Published: Aug 03, 2016, 08:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 03, 2016, 08:22 PM (IST)
Pakistan continued to keep England on toes as they headed for Tea at 184 for 5 on Day 1 of 3rd Test at Edgbaston. Moeen Ali, who entered at No.7 and Gary Ballance have secured 26 run stand for 7th wicket before heading for Tea. Ballance is just a run away from his 7th fifty while Moeen is playing at 15. Meanwhile, Ballance and James Vince resumed their play at 16 and 18 runs respectively after Lunch. They went on to secure strong 4th wicket partnership of 65 runs in the middle with back-to-back boundaries until Sohail Khan returned back with his fiery spells and nibbled off Vince for 39, breaking a crucial partnership of England. Jonny Bairstow was unable to provide any further impetus to the already suffering England as Sohail scalped him off as well for 12. Ballance remained on the crease unbeaten at 38 when Bairstow made an exit from the crease. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England 2016, 3rd Test at Edgbaston
Interestingly, Vince and Ballance, who have not shown any sign of scoring runs at crucial times in the earlier Tests, went all gun blazing with their strong partnership. As for Pakistan bowlers, it was Sohail’s show all the way. Yasir Shah, who stood out for his 10 wickets in the first Test, has been unable to show that stance once again. As for Mohammad Aamer, he has gone wicketless this time and has conceded too many runs.
Before heading for Lunch, England pillars, Joe Root and Alastair Cook were nabbed with the return of Sohail. England were 100 for 3 at Lunch after Sohail had accounted for both opener Alex Hales for 17 and batsman Root for 3 making his way to figures of 2 for 28 at the end of first session. Rahat Ali then went ahead with lbw to get Cook for 45. Vince and Ballance was remained unbeaten at 16 and 18 respectively. Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first that pretty much worked in the favor of visitors’. Cook and Hales opened the innings for hosts, when Hales fell for a good-length Sohail ball that cut away took the outside edge and was caught by wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed. ALSO READ: ENG vs PAK 3rd Test Day 1: Hosts stumble to 100/3 at lunch
Very soon, England’s 36 for 1 went on for 48 for 2 with another wicket of Root being dismissed for three. Very soon Cook also found his way back to the dug out after reviewing his decision on LBW by Rahat. Pakistan made few changes to their side bringing back Sohail for Wahab Riaz while Shan Masood has been replaced by Sami Aslam, who has scored two centuries for Pakistan Under-19 against England in 2013. England’s Ben Stokes, who was rested for 2 nd Test due to calf injury, is eventually ruled out from the entire series. Steven Finn is called at the moment for 2nd Test. No announcement has been made for future Test.
Brief Scores:
England for 5 (Alastair Cook 45, James Vince 39, Gary Ballance 49*; Sohail Khan 4 for 61) vs Pakistan
LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England 2016, 3rd Test at Edgbaston
