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Pakistan vs England day two: Hosts pile on the runs after tourists' mammoth 657

Pakistan pile on the runs as England made to toil after mammoth 657 - live reaction - AP/Anjum Naveed
Pakistan pile on the runs as England made to toil after mammoth 657 - live reaction - AP/Anjum Naveed

12:11 PM

Report

Stokes discovers life as captain is not always easy on 'pudding pitch'

By Nick Hoult

Ben Stokes - AP Photo/Anjum Navee
Ben Stokes - AP Photo/Anjum Navee

England call it a “day in the dirt” and this was hard, unrelenting graft that gives a taste of what is to come this winter on pudding pitches.

Ben Stokes flicked through the book of tricks: funky fields, kidology over reverse swing and a bit of chirp to the batsmen but none of it worked.

Just six wickets fell in the day – all of them England batsmen playing shots, and Pakistan responded well to their shellacking.

Stokes gave his debutant spinner Will Jacks a boost, turning to him after 10 overs of the innings, and continued to rally Jack Leach throughout encouraging him with the field up, but Pakistan did not buckle in the face of England’s 657 at 6.5 an over, reaching 181-0, just the small matter of 457 behind.

England should have made more – Brendon McCullum wanted 750 – but it was still their fifth highest total of all time, and second best overseas behind a timeless Test in Kingston in 1930, so we quibble if we criticise.

Harry Brook smashed 27 in one over – the best ever by an England batsman –and reverse hit a six into the stands that was the shot of the innings during a breathtaking 153 off 116 in only his second Test.

He is a special talent, and while winning will be hard at least England are building depth in their batting.

Harry Brook reverse sweeps for six - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
Harry Brook reverse sweeps for six - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

As they sped back down the empty Srinigar Highway – closed for the teams – that runs between Rawalpindi, a classic sub-continental city, and the sterile capital of Islamabad where they are staying, Stokes will have been happy with their effort but also aware of the true value of a specialist wicket-keeper.

For all the fancy field placings and clever tactics, none of it matters if you do not hold those oh-so rare chances in Pakistan.

Ollie Pope only found out half an hour before the start of the Test that he would bat at No 3 and keep wicket due to Ben Foakes failing to recover from illness.

He has done it before – filling in for Jos Buttler in Hamilton and for one innings in Sydney – but keeping in the sub-continent requires special skills, lightning reflexes standing up and rock solid concentration. It is a true test of a keeper.

The batsmen obscures the keeper’s view, and they can go long periods on their knees without taking the ball, so when a chance comes along it can catch the dozy out.

It was the first over after tea, so the mind may not have fully switched on, when Imam ul-Haq edged Leach behind and Pope missed it. Imam, on 11, was 90 by the close.

There was a half-chance as well for a stumping off Abdullah Shafique on 42 that Pope juggled, although Foakes would have been chuffed to have pulled it off. Keaton Jennings was hit full in the mid-riff at short leg by Shafique soon after but it needed huge luck to hold it.

Pope did almost take a blinder, Shafique strangled down the leg side off James Anderson on 54, but the ball bounced just short of his gloves, the wicket overturned by the third umpire.

Pope received a pat on the back from Stokes, while Anderson moaned at the umpire. Would Foakes have made it? Probably, but you can only expect so much from Pope.

England’s spinners were ineffective with little turn to play with and were not really able to build pressure with maidens.

Only one is a specialist – Leach – and he is short of bowling. Jacks has a lot to learn but has a nice high action, giving him loop and he turns the ball.

He had not bowled more than six overs in a spell before stepping up for Surrey this season and was picked for this tour on the back of a bowling average of 47. He has a long way to go but there is something to work with. Joe Root’s round-arm slingers did little and Liam Livingstone was off the field with a jarred knee, a worry.

Stokes kept the fields up – a short mid-on, leg slip and short leg for Jacks and when Anderson was striving for reverse he went for the ‘umbrella’ field of a short midwicket, silly mid-on, two short extra covers for the leading edge. It made no difference.

At least it is good practice. There will be little change in Multan and Karachi over the next couple of weeks. New Zealand beckons in February and the pitches there are lifeless too.

A Friday crowd wanted to see Pakistan bat but first they were entertained by Brook.

He added to the cascade of records with the most ever by an England player off a single over when he plundered the hapless Zehid Mahmood for 27. Mahmood conceded more on Test debut than anyone else in history – four for 235  at 7.12 an over, challenging the scoreboard operator to keep up.

Brook scored the fastest 150 for England beating Stokes’ record by 20 balls – getting there off 115 deliveries with some brutal strokeplay hitting 19 fours and five sixes before picking out deep square leg.

Stokes started his day with a six down the ground off Naseem Shah but was bowled by a slower ball in the same over. Ollie Robinson played his best innings since debut but if he can do it, so can top-class openers and in Shafique and Ul-Haq they have a pair who put on an unbeaten 252 in the last Test here.

Brook still thinks England will take 10 wickets. “If it keeps getting lower and lower and we keep bowling at the stumps there's no reason why we can't get them all out,” he said, channeling the optimism of youth.

He added: “I'm sure Stokesy will come up with a few plans.” They will have to be good ones. This is going to be a slog.


First Test, day two - as it happened


11:55 AM

CLOSE: PAK 181/0

Pakistan trail by 476 runs. Excellent response to England's four-session onslaught.I can't see England taking 20 wickets on a pitch as moribund as this with a Kookaburra ball.


