DAY ONE: STUMPS
. So that's it. The umpires have announced it, it's stumps.
A day dominated by England and rain. A fighting half-century from Abid Ali to savour for Pakistan. A lot will be expected from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan when they come out to bat on Day Two. A reminder of the final score: 126/5.
Join us for Day Two, at 3.30pm. Until then, it's goodbye.
. We await an official announcement but play is unlikely to start again on Day One.
. The players walk away from the ground. A rain delay again.
This is Fawad Alam's first Test match in nearly 11 years. Who are the cricketers with the longest intervals between two Tests? Find out.
. It's started to rain again. Woakes darts one down leg and Babar flicks it away for a single to fine leg. The next delivery, bowled to Mohammad Rizwan, is an excellent one. It's a good-length delivery, and it narrowly evades the edge of the batsman's bat on its way to the wicketkeeper.
. Babar gets one on his legs and runs three. A loud shout for lbw by Chris Woakes and England when Fawad Alam plays a good-length delivery awkwardly. It pitches on leg-stump, (or outside) and it hits him on the knee-roll on off-stump. The umpire doesn't give it out, England goes for the review, and the third umpire says it's out! The ball would have been hitting middle-stump!
Pakistan five wickets down now. Fawad Alam goes for a duck. 120/5.
. Fawad Alam, the new batsman, has a stance similar to Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Right foot faces square leg as he waits for the delivery to come, it's a very open, unusual stance, and just when the ball is about to be delivered, the leg comes back to a more congruous position. Surely he's been inspired by Chanderpaul. That's a Chanderpaul copyright. 117/4.
. Full, on the pads, and put away by Asad Shafiq. He plays a nice flick through midwicket to collect a boundary. Moves to five. And out of the blue, he edges to third slip!
It's a full delivery outside off-stump, and he just shapes up for a tentative prod at that. No trouble at third slip as the ball flew low to Dom Sibley. Pakistan four wickets down. 117/4.
. Some deliveries down the leg side from Sam Curran and there are runs scored off them. Asad Shafiq gets off the mark with a single off one of those deliveries. 113/3.
. Stuart Broad produces a near-unplayable delivery. He gets the delivery to pitch on a good length on off-stump, and get it moving slightly away from the right-hander. The ball swung a bit after it passed Babar's bat, too. 106/3 after 41 overs.
. Asad Shafiq drives down the ground and Anderson, at mid-on, cuts it off by diving full length to his left. No run.
. Asad Shafiq is the new batsman. He carefully negotiates the deliveries from Sam Curran. It's a maiden over. 104/3.
. Accurate, probing over from Anderson. He bowls in the corridor or on an off-stump line. Babar is beaten twice as the ball passes the bat on its way to the wicketkeeper. Then Babar plays at one which is wider outside off, but doesn't get any bat on it. 104/3.
. Another four, this time a similar stroke from Abid Ali. A gift on the pads, and it's put away.
And Abid Ali is finally dismissed! The mode of dismissal is predictable: caught in the slips. He gets the edge one more time: it's a delivery angling across him from Sam Curran, and Abid couldn't resist a small poke at it. He goes for 60. 102/3.
. The sun is out now. Abid is vulnerable to the good-length or full delivery in the corridor, and so there are four slips in place for him. He goes for the drive off the first delivery of the over from Anderson, and gets two. It's not timed very well. Then he gets a short delivery and picks up a single through leg.
Babar Azam plays a nice flick when he gets one one on his pads. Four runs. 96/2.
. Two runs picked up from Sam Curran's over. Babar Azam nudges one to leg to run two. 89/2.
. We're back. The second ball after resumption, Abid Ali edges once again through the slips and moves to 50. How poetic.
. Tea has been taken. There will be an inspection by the umpires again, at 3.45pm local time (8.15 IST) to determine whether play can begin soon.
. No sign of play starting anytime soon.
. There will be an inspection of the pitch and the outfield by the umpires in five minutes.
. It's raining heavily at the moment. We may be in for some delay.
. Rain's back again. The groundsmen come on with the pitch covers. An interruption.
. Anderson bowls a delivery on a middle-stump line and it's full as well; Babar pounces on that, flicking it through midwicket for three runs. The rest of the over is bowled in the corridor or on off-stump. 85/2 after 33 overs.
. Babar Azam, the new batsman, gets a full delivery from Broad and he drives well. The ball doesn't reach the boundary at extra-cover; Chris Woakes gives a spirited chase and dives to retrieve the ball before it touches the advertisement paddings. Three runs. 82/2.
. Anderson strikes! Azhar Ali edges, and Rory Burns at second slip makes no mistake this time. The ball was full, outside off, Azhar pushed at it. It caught his edge, and travelled low to Burns. Simple catch. At least, he made it look simple. He would have been relieved after having dropped Abid Ali early on.
Azhar Ali departs for 20 (85b). 79/2.
. After a maiden, six runs from Broad's ninth over of the day. Abid Ali edges again! But there's no third slip; the ball goes through the vacant region for a boundary. Broad strays down leg, and Abid collects two. 78/1.
