A wonderful hundred by the Pakistan captain, 73 by Asad Shafiq guided Pakistan to a competitive score on the first day of the series.

By Abdullah Ansari (14th July, 2016)

Toss: Pakistan won the toss, Misbah-ul-Haq chose to bat first.

Teams

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali.

England: AN Cook (c), AD Hales, JE Root, JM Vince, GS Ballance, JM Bairstow (wk), MM Ali, CR Woakes, SCJ Broad, JT Ball, ST Finn.

First session

Mohammad Hafeez and Shan Masood opened the innings after Misbah-ul-Haq opted to bat first on a brilliant day in London. The openers survived a couple of close calls initially, with Stuart Broad and Jake Ball struggling to get much swing. However, first change bowler Woakes made the breakthrough when Shan Masood nicked off to a short of a length delivery after making just 7 off 29 deliveries.

Mohammad Hafeez continued on his merry way, caressing a few boundaries though Azhar Ali struggled to get going. However, the former fell soon to a shortish delivery from Woakes which he tried to pull, getting a top edge which was caught by the wicketkeeper. He made 40 off 59 balls.

Younis Khan joined Azhar Ali at the crease and got busy soon as he aimed to rotate strike frequently. Pakistan went into the lunch break at 76/2.

Second session

The second session started disastrously for Pakistan, as Azhar Ali was dismissed in the second over. Jake Ball fired in a yorker towards his leg stump, and Azhar fell over trying to defend; he could not get bat to it. It looked like it might be headed down the leg-side, thus the batsman opted to review, but it was to no avail as the ball was clipped the stumps. He made 7 off 43 balls.

The captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, joined veteran Younis Khan in the middle and began in his usual sedate manner. However, he soon got going and overtook Younis Khan. Just as the partnership was beginning to look threatening, Younis flicked the ball uppishly on the leg-side off Broad, and was caught after making 33, leaving Pakistan in a tight spot at 134/4.

Misbah continued in the same manner, getting runs at a decent pace, ably assisted by Asad Shafiq as Pakistan went to tea at 158/4.

Third session

Pakistan began the third session in a calm manner, getting runs at a regular pace as Misbah soon reached his fifty. When Steve Finn came on, he was taken for runs due to an inconsistent line and length. Moeen Ali came on and was duly dispatched as well, with Asad Shafiq getting a few elegant boundaries away. Misbah continued solidly, putting away the bowlers expertly when they strayed and showing great discipline when they bowled consistently.

When Moeen Ali came back for another spell, Misbah took him for 4 fours in an over, disrupting Cook's plans completely as England struggled with the old ball. He soon reached a superb hundred, to a huge round of applause by the esteemed Lord's crowd. Misbah even found time to celebrate with 10 press-ups, possibly as a gesture to the team's recent training at an army camp as he became the oldest Test centurion in 82 years.

England took the new ball as soon as it was available and Asad Shafiq continued in the same manner, caressing a few boundaries. However, he fell to Chris Woakes who got his third wicket of the day. Shafiq tried to leave a good length ball outside the off-stump, however, he was too late to withdraw his bat and ended up edging behind for an impressive 73. Rahat Ali came out as nightwatchman, getting dismissed on the last ball of the day as Pakistan finished at 282/6.

Summary: A good day for Pakistan. It looked like it might be a good one for England at one point after Mohammad Hafeez and Younis Khan failed to carry on from their starts, but Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq displayed great poise and control, barring the occasional hiccups to guide Pakistan to a fairly strong total at the end of Day 1. Shafiq's wicket will have soured the end a bit for Pakistan as he was looking exceptionally good, but with Misbah still there and Sarfraz Ahmed to come, Pakistan will hope to get somewhere close to 400.

Fall of wickets:

1-38 (Shan Masood, 12.1 ov)
2-51 (Mohammad Hafeez, 16.4 ov)
3-77 (Azhar Ali, 27.4 ov)
4-134 (Younis Khan, 43.5 ov)
5-282 (Asad Shafiq, 84.2 ov)
6-282 (Rahat Ali, 86.6 ov)

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