11:53 AM

No, they take another reading

Just before the over starts, umpire Raza's meter proving decisive. Off go the players.


11:51 AM

The light meter giveth ...

Another over incoming.


11:51 AM

OVER 51: PAK 181/0 (Shafique 89 Imam 88)

Yes, one more. Dusk has fallen but the lights are on full blast. It's Leach. Imam defends three as Leach goes over and round to try to work an opening and then the left-hander flicks two off his pads. Two dot balls end the over and play for today ... or do they?


11:47 AM

OVER 50: PAK 179/0 (Shafique 89 Imam 88)

Maiden for Jacks. Very gloomy out there now. Will there be another over?


11:46 AM

OVER 49 PAK 179/0 (Shafique 89 Imam 88)

Imam shuffles down to Leach and dumps him over mid off for four. "He's toying with Leach here," says Michael Atherton. He's like a psycho cuckoo clock, Imam. Stays at home a lot then suddenly pops out to attack. Leach needs more tools away from England.


11:42 AM

OVER 48: PAK 175/0 (Shafique 89 Imam 84)

Jacks gives the ball plenty of flight and it almost helps him wheedle Imam out with one tossed up above the left-hander's eyeline invitingly outside off. This one does dip but Imam, committed to the stroke, just keeps going and his fast hands get him out of trouble to spear it over extra-cover for four.


11:40 AM

OVER 47: PAK 169/0 (Shafique 88 Imam 79)

Imam takes to the dancefloor and clobbers Leach over mid-on for four. Long on is wider, as England hope the turn into the left-hander will make him drag one. But so far he is hitting straight and does so again to thump an off-drive for four more. As Nasser Hussain says, brought up at Ciderabad, he hasn't developed the overspin that makes the ball drop alarmingly on the batsmen. Work to do.

Will Jacks is coming back on.

Imam - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Imam - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

11:34 AM

OVER 46: PAK 161/0 (Shafique 88 Imam 71)

After three balls of his third over, the first of which was cleaved for three, Stokes changes tack and pitches up but there is no swing and the batsman blocks it easily. Stokes decides to try a surprise bouncer if the fourth of the over could be a surprise and Shafique pulls it for four.


11:30 AM

OVER 45: PAK 153/0 (Shafique 81 Imam 70)

It's tea and toothpaste that the commentators are hawking during this Test in case you're interested, though Messrs Gower, Atherton and Hussain seem to have been excused marketing duties.

The batsmen milk a single apiece off Leach. The match enters its somnolent phase. A good match gives bat and ball an equal chance. Beautifully as these two are batting, following on in England's footsteps, both sets of top-order batsmen have had more challenging nets.


11:25 AM

OVER 44: PAK 151/0 (Shafique 80 Imam 69)

Stokes pounds in again with successive back of a length deliveries. Shafique gets out of the road of the first three and then rolls the wrists to pull a single. Imam does the same.

The light is starting to fade ... we may have only as many as 20 more minutes of the scheduled 70.


11:22 AM

OVER 43: PAK 149/0 (Shafique 79 Imam 68)

Leach starts with a pie, short, wide, a masochist begging chastisement. Shafique obliges, swatting a cut stroke for four. Leach gets it right thereafter but the release ball for the batsmen is always timetabled.


11:19 AM

OVER 42: PAK 144/0 (Shafique 74 Imam 68)

Shafique ducks one bouncer then goes up en pointe to tuck a single off his ribs. The next one doesn't get up as far, allowing Imam to swivel, pull, rroll his wrists and collar it for four.

Benjamin Stokes - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Benjamin Stokes - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

11:13 AM

OVER 41: PAK 139/0 (Shafique 73 Imam 64)

Imam hurries down the ground again and has a wipe that catches the bottom edge and squirts square on the legside. Shafique plays a forward defensive and then, next ball, as if the previous stroke entitled him to a dance, he trots down to torpedo a straight drive for six off Leach. The right-hander gets off strike with a carving cut stroke and Imam uses his feet again to swipe four over mid-off, plenty of toe again, which will give England some hope.

After a length warm up, Stokes is coming on with a field that suggests we.re going to get a chin symphony with fly slip, depp backward square and fine leg.


11:08 AM

OVER 40 PAK 127/0 (Shafique 66 Imam 59)

Maiden for Anderson to Shafique, working the ball on his trousers with Root joining in too for all their might. Anderson tries the yorker but Shafique reads it and chisels it out.


11:06 AM

OVER 39 PAK 127/0 (Shafique 66 Imam 59)

Leach rattles through his 13th over with a silly point, short mid-off and slip in for the right-handed Shafique who works against the turn to tickle two behind square and ends the over cutting the drag down for a single.


11:00 AM

OVER 38: PAK 124/0 (Shafique 63 Imam 59)

Having played in textbook fashion for all his impressive innings so far, Shafique walks across and skewers four through midwicket with Caribbean panache. After the right-hander chops two behind point and pulls a single off successive shorter balls, Anderson chews his ear off with a couple of choice words and a withering look.


10:56 AM

OVER 37: PAK 117/0 (Shafique 56 Imam 59)

Ahsan Raza, the umpire, almost has his clock cleaned by a brutal Imam straight drive off Leach. The portly fellow takes swift evasive action, as if playing musical bumps without the music, toppling safely out of harm's way at the last moment and hitting the deck about the same time as the ball crossed the rope.


10:53 AM

OVER 36: PAK 113/0 (Shafique 56 Imam 55)

Imam defends Anderson's first four balls and taps the next through mid-off for a tight single. The miserly Mr A is back to his Scrooge-like best.


