(ESPNCRICINFO) – Seam duo Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Ali raised Pakistan’s hopes from the gutter of a dire start to the series before fresh England pairing Jamie Smith and Jordan Cox restored the hosts to parity on a weather-hit opening day in the second Test at Lord’s.
Ali turned the nip-backer into a work of art to account for Harry Brook, England’s leading run-scorer in an innings victory in the first Test, Smith, the top-scorer of this innings, and tailender Ollie Robinson.
That was after Abbas had run through the top order of Emilio Gay, Ben Duckett and Joe Root as the hosts slumped to 36 for 3. He returned to remove Jofra Archer shortly before bad light stopped play with the tourists needing just one more wicket but most certainly content to come back for it on Friday if it meant not battling dim conditions with the bat.
Cox, batting at No. 3 in just his third Test, scored a disciplined half-century, sharing a crucial 67-run stand for the sixth wicket with Smith after making starts with Brook and Dan Lawrence, Smith’s 61 proving crucial in digging England out of a hole, which had deepened to 77 for 4.
Pakistan’s performance shone brighter for their defeat by an innings and 103 runs at Headintley, but they were considerably improved with the ball and in the field – despite a few lapses.
Mohammad Rizwan had barely hit the ground, completely horizontal at full stretch, when he raised his right glove in celebration at catching Gay down the leg side in the fifth over.
At the other end, Abbas was delighted, and there was more where that came from. Just 10 balls later, Abbas claimed his 900th first-class wicket, convincing his captain, Babar Azam, to review when Duckett was adjudged not out lbw and vindicated when the ball-tracking showed it was hitting the top of off stump. After predictably opting to bowl under heavy skies after a rain-delayed start, Pakistan had England 26 for 2.
Pakistan’s fielding wasn’t flawless. A chance went down in the slips off Root and there was another fumble in the cordon when one that didn’t carry still cost them a needless run to Cox. But, within moments, Abbas had his third, rapping the back pad of Root, who hadn’t looked settled through his 13-ball stay.
Abbas, who had bowled with decent economy but little impact in Leeds, had expertly manipulated the conditions overhead and under foot at Lord’s, extracting plenty of seam movement, all the while nailing his lines and lengths, so that by lunch he had 3 for 34.
However, it was his seam-bowling partner, Ali, who produced the most eye-catching dismissal of the morning session with a gem that jagged back hard through Brook’s wave at it and crashed into the stumps.
With bright sunshine beaming down on Lord’s midway through second session, left-arm spinner Ali Usman, who took a bittersweet five-for in the first Test, kept a lid on the Cox-Lawrence partnership. He conceded just two runs in his first three overs getting the ball to grip and turn from a probing line and length as the England run rate fell below four an over.
But it was a mix-up between the wickets that broke their stand of 43. Shan Masood, who had dropped a sitter when Lawrence was on 10, swooped at midwicket when the same batter prodded an Usman delivery away and sprinted down the pitch only to be sent back by Cox as Masood fired the ball in to keeper Rizwan with loads of time to spare.
Cox went on to his second half-century in as many Test innings with back-to-back fours off Usman, bookended by boundaries for new batter Smith as the spinner’s precision waned. So too did Rizwan’s when he misjudged what should have been a simple catch as Smith edged Ali behind.
Smith had come into the match under some pressure amid a dearth of runs over the second half of his still relatively new Test career. But scoring came with ease upon his arrival at the crease as he and Cox added 60 runs together off 77 balls before tea.