. A single from the next over from Anderson. 72/1.
. A maiden over from Stuart Broad. Most of the deliveries pitch on a good length on an outside-the-off-stump line. They are left alone by Azhar Ali. The ball's swinging under the cloudy conditions; one of the deliveries swings late, after pitching, and Buttler had to tumble to collect it. 71/1.
. He does the same thing off one of the deliveries in the corridor in the next over by James Anderson. Another four. Abid Ali moves to 42. 71/1.
. Broad continues. He bowls in the corridor for the most part in that over. Abid Ali gets an edge on one of the deliveries but it's played with soft hands and the ball travels to the boundary at third man. 67/1.
. Anderson continues in overcast conditions. Rain may have gone away for the moment, but it could come back. A maiden over, first up. Anderson a number of deliveries straight, in that over, before dangling the carrot to Azhar Ali, who goes after the wide delivery outside off but doesn't edge. Root, in the slips, was excited by that. 62/1.
Ultra-edge shows a spike when the ball passes the bat. But it's not a prominent one.
Ben Stokes may be sitting out the rest of the series but the all-rounder has been central to England's fortunes across formats. We take a closer look at the man and his method in the cover story of this fortnight's Sportstar.Click here to download the ebook .
. It's lunch. We'll be back in 35-40 minutes.
Ben Stokes is not playing this Test, but how talismanic has he been for England in the recent past? An ode to Stokes, an interview with Shakib Al Hasan and a lot more in our latest issue. Access it here.
. The batsmen not out of the woods yet, and Stuart Broad gives them a reminder of the danger lurking. Abid Ali edges - again - and the ball falls short of the slip fielder, again. Abid Ali does well to get his bat out of the way of an excellent delivery from Broad - pitched on a good length, just outside off-stump.
The pitch covers are on as it's started to rain. 62/1 in the 24th over.
. A maiden over from Anderson. He bowls in the corridor or lands the ball on off-stump. 62/1.
. A full delivery outside off from Woakes, and it's driven awkwardly by Azhar for a couple. Perhaps he had too much bottom hand on that; the ball was squirted away even as the top hand came off when he played that stroke. Two singles from that over as well, and another couple through leg. Runs coming comfortably. 62/1.
. Crack, is the sound off the bat of Azhar Ali as he slices a short-of-a-length delivery from Anderson. The ball races away to the point boundary; the fielder spiritedly sprints after the ball but can't prevent it from reaching the rope. Shot of the session so far. That brings up the 50 partnership as well. 56/1.
. Fifty up for Pakistan with another single to leg. Azhar Ali takes one of the few runs through the off-side when he defends a delivery to point and scampers through. There's a misfield, the batsmen hesitate but eventually decide not to go for the second one. 51/1.
. A full and straight delivery from Sam Curran this time, and it's on-driven - some wrist used to get the placement - by Abid Ali for three runs. A single to leg to make it four runs from the over. 49/1.
. Abid Ali gets hit slightly below the solar plexus. And he goes down, gets himself into a push-up like pose. The physio comes in, he drinks some water. And he's back to face the next delivery. Four slips in place for Abid; Woakes is landing the deliveries on off-stump, but the final delivery is too straight and full, and it's flicked away for a single. Abid keeps strike. 45/1.
. Another edge! But if drops short of Joe Root in the slips. This time it was off Azhar Ali's bat. A single taken from the over bowled by Sam Curran. 44/1.
. A full delivery from Woakes, and it's on-driven nicely by Azhar. Stopped by the fielder at mid-on. Maiden over. 43/1.
. Another flick off a delivery down the leg side results in another single. And then a sharp single taken by Azhar Ali. He gets a full delivery on his legs, digs it out, and sprints down the other end. 43/1.
. Abid Ali edges again, and he's dropped again! Two chances for England wasted! It's a good length delivery outside off, and Abid pushes at it, gets an edge, it flies through to Rory Burns at second slip at shoulder height. It hits his hands, balloons up and lands on the ground a metre or two away. The next delivery is down the leg side, Abid helps himself to a single. 41/1.
It's drinks, at Rose Bowl.
. A couple to leg for Azhar Ali, followed by five dot balls. The last ball was left alone outside off-stump by Azhar, otherwise the deliveries are having to be negotiated by the bat. 36/1.
. Change from both ends as Chris Woakes comes into the attack. And nearly a wicket! Azhar Ali tries to defend a back-of-a-length delivery coming into him but cannot get his bat on the ball, which hits his thigh and trickles away to the stumps. The ball hits the base of the stumps but that doesn't dislodge the bails. No harm done.
Abid Ali's drive off a full delivery gets him a couple, and then Woakes strays on to the pads and it's a four. Off the bat, that one, as it runs away to fine leg. 34/1.
. Sam Curran into the attack now. He is playing his first Test since the second Test of the series against West Indies. He bowls an accurate over; he is getting his deliveries to angle across and then come into the batsman after bouncing. Two singles to leg from that over. 27/1.