10:51 AM

OVER 35: PAK 112/0 (Shafique 56 Imam 54)

Leach replaces Root after tea and has a short leg, slip and short mid-on for Imam who works a single through the legside. Leach comes round the wicket to Shafique and the right-hander uses the angle to whisk it through midwicket for two.

Jennings, on for the hamstrung Livingstone, wears a crisp Shafique clip that hits him in the solar plexus on the full at short leg off the middle of the bat. Nasser thinks he was trying to chest it down. Hmmm.

One thing Pope isn't doing is running through Foakes gamut of Leach boosting calls: 'Leachie', 'Leacher' and 'Leachie Boy' etc.


10:44 AM

OVER 34: PAK 109/0 (Shafique 54 Imam 53)

Anderson resumes, round the wicket to Imam, strays a touch too straight and the left-hander trims him off his pads for a single.

Anderson almost bagged Shafique off the bottom glove but I think Marais Erasmus, the third umpire, was right to overrule the soft signal, foreshortening or not. Anderson is definitely reversing it.


10:42 AM

Not out

Ball touched the ground before he scooped it with his little and ring fingers of the left hand. Great effort, though.


10:41 AM

Umpire review

Shafique c Pope b Anderson  Leg-side strangle? Was it a clean catch? Looked it but they're going o check. Soft signal is out.


10:23 AM

Nick Hoult's tea verdict

Such a great Test match for England but they are missing Ben Foakes, the keeper who was ruled out with sickness. Ollie Pope was a sub keeper in the Sydney Test when Buttler was injured, but that involves a lot of standing back to the pacers.

Here he is up to the stumps and that is a truest test of a keeper and where Foakes is magnificent; a vital player in a part of the world where chances are few. Pope missed one in Leach’s first over, an edge off Imam Ul-Haq on 11. He also missed a half chance for a stumping of Abdullah Shafique on 42, although even Foakes would have been chuffed to have managed it.

The spinners have posed a bit more threat than Pakistan’s by bowling quicker but not much. There is simply no life in this pitch, it is a road that has been rolled to death, both openers have fifties, Pakistan cruising.

Jacks, who is hoping to emulate Moeen Ali and make the transition from batsman to spinner, bowled a bit too full but before this summer he had not bowled more than six overs in a spell. He is learning.

Ben Stokes has tried imaginative fields but chances have been few, and the ones England have manufactured have been missed. Anderson found a hint of reverse in his spell on the stroke of tea, hiding the ball behind his hand as a bit of kidology.

They have plenty of runs but England batting at 6.5 an over leaves lots of time in the game for Pakistan to draw level and possibly put pressure on the third innings. Feels a long way off.


10:22 AM

TEA: PAK 108/0

Fine response by Pakistan so far. The pitch is an absolute dog for the bowlers, light years from being an acceptable surface for Test cricket as Ramiz Raja pointed out. England have wheeled away, trying all sorts of funky fields and strategies, but it's very hard yakka indeed out there as Messrs Naseem, Zahid and Ali could testify.


10:18 AM

OVER 33: PAK 108/0 (Shafique 54 Imam 52)

Time for tea after Shafique resists the temptation to hit Root over the top as he is encouraged to do by Stokes bringing up his field for the final over before the break. He plays Brigadier Block for five balls until Root overpitches and the right-hander flicks it away for two between midwicket and mid-on.


10:15 AM

OVER 32: PAK 106/0 (Shafique 52 Imam 52)

Reverse swing from the off from Anderson who is hiding the ball with his left hand clutched round it until his gather in his delivery stride. But if it ain't at Waqar pace, it isn't going to trouble well-set batsmen unless they make a mistake. There's no help from the pitch at all. Shafique plays tip and run with a push, Imam opens the face and runs two down to third man off the maker's name.

Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq, right, and Abdullah Shafique run between the wickets - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq, right, and Abdullah Shafique run between the wickets - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

10:08 AM

OVER 31: PAK 103/0 (Shafique 51 Imam 50)

Imam stretches his stance into a forward push through cover for a single to bring up his fifty. Well played both openers. Root greets Shafique with a surprise bouncer that he must have telegraphed to pope because the stand-in keeper snaffled a difficult take standing up.

Anderson is ready to return.


10:06 AM

OVER 30: PAK 101/0 (Shafique 50 Imam 49)

Juts the single off Jacks' 10th over at the end of which Anderson jogs off the field to get ready for a dart with the ball.


10:03 AM

OVER 29: PAK 100/0 (Shafique 50 Imam 48)

Imam is playing catch-up and again uses his feet against the spinners, shimmying down to pound Root through extra-cover for four. A single square on the offside brings up Pakistan's hundred.

Anderson is asked to look at the ball to see if it's time for his return. The time, however, is not quite right ... and who can blame him? Pretty thankless task at 82mph on this pitch.


09:59 AM

OVER 28: PAK 95/0 (Shafique 50 Imam 43)

A Bertie Bassett over from Jacks with two gimmes with too much width, both of which Shafique whomps for four through the covers, the second of which brings up his fifty. But between those two boundaries Jacks tempted him to throw his hands at a drive outside off with his feet in the wring place and beats him.


09:56 AM

OVER 27: PAK 87/0 (Shafique 42 Imam 43)

Sorry - a technical glitch has wiped out the 25th over, a Leach maiden, which left him with figures of 10-4-25-0 before he took his sweater, metaphorically, and Stokes threw the ball to Joe Root who also starts with a maiden of mainly round-arm slingers.


