weren’t test cricketers. Apart from a forced inclusion of Zak Crawley (in the absence of Ben Stokes), the home team opted for a much versatile option – Sam Curran in for Jofra Archer.
As one would expect, the Broad-Anderson duo asked some serious questions from the word go. James Anderson, who had a dull first match, got the better of in-form Shan Masood with an old-school in-swinger that hit the opener’s pad right in front of the wickets. The threat continued with Stuart Broad moving the ball in the air and shaping it through the seam until England’s silliness in slips rubbed it off. An edge of luck from Abid Ali’s bat flew to Dominic Sibley’s left and burst through his fingers.
Not much later, another episode got featured in the hosts’ slip-cordon debacles as Rory Burns dropped Abid Ali on 21 off Chris Woakes’ bowling. Joe Root must really be missing Ben Stokes after the popular drops. Thereafter, to add salt to the injury, Azhar Ali and Abid Ali added a 50+ run-stand before the end of a tricky morning session.
Soon after the resumption of the post-lunch session, Azhar Ali flirted with an Anderson-delivery and nicked it off towards the second slip. This time, the hosts got the monkey off their backs by hanging on to it. The Pakistani skipper didn’t look comfortable anytime during his stand and couldn’t score more than 20 runs (only if he could have borrowed some luck from his partner). The right-handed batsman last scored 50+ runs away from home (UAE/Pakistan) 2 years ago in May 2018. Moreover, he has been dismissed 8 times to James Anderson, 6 times to Stuart Broad, and 5 times to Chris Woakes during his Asia-rich test career.
It was then time for the rain gods to hover over the stadium on their dark cloud-chariots. The play was interrupted after 34 overs of hard ball with Abid Ali one away from a half-century. One thing you would like about England is that once the rain has stopped, you don't have to wait long for live action.
Once the action was live, England's lucky-charm, Sam Curran, sent off Abid Ali with an away-angler just outside off. He couldn't control the extra bounce and edged it to second slip. All eyes had now moved on to Pakistan's answer to their limited batting resources - Babar Mighty Azam. The right-handed batsman has scored a fifty-plus score in each of the last six tests he had played and has already registered four tons in the test championship.
All of the first-session hard-work slid down the gutter for the visitors within the next 5 overs as Asad Shafiq and Fawad Alam were dismissed cheaply by Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes respectively. Not a happy come-back for Alam, who walked off without contributing to the scoreboard.
Rain let Pakistan breathe a sigh of relief as they were under the pump by the English pacemen. After an hour-long wait and dark skies circling around, the officials pulled down curtains to the day.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will continue to wrestle the difficult conditions tomorrow and one of them would need to counter-attack and play a long innings. This pitch has everything for the pacers - something Pakistan would be cherishing. Merely 46 overs were bowled during the day but the ball moved right from dawn to dusk. The first session tomorrow morning would say a lot about this test match. Also, rain has been predicted on all the remaining days. Well, you know for sure that test cricket in England never bores you off.
(Images' source - Twitter)