After a 10-wicket opening day for Pakistan there were slim pickings for England to follow up. Gone was the nibble off the seam exploited so well by Sohail Khan, and though there was cloud cover, particularly later on in the afternoon, there was little swing either for Jimmy Anderson and Chris Woakes in particular to exploit. Reverse swing was there none and the pace of the pitch meantime, while never pacy on the first day, was sluggish as if the groundsman had dressed it with Mogadon overnight. No movement when pitched up then and the ball slunk sullenly through when hammered in short of a length.
The Pakistan batsmen painstakingly took advantage, carefully constructing their reply being mindful the game is scheduled for five days and a big first innings lead should be a priority. It would mean their wrist spinner, Yasir Shah, who played such an important defensive role first time around, could have free rein to attack in the second.
For the most part, though, the England pace bowlers, lacking in penetration as they might have been, were still able to keep things in check. The score ambled along all day, breaking into a trot only when Moeen Ali was given a turn, although his appearance has always been a bugle call this summer when the seamers have largely held sway.
By the close Pakistan had reached 257 for three, a strong platform although still 40 runs shy of England and vulnerable to the second new ball which is only 10 overs old. The day was dominated by a second-wicket partnership of 181 between Azhar Ali and Sami Aslam, not broken until half an hour after tea, after Anderson had claimed the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez with the fourth ball of the innings. When the 20-year-old Aslam was run out for 82 he was 18 runs shy of becoming the youngest opening batsman to score a Test century in this country.
Azhar, though, was able to complete the 10th hundred of his Test career and got to within one delivery of being able to resume on the third morning. Unfortunately for him he chose the last ball of the day, from Woakes, to try and force off the back foot, the edge flying face high to Alastair Cook at first slip, who took an excellent catch, the more so for the timing of it: easy to have your mind on the dressing room. Azhar made 139 from 293 balls, with 15 fours and a six. Younis Khan, on 21, will resume instead with Misbah-ul-Haq. It was an important wicket for England.
If discipline with the bat has all too often not been a strong point of Pakistan cricket, then the thrust of the day was the antithesis. Things could not have begun much worse for them. Spectators had scarcely had time to take their seats when Hafeez slapped Anderson’s long-hop loosener to Gary Ballance at point, rather than scorching the turf on the way to the boundary.
Any ideas this was a precursor to a Pakistan procession were disabused over the next four hours. Azhar has occupied the England bowlers before, in the UAE during the winter, when, over almost nine hours, he made 157 in the second Test in Dubai. There is nothing complicated about his method which is well-balanced; he moves into line readily, is neat off his legs and hip, and, until the very last, played with great discretion when not absolutely required to play a shot. A couple of times, against Moeen, as if for a bit of light relief, he opened his shoulders, belting him once over long on and scattering the beer-drinkers in the stand.
Azhar offered two chances, neither of them easy but both of which, on a day when there was so little on offer, needed to be taken. In the morning, when 38, he had an uncharacteristic crooked little dart at Anderson outside off stump, the ball flying fast and shoulder high to Joe Root at second slip, who got his hands there but could not cling on. Later, on 69, and with the tea interval imminent, he blasted Moeen straight back at the bowler, the ball travelling at such pace that it burst through his hands; a wonder he had hands left.
The England bowlers might have anticipated a day in which they had more success than the first-over strangle. The ball did beat the bat on occasion, perhaps more than the scorecard suggests, but it was drudgery.
Anderson was not at his best and his general disgruntlement was only enhanced when he received a brace of official warnings from Bruce Oxenford for encroaching on to the line of the stumps in his follow-through; another and that is him done for the rest of the innings.
His opening partner, Stuart Broad, was off target and appears to be relying heavily on pushing the ball into the right-hander, so that he needs to be careful he does not lose his away swing as a result, as happened to Anderson for a period of time a few years back.
Nor was there joy for the other two seamers. Woakes on his home ground was lively enough, and sometimes skiddiness can be more effective on slow pitches, but he could not find the movement he craves until the second new ball and Azhar’s indiscretion. Steve Finn ran in hard and generated some good pace, although his best length is a heavy one and any attempt to rectify that can lead to a floatiness.
England’s only other wicket was down to Pakistan enthusiasm and the athleticism in the field of James Vince. Azhar and Aslam had been proactive in looking for quick singles during their stand and they appeared to have a good understanding.
Now though Azhar pushed one short towards cover point and set off head down. His partner responded, as juniors tend to do, but Vince swooped in, collected with one hand and had time to take aim and detonate the leg stump from the ground.