09:52 AM

OVER 26: PAK 87/0 (Shafique 42 Imam 43)

Jacks still has a leg slip and slip for Shafique and Stokes himself at short mid-on. Jacks loops one outside off, too far outside off, and the right-hander swings through the line to caress four in front of point.

To his credit Jacks' line is part of his strategy not an aberration. This time when he arcs one outside off, Shafique overstretches to drive, misses the ball and Pope whips off the bails. Shafique had got his foot back behind the line. Not really a chance.

This lad needs a vest.

Will Jacks - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Will Jacks - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

09:45 AM

OVER 24: PAK 83/0 (Shafique 38 Imam 43)

Imam climbs into Jacks and thumps a drive, plenty of bottom hand, back over the umpire for four. Safe to say these two spinners are not much trouble on a day two pitch so far.


09:41 AM

OVER 23: PAK 78/0 (Shafique 38 Imam 38)

We saw an array of sweeps from Ben Duckett and Harry Brook yesterday but Shafique shows he is in their class with his nifty, cute paddle for four. Their use of the crease and their feet has made life difficult for England's spinners.


09:38 AM

OVER 22: PAK 74/0 (Shafique 34 Imam 38)

Touch of the Dan Lawrence's about Jacks' high action and the way his shirt often rides up to expose his waist as his arm rises to the apex of its circuit. Some turn now for the off-spinner which surprises Imam as he pushes at one that takes the inside third of his bat and squirts for a single. Shafique flicks one off his toes.

Given the drinks chat , one might have thought Anderson was about to come on. But not yet. It's still Leach.


09:30 AM

OVER 21: PAK 72/0 (Shafique 33 Imam 37)

Bit of a pattern with these two and Leach, five dot balls and then they get away, this time Imam whisking three through square leg. Livingstone pulls up while chasing it. Looks like he has twanged a hamstring. He grimaces and, as the drinks come on, jog-hops (jobbles?) off for some treatment. Time for a drink.


09:26 AM

OVER 20: PAK 69/0 (Shafique 33 Imam 34)

Suitably protected, Root goes in at short leg. It's been a while and he has to take evasive action when Jacks starts with a drag down that Imam pirouettes on to and pulls hard for four. The left-hander dabs a short one for a single and Shafique gorges on Jacks' fuller length to harpoon four past mid-on. Lovely shot.

At the end of the over Stokes and Anderson have a length chat while looking at the ball. Is it ready to reverse yet?


09:23 AM

OVER 19: PAK 60/0 (Shafique 29 Imam 29)

Shafique comes down to Leach and chips a drive off the toe over mid-off for two then works a single into the legside. Leach darts one in to Imam who nurdles it behind the square leg umpire for a single.

Root is getting padded up with giant shinguards. The pads are so bulky they don't really fit beneath his whites.


09:19 AM

OVER 18: PAK 56/0 (Shafique 26 Imam 28)

Big appeal for leg-before at the end of Jacks' fourth over that is more volume than substance as he was way down the pitch when the ball scudded into his front pad.


09:17 AM

Nick Hoult reports

A quick chat with Ramiz Raja - PCB chair - at back of media box during lunch. He’s not amused about the pitch. “Not happy at all. Our way out is for drop-in pitches because all the surfaces are more or less the same. So if you want to nail England on a spinning track then we’ve got to prepare a drop-in pitch that turns from ball number one, rather than having this hodge podge where you get a half-baked pitch which is neither quick nor spins a lot.


09:16 AM

OVER 17: PAK 54/0 (Shafique 26 Imam 26)

A third maiden for Leach, varying his pace impressively to keep Shafique guessing, sticking to a straighter line in this innings than he did on similarly dead pitches in the Caribbean when he adopted a sterile line outside the right-handers' leg-stump.


09:12 AM

OVER 16: PAK 54/0 (Shafique 26 Imam 26)

England are already in a holding pattern, waiting for some wear on the ball to help Stokes and Anderson reverse swing it. Imam has had his dancing boots on all morning and now Shafique chassés down and bludgeons a straight drive over mid-on for six!

Hacks likes to give it some flight but Leach, bowling quicker, is extracting far more turn.

Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq bats during the second day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Rawalpindi - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq bats during the second day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and England, in Rawalpindi - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

09:07 AM

OVER 15: PAK 47/0 (Shafique 19 Imam 26)

Imam is using his feet well as Leach keeps his pace high in the eighties (kmh wise) or mid fifties if you prefer mph. The left-hander is a patient soul and waits for width before unleashing an expansive shot, square driving for four.


09:04 AM

OVER 14: PAK 43/0 (Shafique 19 Imam 22)

An off-break from Jacks turns past Shafique's legs and scuttles away for two byes. Pope had no chance.


09:02 AM

OVER 13: PAK 41/0 (Shafique 19 Imam 22)

Leach strays on to the left-handed Imam's pads and, with fine leg up, he uses the angle to graze it round the corner for four.  Good start this from Pakistan. Not at England's breakneck pace, but decent nonetheless.


08:58 AM

OVER 12: PAK 37/0 (Shafique 19 Imam 18)

Stokes gives Jacks a slip and a short leg. The off-spinner starts erratically with plenty of air but drifting too straight. Shafique works four through midwicket, shaping to on-drive then closing the face with a twist of the wrist to cuff it rather than stroke it. Jacks tosses the next ball even further up and it doesn't pitch. Shafique clips the low full toss through mid-off. It takes an awkward bounce and spits up to hit Robinson on the ankle whence it rebounds on to his knee. They run a single while Anderson is in stitches of laughter at his team-mate's expense.