. Broad's deliveries coming into Abid Ali are hitting him high up on his thigh. So the bowler adjusts his length and bowls fuller; the batsman gets an inside edge on that and runs a single. If he hadn't got a bat to that, it would have been a good lbw shout. Two singles from that over. 25/1.
. Testing times for Abid Ali as he tries to deal with some excellent deliveries from Anderson. The penultimate delivery of the over is one of the best bowled so far; it comes in with the angle, pitches on a length, and straightens. Abid Ali does well to avoid nicking that one. He acknowledges the quality of that with a nod of the head. 23/1.
. Broad strays down the leg side. It's a good-length delivery and Abid Ali attempts to tuck it away; it hits his thigh pad and runs away, evading the diving wicketkeeper. Four leg-byes. Otherwise, a probing over. 22/1.
. Three runs from the over from Anderson - a couple and a single. He bowls in the corridor as well, and Azhar Ali plays carefully. 18/1.
. Broad to Azhar Ali, in the corridor, and the ball narrowly misses the outside edge. A few outside, and then one comes into the right-hander. Azhar flicks it away for a couple. He gets a full delivery and drives to get two more. 15/1.
. Anderson bowls full, Abid Ali goes for the drive again, and this time he connects well, collecting a boundary through extra-cover. The first boundary off the bat. Anderson corrects his length immediately and gets the deliveries to come into the right hander. 11/1.
. Three slips and a gully for Broad as he bowls to Abid Ali, who negotiates the deliveries cautiously. And dropped! Abid Ali goes for the drive, gets an edge to second slip; Dom Sibley at third slip goes to his left and it's dropped. The batsmen run a single. As in the previous Test in Manchester, the slip fielders seem too close to each other; this was Rory Burns' catch at second slip but Sibley gets his hands ahead of Burns and cannot hold on. It hits his fingers and rolls away. 7/1.
. A loud shout for lbw but turned down by the umpire; it may have pitched outside leg-stump and may have gone over, too. Next ball, the ball lands within the tramlines and hits Shan Masood on his knee roll as he came forward for a tentative prod. The umpire raises his finger and Pakistan loses its first wicket. 6/1.
. There's good bounce. A delivery from Stuart Broad kicks off from a length and Abid Ali, stuck in his crease, does well to avoid getting a bat on that. Buttler collected that at shoulder height. A maiden over. 6/0.
. In an otherwise accurate over, Anderson stays down the leg side on the penultimate delivery and Shan Masood helps it on its way past the wicketkeeper. It was off his pads, leg byes. Boundary. Two singles as well, in that over. 6/0 in one over.
. James Anderson to start the proceedings in this second Test. Azhar Ali looks ponderous in the dressing room balcony, he'll be very keen for a win here.
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Pakistan wins the toss and chooses to bat.
One change for Pakistan: Shadab Khan makes way for Fawad Alam, who makes a comeback to the team after 11 years . For England, Zak Crawley replaces Ben Stokes, and Sam Curran replaces Jofra Archer. These are the final XIs:
England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jos Butler (wk), Chris Woakes, Dom Bess, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (c), 4 Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah.
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Having lost the first Test from a winning position, Pakistan takes on England in the second Test at the Rose Bowl today with an aim to level the series. Our correspondents preview the match.
-Jos Buttler’s wicketkeeper was under the scanner in the first Test, and he had been quiet with the bat for the last few games. But he shone through in the second innings, helping England chase down its target of 277. Here’s what Shane Warne had to say about Buttler .
- James Anderson has taken seven wickets in six innings since the start of the Test series against West Indies. He will hope to shine in this Test; the last time he took a five-wicket haul in a Test innings was in January, 2020, in Cape Town.
Joe Root: Write off Jimmy Anderson at your own peril
- England hasn’t played a Test without Ben Stokes since July, 2019, when it played Ireland in a two-Test series. Only time will tell whether the team performs well here without the special, in-form player. He’s assumed a talismanic role in recent years, has Stokes. Here’s an appreciation piece.
Ben Stokes, don of the new era
- This will be Pakistan’s first Test at Rose Bowl, Southampton. It’s played just five ODIs here, winning one and losing four. For England, this will be its fifth Test here; it’s won two and lost one. The loss was against West Indies in the recently-concluded Test series.
A possible exciting clash awaits us in the second England-Pakistan Test after the thriller last week. Yasir Shah and the rest of the Pakistan bowlers will be wiser after that first Test and may have a plan up their sleeve when faced with a counterattacking partnership.
Pakistan had England on the ropes on the fourth day, before Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes turned it around for England.
The wagon moves to Southampton now, after three back-to-back Tests at Old Trafford. What's the weather going to be like? "Thundery showers and a gentle breeze," says BBC , with a maximum of 26 degrees celcius and a minimum of 19 degrees.
SQUADS
England: Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Dom Bess, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Ollie Robinson.
Pakistan: Abid Ali, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Fawad Alam, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah.
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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