MANCHESTER – Pakistan were 139-2 at the end of the opening day of the first Test. Babar Azam and Shan Masood have piled-up of 96-run partnership for the third wicket.
Babar was unbeaten 69 runs with the help of nine boundaries. Opening batsman Shan Masood was also looking in good nick. He is closing on another Test half-century as he was not out 46.
Pakistan started the afternoon session at 53-2 with Babar and Shan batting at 27 and four respectively.
The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first. They managed to struggle earlier with the pace combination of James Anderson and Stuart Broad getting the ball to swing.
Shan’s opening partner Abid Ali survived early on as he edged the ball to slips but it was just out of Rory Burns’ reach. He was finally dismissed in the 16th over as he was knocked over by Jofra Archer for 16.
Test skipper Azhar Ali headed for the pavilion shortly as he was trapped leg-before by pacer Chris Woakes for naught.
England are heading into the Pakistan series after claiming a 2-1 series win over the West Indies. The side lost the first Test but made a remarkable recovery in the following games to take the series home.
Pakistan, on the other hand, have not played a single international fixture since February this year due to the coronavirus.
Their two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which was to be completed following this year’s edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), was halted halfway. Azhar Ali’s side had a 1-0 lead after winning the series-opener.
The match will begin at 3pm Pakistan Standard Time (PST).
Teams:
England XI: Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Joe Root (captain), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer and James Anderson.
Pakistan XI: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Abbas and Naseem Shah.-Agencies