08:55 AM

OVER 11: PAK 31/0 (Shafique 14 Imam 17)

Leach, as Basit Ali, is bowling roughly 10kmh quicker than Zahid and it's that extra pace that is making the ball turn. Imam alternates hanging deep in his crease and coming down the trach but can't break Leach's rhythm nor beat the infield. Maiden,

Time for Jacks on debut to have a bowl with his offies.


08:52 AM

OVER 10: PAK 31/0 (Shafique 14 Imam 17)

Shafique takes a pair of deuces, both behind square, whisking two off his toes and chopping two more down to third man by dropping his right wrist.


08:47 AM

OVER 9: PAK 27/0 (Shafique 10 Imam 17)

More encouragement for Leach with skid and then flight, turning the ball with darts and ones tossed up. Imam has a hack across the line and is saved by the bottom edge but after being tied down for five deliveries he comes down the pitch again and lamps Leach for six between midwicket and mid-on.


08:45 AM

OVER 8: PAK 21/0 (Shafique 10 Imam 11)

Tiny wave on Ultra-edge when Pope dropped the ball in the last over but it might have been bat on pad. Robinson continues from the other end. Short midwicket comes even squarer to short mid-on just in front of the non-striker. Shafique plays out four dot balls then creams a cover drive for four, the ball after Robinson was told to get off the pitch quicker in his followthrough.

The boundary triggers a call and response round of 'Zindabad!' 'Pakistan!'

Ollie Robinson - AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images
Ollie Robinson - AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

08:40 AM

OVER 7: PAK 17/0 (Shafique 6 Imam 11)

Play resumes with a first over for Jack Leach, of whom Jos Butter said this at lunch:

And he starts with a maiden. Some turn and skid for the left-armer and he beats Imam's bat with the penultimate ball when the left-hander pushed forward, played for the turn but none came. I think he beat the bat. No snicko yet and in any case Pope dropped it.


08:04 AM

Yet another astounding statistic


07:40 AM

Nick Hoult's lunchtime verdict

The fun continued and the statistics just kept rolling in for England: their highest Test score in Asia, the first team to score at more than a run a ball in the first innings of a Test and Harry Brook smoked 27 off one over – the best by an England player.

Zehid Mahmood’s  four for 235 were the most expensive figures on debut, going at 7.12 an over. England 657 all out was their best score overseas apart from a timeless Test in Kingston in 1930.

Brook finished on 153 from 116 balls with 19 fours and five sixes while Stokes (41 off 18) threatened briefly a new record for the fastest fifty.

Thanks to the extended morning to accommodate Friday prayers, England ended up bowling before lunch starting the serious business. Can they force a result? Pakistan were 17-0 as normal service resumed at three an over. Expect funky fields. England had a short third, silly mid off, leg slip and two short midwickets within five overs showing more imagination in 20 minutes than Babar Azam managed in four sessions.


07:39 AM

LUNCH: PAK 17/0

England built on their towering Thursday edifice, hitting 151 off 26 overs for the loss of their remaining seven wickets. Harry Brook top-scored with 153 off 116 balls, taking 27 off a Zahid Mahmood. The leg-spinner survived a brutal assault to end with four for 235.

We will now have an extended lunch break to accommodate Friday prayers. Nick's lunchtime report from Rawalpindi is imminent.


07:35 AM

OVER 6: PAK 17/0 (Shafique 6 Imam 11)

The swing has gone already. Robinson pitches up from round the wicket on middle and Imam punches it back through mid-on for four. Great pitch for batting, not so for bowlers ... as we have seen. Robinson goes wider outside off but drops a fraction too short and Imam skelps a cut for three. Both batsmen pick off singles behind square on the legside as Robinson loses his line.

That's lunch. Pak trail by 640 with all 10 wickets in hand.


07:32 AM

OVER 5: PAK 8/0 (Shafique 5 Imam 3)

Ben Duckett is at short leg and is struck hard by Shafique's solid flick. It did technically hit him on the hand but wasn't really a chance ... unless you're Jimmy Anderson. Beer shampooing can take a long while to forgive.

Maiden from Anderson. There were only three in the entire England innings.


07:29 AM

Nick Hoult reports from Rawalpindi

Anderson and Robinson have barely any bowling since September (12 overs each v Lions). It is when stepping up in a Test that injuries happen. Robinson looks fitter than ever but this is going to be a hard slog and Anderson was gloriously grumpy when we spoke to him on Monday.


07:28 AM

OVER 4: PAK 8/0 (Shafique 5 Imam 3)

Imam has a shirt leg brought up for him as Robinson comes round the wicket and the left-hander squeezes the ball past the man under the lid, using the angle to take two. Imam gets his nose over the ball to defend out the rest of the over.


07:24 AM

OVER 3: PAK 6/0 (Shafique 5 Imam 1)

Imam gets off the mark with a whisk off his boot laces for a single and Shafique opens the face on a defensive push to steer two down to third man. It's wobbling for Anderson as he manipulates the ball with his array of grips.


07:21 AM

OVER 2: PAK 3/0 (Shafique 3 Imam 0)

Robinson has the same field for Shafique as Anderson, two slips a leg slip and that catching midwicket. Robinson was one of the worst affected by the raging Lenny Kravitz that went through the camp like a dose of (Epsom) Salts and there's no real zip as yet.

