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Reasons for Pakistan’s batting collapse against an under-firing England attack in 2nd Test at Old Trafford

Misbah-ul-Haq alone scored 52 runs out of the 7 established batsmen present in Pakistan's batting, who added just 89 runs in their first innings total of 198 against England in 2nd Test at Old Trafford.

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Misbah-ul-Haq remained the only Pakistani batsman to provide resistance © Getty Image

England had already piled 589 runs on the board, with more a little more than 3-days remaining in the second Test at Old Trafford in Manchester. Pakistan batsmen were already under the weather. After a commendable show in the first Test, batsmen were expected to produce the goods in this match, and some how knock down the follow-on score first up. Given the fact that Pakistani bowlers struggled on Day One and Two, they would have felt a sigh of relief with James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes waiting to unleash themselves. In Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, Pakistan had batting stalwarts around whom the likes of Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed and Shan Masood could have accumulated kit-bag full of runs. Vishal Mehra reasons why Pakistan batsmen collapsed and were a flop against an under firing English attack.  LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England, 2nd Test at Old Trafford

Underperformance by key players :

Mohammad Hafeez: Nick named the professor, Mohammad Hafeez would have known a thing or two about opening the innings with a mammoth tally of runs to climb. Hafeez, who is one of the senior most players in the team batted with responsibility for 53-odd balls before giving in to his urge. Before his dismissal, Hafeez had left or fended as many as four balls on the out stump line.

Chris Woakes bowling his first over knew too well that Hafeez will have a jab at the ball and in evidently provide a nick, and that’s what transpired on the final ball of the over. Hafeez unable to control his habit flung his bat at the ball and edged a simple catch to Joe Root at second slip. A ball which easily could have been left in the same manner as earlier balls (a boundary on the previous delivery made Hafeez feel too God like, maybe?).

Younis Khan: One of the two most dependable batsmen in the Pakistan team, Younis Khan showed literally no application. The very first ball Younis faced from Ben Stokes, he was showing his dancing skills on the pitch, with a lot of trigger movement sideways. Younis even against an in-form Chris Woakes was tapping his feet left-right and centre while fending the ball. No harm in dancing on the pitch but one must have his eye in and well set. ALSO READ: England extend lead to 489 vs Pakistan in 2nd Test at Old Trafford

Younis like a fresh found dancing enigma did everything in his power to show off his foot-work (dancing) to the world, which ultimately led to his downfall. Younis trying to be cheeky trying to flick the ball gave a catch to the ever agile Jonny Bairstow behind the wicket. Too much movement on the offside to a short-of-a-length delivery meant he had an acute angle to maneuver the ball.

Sarfraz Ahmed: Sarfraz, who showcased his attributes in batting at Lord’s, was expected to provide the perfect hinder to the English bowlers — played, missed, conquered and departed — in a blink of an eye knock. After dishing out some quality treatment to Woakes and Broad, Sarfraz could not curb his natural instinct to go for flashy strokes and handed Stokes a wicket. With his team already 6-down for just 76 runs, Sarfraz and Misbah tried to consolidate the innings. Sarfraz acting as a good counter to the calm and composed skipper was looking in good touch. Sarfraz played out Broad and Woakes, blocking and defending with a straight-faced bat. Sarfraz who drove Stokes for a cracking boundary in the earlier delivery, tried little too much and ended up being the villain for his team. ALSO READ: Root’s double century buries ENG’s search for an apt No. 3 batsman

Stokes learning from the last ball pulled his length back on the off stump line and got the edge of Sarfraz’s bat, while he was attempting an extravagant push towards the cover, which was grabbed by Root at second slip. What could have been a chance to prove everyone wrong, Sarfraz missed out on a super chance. Sarfraz must learn the art of playing the ball on the merit.

Duress youngsters : 

From the start only Masood and Asad were reeling under the pressure of scoring big runs, which in way clouded their mental make-up. Masood looked very fragile against Anderson from the very first first ball he faced, nearly giving the Englishman a caught and bowl. Masood, missed and missed,  somehow surviving till stumps on Day Two. Coming into Day Three, he would have had ample time to reflect on his batting in the middle and make sure not to fiddle outside the off-stump line.

In the very first over of Day Three, Masood once again almost provided Anderson his wicket, edging a ball past third slip. Anderson was smart to understand this never dying habit of Masood and set him up brilliantly bowling an in-swinging delivery followed by an absolute beauty which Masood just had to play at. Masood coming in the next innings must understand to learn and observe his play from the earlier knock and not keep making mistakes.

Asad Shafiq, who batted pretty much flawlessly at Lord’s was in a way undone by the experience of Broad and Anderson. Shafiq faced as many as 14 deliveries on the off-stump line from which he either defended or played and missed. Shafiq looked graceful defending but was caught in two minds, when that ball was kept in the corridor of uncertainty. The ball which got Shafiq out was pretty wide to even have attempted.

Not applying pressure on Anderson and Broad : It was not like Stuart Broad and James Anderson were wrecking havoc on the Pakistani’s batsmen. Both Broad and Anderson in tandem, were bowling on a good line, and that was it. Anderson, on a day which offered swing  bowled just 13 overs, with Broad been given 12.

Neither of them looked menacing in their spells and relied on batsmen mistake then their skills to grab wickets. Misbah clearly exhibited the right way to deflate Anderson and Broad, as he kept on leaving anything they had to offer on the off stump line. Misbah faced 21 balls from Anderson and 24-balls from Broad to accumulate just 9 runs from them. If Pakistan’s batsmen played more heed to the fact that Anderson and Broad could have been played in more restrained manner may be, just may be the situation of the match would have been different.

(Vishal Mehra is a reporter at CricketCountry, who enjoys his weekly dose of anime, and plays cricket once a white moon. His twitter handle is @capturethecatch )

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