DAY FOUR: STUMPS
That's it. The official word is in. No play for today. The leaves us with just the one day in this Test match. The forecast, again, isn't great, but we'll be hoping for some cricket.
After the washout yesterday, at least we got something to watch today: Mohammad Rizwan's frantic run-making and beautiful swing-bowling from Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Abbas.
Join us for whatever remains in this Test, tomorrow. Play begins - if everything goes well - at 3.30pm IST. Until then, it's goodbye.
The rain continues to fall in Southampton and so we have some more delay. Given the current situation and the forecast for the rest of the evening, play is unlikely to resume.
Lunch has been taken. We'll hope for the weather and the light situation to improve after the break. But the forecast isn't great.
A reminder: England is one wicket down for seven runs in the first innings after Pakistan had been bowled for 236. Shaheen Afridi accounted for the wicket of Rory Burns in the first over of the innings. With the ball moving around under cloudy conditions, the conditions were perfect for Pakistan's seamers to cast a spell on the English batsmen, but the rain has to stay away for them to continue.
We'll be back when there's some news.
While we wait for the weather to clear up, here's a quick recap of our review of all the action that did and did not happen in cricket yesterday. From ENGvPAK to the Dhoni-Raina bomb, tune in to Ayan Acharya and Ashwin Achal on Sportstar Extras.
We'll have some more delay as the rain has intensified in Southampton. BBC predicts it may continue to be like this throughout the afternoon and evening.
Pitch covers come in. The players go off. There we go again. It's drizzling slightly apparently. We'll be back when there's some news. The drizzle will have to stop first, and the light is a factor, too.
. Lots of swing there for Afridi. Sibley leaves alone a full delivery outside off-stump and the ball comes in so much after pitching that Rizwan has to leap to his left to pouch it.
Earlier in the over, Sibley got off the mark with a flick to leg for two. 7/1.
. An excellent delivery from Abbas. It pitches on off-stump, goes away just slightly, evades the outside edge as well as the stumps. Crawley shuffles across and neatly flicks one to midwicket to pick up a couple. 5/1.
. Another probing over from Afridi. Crawley got an edge to one of the deliveries but he played with soft hands so it didn't carry. The first runs on the board, off an inside edge. 3/1.
. Mohammad Abbas to bowl the second over. Dom Sibley to face him. The umpires are checking the reading in the their light meter, the light situation isn't the best.
Sibley nearly edges one behind, after he hangs his bat to a full delivery outside off-stump. And then another. This time, it's a touch straighter, closer to the off-stump, and not as full. And then he's struck on the pads off a straighter delivery, but it's not out. A maiden over. 0/1.
. Zak Crawley is the new batsman. He is rapped on the pads and there's a huge shout for lbw, and it's not out! A review is taken, but there's a thin edge before the ball hits the pads. Crawley survives.
It's a good-length delivery that pitches on middle stump and comes into the right-handed Crawly. The ball thuds into his pads, but there's just a thin edge so no harm done. What an over from Shaheen Afridi. A wicket-maiden. 0/1.
. Shaheen Afridi to bowl the first over to England's openers. He sprinkles some sand in the run-up area. He bowls a short-of-length delivery angling into the left-handed Rory Burns, who edges the ball but it drops just short of the second-slip fielder. Then he gets a slightly fuller and wider delivery and leaves it alone. A full and straight delivery is next, it's driven to mid-on.
And Rory Burns gets another edge and departs! It pitches on a good length, straightens a bit; Burns' edge travels to second slip comfortably, and England is one wicket down without a run on the board. 0/1.
. Rizwan plays a delivery to leg and realising there was no chance to take two runs, sends his partner back. He gets a delivery from Broad that pitches on middle-and-leg-stump, and just slightly straightens; Rizwan attempts to flick it, but the ball takes the edge of the bat and balloons up to cover for the fielder stationed there to take a simple catch. That ends the innings for Pakistan. 236 all out. Rizwan scored 72 out of those 236 runs.
. A short-of-a-length delivery outside off-stump from Anderson; it's punched away to the point boundary. He takes a single on the fifth delivery to retain strike for the next over. Naseem gets one on his pads and he works it away to long leg, but no run is taken as it's the final delivery of the over. Five runs from this over. The last-wicket partnership continues to frustrate England. 236/9.
. Naseem Shah adopts a weird defensive posture to negotiate the deliveries from Broad. Upon witnessing the posture, Broad lets out a puzzled expression. There's a smile on Naseem's face as he knows any delivery can get him out, especially in these helpful conditions where the ball is moving both ways. He gets an encouragement from Rizwan at the other end. He survives the over; the final delivery is an outswinger a long way outside the off-stump. Maiden over. 231/9.
. Rizwan gets an inswinger from Anderson, and he plays the french cut to fine leg and scampers through for two. He gets an impeccable delivery in the corridor, but no harm done. And then he comes down the track to the bowler and slices the ball to third man where it lands and trickles away to the boundary. Another picture-perfect delivery from Anderson to finish the over. 231/9.
. An inswinger followed by an outswinger from Broad. As soon as he saw the width, Rizwan went after it, didn't connect. Rizwan shuffled across to the off-side and tries to guide one delivery down fine leg, it's a single run off a leg-bye. 225/9.
. James Anderson bowls a short delivery first up and it's greeted by a rush down the track for an attempted almighty pull by Mohammad Rizwan. He didn't connect, but the intent is palpable A run is eventually got on the fifth delivery of the over; it's a sharp single after Rizwan taps the ball to point. The fielder throws the ball clumsily; a direct hit would have resulted in a wicket. Rizwan keeps strike with that. 224/9.
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-- Covers are off the field and play should begin within minutes from now.
-- The focus will shift away from England once the IPL begins in September. As players get ready to resume cricket again, here's Anil Kumble talking about handling anxiety, the challenges for players and coaches, and more.
-- Meanwhile, with the washout of Day Three, James Anderson would have accepted he isn't likely to reach the landmark of 600 Test wickets in this Test. He needs seven more wickets to get there. The third Test would be a big one for him. If there is play today and he takes the last wicket, he will need six more. Anderson is already the fourth-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, with just spinners Anil Kumble, Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan ahead of him. Kumble's tally of 619 Test wickets can also be overtaken by this marathon-man.
-- With Day Three being washed out, all the attention in the evening yesterday was on M. S. Dhoni as he announced his retirement in his usual understated manner, with a cryptic message on Instagram . Dhoni, who is in Chennai right now for a training camp with his IPL club Chennai Super Kings ahead of IPL 2020, hadn't played for India since the 2019 World Cup. Here's what V. V. S. Laxman had to say about Dhoni , and the current India captain Virat Kohli . Suresh Raina, Dhoni's India and IPL team-mate, also announced his retirement. "I choose to join you in your journey," he says. Here's an appreciation of Raina by our reporter S. Dinakar.
-- The weather forecast is bad news for those interested in the resumption of play. "Thundery showers and a gentle breeze," says the BBC . But rain or not, we'll hope for at least some cricket during the day after a no-show yesterday.
We've had lots of rain, some bad light, and very little cricket in this second Test. Considerable rain has been predicted today, too, so we could be in for delays and interruptions, but let's hope that there is some cricket.
A reminder: Pakistan is yet to be bowled out in the first innings. The score: 223/9 in 86 overs, with Mohammad Rizwan batting on 60, and Naseem Shah, the No. 11, on 1.
Where and when can you watch Pakistan vs England LIVE?
Pakistan vs England will be aired LIVE only on SONY SIX channels from 3.30 pm onwards. It will be available for live streaming on SONY LIV.
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