Shafique plays a lovely back foot drive for two, spending far too much time admiring it, assumin it would go for four but Leach wouldn't give up and clawed it back from the rope. Nasser gives the bastmen both barrels.


07:14 AM

OVER 1: PAK 1/0 (Shafique 1 Imam 0)

Abdullah Shafique faces Pakistan's first Test delivery in Pakistan. The great seamer has two slips, a leg slip and a catcher at shortish midwicket. Shafique steers the first ball wide of the slips for a single. Anderson takes out the catching midwicket and sticks him at third slip for the left-handed Imam.

The bespectacled opener defends two and leaves two, the ball swinging encouragingly for England. More shape for the final ball, leaving the left-hander, who covers it with a firm block.


07:05 AM

Scyld Berry reports

When England made their previous highest total in Asia, 652 v india in 1984-5, the Madras pitch was quick and the outfield like glass.


07:01 AM

ENG 657 all out

Four ball after Anderson hit the 82nd four of the innings and, to go with the nine sixes, bring up 400 runs in boundaries, he holes out. What an amazing innings from England, 657 off 101 overs.


06:58 AM

Wicket!!

Anderson c Imam b Zahid 6  Caught at short backward square, Imam running then skinning his knees to slide to take the catch off a top-edged slog sweep from the googly.  FOW 657 all out


06:57 AM

OVER 100: ENG 651/9 (Leach 6 Anderson 2)

This session goes on until 7.30am GMT before an hour's break for lunch and Friday prayers.

The two left-handers are still trying to be busy with such an Everest on the scoreboard but are obviously finding it more difficult than the batsmen and all-rounders. Leach scratches a single into the offside, Anderson gets up on his toes to tuck one off his chest-pad.


06:54 AM

OVER 99: ENG 651/9 (Leach 5 Anderson 1)

Awful lot of uncertainty in the commentary box over when their mics are live. They haven't said anything out of order but several times they have asked 'are we on' and you can hear the muffled off-air requests for stats etc when the mics haven't been muted properly.

Robinson sweeps for two, then switches his hands and is trapped leg-before.

Anderson sweeps for a single and Leach is given a life when he comes down, misses the ball but hits his boot and saves him from being stumped by diverting the ball to slip rather than the keeper. Make that two lives as he is diddled by the googly next ball and chips it hard to slip but Babar spills the hard chance. to his right.


06:47 AM

Wicket!!

Robinson lbw b Zahid 37  Pinned while reverse sweeping. The ball would have juts brushed leg stump so he stays out on umpire's call after a fine contribution. The drinks break does the trick again.  FOW 649/9


06:47 AM

ENG review

Robinson lbw b Zahid 


06:45 AM

Scyld Berry on the crowd

From what I saw on previous England tours of Pakistan, there weren't any females in the crowd except in the VIP enclosure. Now there seem to be plenty.


06:44 AM

OVER 98: ENG 647/8 (Robinson 35 Leach 4)

Robinson misses out  on an uppercut while Ali continues to bang it in but connects with the next ball, pulling a single as he fell towards the offside.

For some context ... during the Test here in March against Australia 1,187 runs were scored for the fall of only 14 wickets in the entire match. Taking 20 wickets even in three days and at least a session won't be easy.

Time for drinks and a dash to the loo for Robinson.


06:38 AM

OVER 97: ENG 645/8 (Robinson 34 Leach 4)

Pakistan have used only three bowlers in the hundred minutes of play so far. Haris Rauf is injured and they don't seem to want to risk Agha Salman or Saud Shakeel again. Leach plays out five dot balls, leaving three outside off that climb through the channel past the left-hander.


06:34 AM

OVER 96: ENG 645/8 (Robinson 33 Leach 4)

Naseem takes the catch at midwicket at throat height, fingers pointing skywards. There's no luck for Pakistan when Leach calls Robinson through for a homicidal single. Robinson wisely sends him back but he turns like a juggernaut in a suburban cul de sac and would have been stranded by a metre had cover's shy at the stumps hit the target. But Imam's throw whistles past for four buzzers with no one backing up. Babar is tearing his hair out.


06:28 AM

Wicket!!

Jacks c Naseem b Ali 30  Ali bangs another in, cramping Jacks for room and although he takes on the pull he can't free his arms and spoons it to midwicket.  FOW 642/7


06:27 AM

OVER 95: ENG 637/7 (Jacks 26 Robinson 33)

Three singles put more miles into the fielders' tired legs before Robinson ends the over by pulling Naseem Shah for two.


06:26 AM

OVER 94: ENG 632/7 (Jacks 24 Robinson 30)

Robinson can bat but there is something admirably agricultural about his hitting, like a ploughman giving Siegfried Farnon the long handle. He cloths a cow corner mow for two, short of the sweeper running in, then pats a single off Ali off his hip.

Ali tries Jacks out on the bouncer but the ball doesn't get up and the Surrey all-rounder rolls his wrists on a pull for a single.


06:21 AM

OVER 93: ENG 628/7 (Jacks 23 Robinson 27)

More carnage when Naseem returns with the mew ball. His shoulder looks OK in his action. It's when he hurls it in that it hurts. Jacks smears four through cover after getting away with aiming one over cow corner and tope edging it for two 180 degrees from it's intended landing point at backward point.

Jacks raises the fifty partnership off 54 balls with another handsome stroke, a lofted off-drive. He likes that and allows himself the indulgence of holding the pose. And why not. Make hay while the sun shines.

