Saturday 19 / October / 2024
London: Five-star Yasir Shah had England reeling on the second day of the Lord's Test after Pakistan were all out for 339 in the first innings.
Leg spinner Yasir Shah carved out 5 for 64 to ensure Pakistan stayed ahead at stumps after two days of play.
England were 253 for 7, trailing by 86 runs. However, much of the focus was on Mohammed Amir's return to Test cricket.
To be recalled Amir was implicated for spot-fixing in 2010, and was handed a five-year ban and a jail term.
Though he did pick up the wicket of Alastair Cook (81) in his third attempt after two chances were shelled, it was Yasir, returning to the side after his own brush with the International Cricket Council authorities for testing positive for a banned substance, that outshone his teammate and earned his place on the Lord’s honour board.
It was an exceptional performance given that it was a day two surface, and the last legspinner to take a five-for at Lord’s was Pakistan’s Mushtaq Ahmed in 1996. Yasir was also the first legspinner to take a five-for in the first innings at Lord’s since India’s B S Chandrasekhar in 1967.
Yasir scythed through England’s middle order grabbing the wickets of Joe Root (48), James Vince (16), Gary Ballance (6), Jonny Bairstow (29) and Moeen Ali (23).
Muted reception
Mohammed Amir got a muted reception at Lord's on the second day of the first Test on Friday as he bowled for the first time in a Test since being banned for spot-fixing.
The left-handed pace bowler, who served half of a six-month prison sentence and was banned for five years for deliberately bowling no-balls against England at the same ground in 2010, was unlucky not to mark his first spell back with a wicket.
He was treated to a few shouts of 'no-ball' from the crowd after his first delivery, but his return to Pakistan's bowling attack otherwise passed largely without incident.
Earlier, England all-rounder Chris Woakes notched his first five-wicket test haul to restrict the visitors to a first innings total of 339.
Woakes, who ended the innings with figures of 6-70, struck twice in the same over to pick up the wickets of Sarfraz Ahmed and Wahab Riaz, and leave the visitors reeling.
Sarfraz, who was just starting to cut loose, smashed a shortish delivery straight down the throat of James Vince at backward point before Woakes struck again almost immediately.
He sent a lovely ball veering past the edge of the incoming Riaz's bat, before splaying the stumps with his next delivery to send the batsman back to the pavilion with a duck.
Stuart Broad bowled Misbah-ul-Haq in the next over to leave Pakistan on 316 for nine, and the skipper walked off to an ovation from the ground in recognition of his fine knock.
The 42-year-old became the oldest player in 82 years to score a test century on Thursday with an unbeaten 110, but finished on 114 after adding just four runs on Friday.
Broad then enticed Amir, who was greeted with a ripple of applause as he came out to bat, to edge the ball to Joe Root at slip on 12, as he finished the first innings on 3-71.
Broad, who smashed his highest test score of 169 in that 2010 series, gave a smile but did not speak to Amir who was Pakistan's last man out.
The tourists drew blood soon after the changeover when England opener Alex Hales edged an impeccable outswinger from Rahat Ali to Azhar Ali at third slip in the second over.
That brought an early introudction for Joe Root, whose elevation to number three dominated headlines in the build-up.
It was England captain Alastair Cook, though, who made the brighter start, finding the boundary three times in a single over from Rahat to race to 35 from 31 deliveries.
Cook rode his luck at times and was fortunate to survive being dropped by Mohammad Hafeez in the seventh over to deny Amir a wicket on his return.
Root chipped in with five boundaries of his own to reach 23 and help steer England to 64 for one at lunch.
Pakistan 1st innings
M. Hafeez c Bairstow b Woakes 40
S. Masood c Bairstow b Woakes 7
A. Ali lbw b Ball 7
Y. Khan c Ali b Broad 33
Misbah-ul Haq b Broad 114
A. Shafiq c Bairstow b Woakes 73
R. Ali b Woakes 0
S. Ahmed c Vince b Woakes 25
W. Riaz b Woakes 0
M. Amir c Root b Broad 12
Y. Shah not out 11
Extras (b-4, lb-10, nb-1, w-2) 17
Total (all out, 99.2 overs) 339
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-51, 3-77, 4-134, 5-282, 6-282, 7-310, 8-310, 9-316, 10-339
Bowling: S. Broad 27.2-9-71-3 (w-1), J. Ball 19-5-51-1(w-1), C. Woakes 24-7-70-6, S. Finn 21-2-86-0, M. Ali 7-0-46-0 (nb-1), J. Vince 1-0-1-0
England 1st innings
A. Cook b Amir 81
A. Hales c A. Ali b R. Ali 6
J. Root c Hafeez b Shah 48
J. Vince lbw b Shah 16
G. Ballance lbw b Shah 6
J. Bairstow b Shah 29
M. Ali lbw b Shah 23
C. Woakes not out 31
S. Broad not out 11
Extras (nb-2) 2
Total (for 7 wickets, 71 overs) 253
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-118, 3-139, 4-147, G. Ballance, 5-173, 6-193, 7-232
To bat: J. Ball, S. Finn
Bowling: M. Amir 18-2-65-1, R. Ali 14-1-68-1, W. Riaz 14-0-56-0 (nb-2), Y. Shah 25-5-64-5
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Joel Wilson
TV umpire: Rod Tucker
Match referee: Richie Richardson
