MANCHESTER: Shan Masood’s fabulous hundred and fast bowlers have uplift Pakistan in the first Test match against England at Old Trafford in Manchester.
England was teetering at 92 for four, still, 234 runs behind Pakistan’s competitive first-innings total of 326, a total boosted by a superb career-best 156 from opener Masood. Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler are unbeaten at 46 and 15 respectively.
England’s top order could not survive against Pakistan’s pace attack. Rory Burns was dismissed in the very first over as he was trapped leg-before by Shaheen Shah Afridi for eight. Sibley was dismissed by Abbas in a similar fashion.
Later, Muhammad Abbas bowled out Ben Stokes with a stunning delivery as the hosts slumped to 12-3. Skipper Joe Root and Ollie Pope then put on a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Captain Joe Root was subdued and then out, edging leg-spinner Yasir Shah to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. Pope and Buttler added 30 runs to the scorecard before the stumps were drawn.
Pakistan was 139-2 at the end of the first day’s play. Babar failed to add anything to his overnight total. However, Shan Masood’s sublime knock of 156 helped Pakistan to reach a total of 326.
Shan Masood became the first Pakistani opener in the 21st century to score a ton on English soil. This was Masood’s third consecutive three-figure innings, which makes him the sixth Pakistani batsmen to do so after Zaheer Abbas, Mudassar Nazar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, and Misbah-ul-Haq.
ADVERTISEMENT