Will Jacks - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
Will Jacks - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

06:13 AM

OVER 92: ENG 616/7 (Jacks 13 Robinson 26)

Pakistan take the new ball which comes off the bat a treat as Robinson throws everything but the kitchen sink at a short ball and flogs it through cover for four. A tall man who moves with surprising grace, Robinson holds the bat high on the handle and cuffs it through the line for four past Mohammad Ali's right hand.


06:10 AM

OVER 91: ENG 608/7 (Jacks 13 Robinson 18)

Ollie Robinson opens his stance, clears the leg and plants Zahid back over the sightscreen for six, the ninth of the innings. With two for 227 Zahid now has the most expensive figures on debut, surpassing Suraj Randiv's two for 222 for Sri Lanka v India 12 years ago. Great save on the midwicket boundary by Azhar Ali stops a boundary with a committed dive and claw back but they still run three. England now have their highest Test score against Pakistan beating their 598 for nine at Abu Dhabi in 2015 when, in a small crumb of comfort for Zahid, Adil Rashid, on Test debut, took nought for 163 in the first innings and five for 64 in the second.


06:04 AM

OVER 90: ENG 598/7 (Jacks 12 Robinson 9)

Given Haris Rauf is injured, Mohammad Ali looks as stiff as the Tin Man and Naseem has a grinding shoulder ... little wonder Waqar Younis is questioning the selection. A single apiece for Nos eight and nine, both into the offside off Ali.


06:00 AM

OVER 89: ENG 596/7 (Jacks 11 Robinson 8)

Robinson defends the first ball of Zahid's 30th over then leans back to tap a single through cover off the back foot. The supple-wristed Jacks tries successive reverse sweeps, but is thwarted by backward point and slip. The last ball is tossed further up and Jacks whisks it through midwicket for two. Naseem picks it up on the boundary and seems to jar his shoulder when throwing the ball in.


05:54 AM

OVER 88: ENG 593/7 (Jacks 9 Robinson 7)

Mohammad Ali comes back on stiffly at first, provoking inevitable quips about floating like a bee and stinging like a butterfly. Jacks pulls a short ball that keeps low for a single, Robinson punches tow down to the cover sweeper. That's the first hour done and on come the drinks.


05:52 AM

OVER 87: ENG 589/7 (Jacks 8 Robinson 5)

A bowler can feel helpless when England are in the mood they've been in here. But seeing Robinson slog you through midwicket by clearing his front leg and helicoptering his bat through the line must add insult to Zahid's injury.

Has he bowled terribly? By no means but, in the words of Graham Gooch, it has been like farting against thunder.


05:48 AM

OVER 86: ENG 584/7 (Jacks 7 Robinson 1)

Jacks creams Naseem through the covers for four. The old ball is reversing and because it is now so soft, timing has to be immaculate. That was. Robinson pulls for a single either side of a pair of aces for Jacks into the legside, the second of them flirting with that man Shakeel on the deep backward rope but it doesn't have the legs to reach him on the full.

Naseem Shah - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
Naseem Shah - AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

05:43 AM

OVER 85: ENG 577/7 (Jacks 1 Robinson 0)

At last Zahid puts the brakes on with flight and turn against the two new batsmen. Jacks gets off the mark with a fiddle off his pads for a single but that's the only damage.

Never mind Bazball, here's Brookball. Made in Keighley.


05:40 AM

OVER 84: ENG: 576/7 (Jacks 0 Robinson 0)

Pictures remain on Sky but the commentary goes down for the second time this morning. Brook swivel to pull the leg-spinner for four, snicks another between slip and Rizwan for four more then cloths the soft old ball to Shakeel. Enter Ollie Robinson.


05:37 AM

Wicket!!!

Brook c Shakeel b Shah 153  His innings ends off 116 balls as he pulls Naseem down deep backward square's throat having biffed him for a pair of fours to bring up his 150 and cross the line from ton to daddy hundred. FOW 576/7


05:34 AM

OVER 83: ENG 568/6 (Brook 145 Jacks 0)

Call the cops! This is cruel. Zahid comes round the wicket aiming outside Brook's leg-stump, into the rough. Brook reverse sweeps the first ball for six over cover.

The next ball is swept orthodox fashion for four.

The third is reverse swept for four more.

The fourth is a drag down and Brook pulls it through midwicket for four.

Brook puts on his dancing boots to the fifth and chips an on-drive for six, absolutely hammering the leg-spinner back over his head.

And he ends again using his feet to thick edge jammily over the keeper for three more.

That's 27 off the over, the most runs scored by an England batsman in Tests beating the 24 he set yesterday.

Poor Zahid has figures, on debut, of 27-1-208-2. Brings to mind that cruel old joke: who won two caps for the same Test? Zahid, his first ... and last.


05:28 AM

OVER 82: ENG 541/6 (Brook 118 Jacks 0)

Heart in mouth moment for Jacks who hares a leg bye. Brook plays tip and run between point and cover and has to get weaving to beat the throw.

Ben Stokes departs - AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images
Ben Stokes departs - AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

05:23 AM

NOT OUT

Heading miles down after the yorker hit his boot. Pitched outside and kept on reversing down.


05:22 AM

PAK review

Jacks lbw b Shah  Going down or a golden duck on debut?


05:21 AM

Wicket!!

