England vs Pakistan: The visiting team made a record by scoring 657 runs in the first innings, Pakistan’s innings continued with 108 runs
Rawalpindi. The entire England team was dismissed for 657 in the first innings on the second day of the record first Test against Pakistan here on Friday, while the hosts were 108 for no loss till tea. Openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafiq have scored half-centuries till the break of the second session.
Shafiq is at the crease scoring 54 off 101 balls and Imam scoring 52 off 97 balls. But the Pakistani team is still trailing by 549 runs. Imam would have been dismissed early in the second session but wicket-keeper Ollie Pope was unable to catch him in the first over off left-arm spinner Jack Leach. There is no grass on the pitch due to which neither the fast bowlers nor the spinners are able to trouble the batsmen. But England insisted on playing spinners for most of the second session, with the experienced James Anderson bowling just one over after lunch while Ollie Robinson bowled two overs.
Imam and Shafiq batted confidently against Leach’s left-arm spin but looked aggressive against the off-spinner who conceded 44 runs in his 10 overs. Britain, playing their first Test in Pakistan in 17 years, set a world record 506 for four in 75 overs on the opening day with four of their top five batsmen scoring centuries. England added 151 runs on the second day at the same pace and made the biggest score in Test innings against Pakistan.
England’s previous best performance against Pakistan in a Test innings was 589 for eight in Manchester in 2016. Pakistani leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood set the record for the most runs conceded in a Test innings on debut, taking four for 235. Earlier this record was in the name of Sri Lankan off-spinner Suraj Randiv who took 2/222 against India in Colombo in 2010. Pakistan’s bowling problems have also increased as fast bowler Haris Rauf could not take the field on the second day due to discomfort in his leg.
Rauf had sprained his leg while fielding on the first day and the team medical staff is monitoring his injury. Jacques Crowley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and Harry Brooke scored centuries for England on the first day. The team continued to play in the same rhythm on the second day as well. Captain Ben Stokes, who started at 34, was dismissed for 41, while Brook, who was on 101, scored 27 runs in one over from Mahmood, including a six off a reverse shot. He scored 153 runs in 116 balls which included 19 fours and five sixes.