Livingstone c Shakeel b Shah 9  Caught on the long boundary at deep backward square, a bonus from the old ball. More of a walking flick than a pull off his legs and the young quick with the elegant action picks up his second wicket of the morning. Will Jacks walks in to replace his fellow debutant.  FOW 539/6 


05:19 AM

OVER 81: ENG 539/5 (Brook 117 Livingstone 9)

Livingstone carts a six off his seventh ball, plonking Zahid back over his head, and then gets down the other end with a drive through cover point. Brook works two off his pads.


05:17 AM

OVER 80: ENG 529/5 (Brook 114 Livingstone 2)

No live photographs of play from Pindi yet. But here's some video of Stokes' dismissal:

Haris Rauf is absent this morning after straining his right thigh yesterday, which is a blow to Pakistan's new-ball options and to his fledgling Test career after such a white-ball dominant international career. Lancashire fans know he can be devastating with the red ball but not on this pitch on Test debut.


05:12 AM

Will Macpherson's view

Never mind Gilbert Jessop, whose name will continue to pop up while we watch this team for his 76-ball century, I wondered there if Stokes fancied a crack at Brendon McCullum's 54-ball Test hundred there. Oh well, we can guarantee he will have a similar attitude next time, and it's not like England don't have a bit of batting to come...


05:12 AM

OVER 79: ENG 527/5 (Brook 113 Livingstone 1)

Zahid rattles through his over. Brook uses his feet to drill a single through mid-on. Livingstone gets away off his fourth ball, hanging on the back foot to tap a single through mid-off and Brook ends the over with another cut stroke for two.


05:09 AM

OVER 78: ENG 523/5 (Brook 110 Livingstone 0)

Much better from Shah who is bowling to his field today, defending a few and just missing out on flicks to the shorter ones until he carves a single behind point.


05:07 AM

OVER 77: ENG 522/5 (Brook 109 Livingstone 0)

Zahid Mahmood comes on to bowl. He has two wickets but has gone for more than seven an over. Not so much a debut as an ordeal. Where are Yasir and Shadab? After three dot balls, Brook takes his bat through the arc from 11pm on the dial to 1 o'clock and launches the leggie over long on for six.

Livingstone defends his first ball in Test cricket. What a tortoise. Get him out of the side.


05:01 AM

OVER 76: ENG 515/5 (Brook 102 Livingstone 0)

Naseem Shah resumes for Pakistan as the trumpeter plays Jerusalem, strays on to the pads and Brook jogs a leg-bye.

Stokes' first ball of the morning is smashed back over the bowler's head for six! Stokes skipped down and threw the bat at it almost contemptuously, raising the 50 partnership off 27 deliveries. A single takes him to 41 off 17 deliveries with a Test fastest 21-ball half-century in his sights until ... Naseem Shah cannily takes the pace off. Well bowled. Stokes smiles as he walks off.


04:59 AM

Wicket!!!

Stokes b Shah 41  Fine comeback from Naseem after being flogged for six. He took the pace off with an off-cutter. Stokes backed off to try to flat-bat it through mid-on and lost the top of off and middle.  FOW 515/5


04:54 AM

How hard will England go this morning?

Harder. Always harder. Michael Atherton thinks they will carry on accelerating and, like Nick Hoult, believes they will look to declare at lunch with about 700 on the board.


04:44 AM

Nick Hoult reports from Rawalpindi

There were just 75 overs on day one but unlikely to be as many today. There is an extra 20 minutes at lunch stretching the break to an hour to accommodate Friday prayers. It is hard to play longer than 4.30 due to the light so we could be down to 65-70 overs today so expect England to declare mid-afternoon.


04:33 AM

England: the signwriter's friend

Plenty of gainful employment for a brother of the gold brush today:

Zak Crawley of England and Ben Duckett of England's names are added to a Test Hundred board - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Zak Crawley of England and Ben Duckett of England's names are added to a Test Hundred board - Matthew Lewis/Getty Images

04:26 AM

Bazball in wonderland

By Tamara Prenn

Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport's live coverage of day two of the first Test between England and Pakistan, with play starting at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium at 4.53am, UK time.

Zak Crawley, who hit the fastest Test hundred by an England opener of all time on a historic day for English Test cricket, was still in a daze as he shared his thoughts after the dust settled on day one's 506 for four total.

"No, I've never seen a day like that," the 24-year-old said.

"I think it is the record in day one of a Test, so it was unbelievable. Ducky [Ben Duckett] batted fantastically and so did the other two boys.

"Hopefully we can go again tomorrow, get a big one and get a thousand – I'm joking."

Joke he might, but with confident, freewheeling Bazball the order of the day as England kick off their series in Pakistan, spirits are high amongst the England camp.

Crawley stressed the importance of the standout result, which saw four batters take a ton, on how Test cricket is perceived in England, as more and more fans start to turn their back on the format.

"We've just been looking to score and be positive all the time and have a good attitude in the field and that's been the biggest thing that Baz [Brendon McCullum] and Stokesy [Ben Stokes] has brought in," Crawley said.

"So that's what we're trying to do, more entertain the crowd than winning.

"Winning is great but part of our goal is to make people want to watch Test cricket and hopefully that's happening."

Duckett, one of the day's centurions who achieved his first-ever Test hundred in Rawalpindi, had been one of the players struggling with illness which had nearly brought about the game's postponement with just over 24 hours before the start of the first Test.

He agreed that the group's infectious spirit and attitude meant that it would "have taken a lot" not to play in yesterday's opening day, despite energy levels not being "the highest".

"Stokesy said 'Let's get out there and let's take them on'."