CLOSE OF PLAY: England 314-4
A fine day for England, who won a good toss on a flat wicket and batted with class and discipline. Alastair Cook made an excellent 105, Joe Root an even better 141 not out – his first Test hundred at No3 – and he receives handshakes from most of the Pakistan players as he leaves the field. England should be able to dictate the game from here. Thanks for your company, goodnight.
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89th over: England 314-4 (Root 141, Woakes 2) We won’t get the 90 overs in despite the extra half-hour, but Yasir Shah is coming on for the 89th and final over. It’s a good idea but bears no fruit for Pakistan, and that’s stumps.
88th over: England 313-4 (Root 140, Woakes 2) A maiden from Rahat to Woakes. So, England’s lower order in this innings will be Bairstow, Stokes, Moeen, Broad and Anderson. They’ve had weaker top fives than that. And it’s a slight improvement on the infamous lower order from the Oval Test of 1999.
87th over: England 313-4 (Root 140, Woakes 2) Given both the personal and team context, this has been an immense performance from Root. There are no signs of fatigue, or of being happy with 140, as he diligently plays out a maiden from Mohammad Amir. He’ll be desperate to beat his Test-best score of 200 not out tomorrow.
86th over: England 313-4 (Root 140, Woakes 2) In fact, Chris Woakes is a Test No6 once again. He has come in as nightwatchman, and gets off the mark with a push for two. I can’t decide whether sending Woakes in at this stage is an insult or a compliment.
WICKET! England 311-4 (Ballance b Rahat Ali 23)
Ahem. That’s an irritating blow to England so close to the end of the day, and a poor shot from Ballance. He tried to cut a delivery from Rahat that was far too close for the shot, and could only drag it back onto the stumps. If England send in a nightwatchman here, Chris Woakes could be a Test No10 tomorrow.
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85th over: England 311-3 (Root 140, Ballance 23) Pakistan’s good cheer has been tested today but they have kept on smiling, particularly Amir and Yasir. Amir tries a bit of short stuff to Ballance, with his second bouncer called a wide. England will be annoyed if they lose a wicket before the close at 6.30pm because at the moment they look relatively comfortable.
84th over: England 309-3 (Root 140, Ballance 22)
@TimdeLisle What's with a guy going in T 5 who can't hit it off the square, when it's foot down time. Bairstow & Stokes 4 & 5 surely.
— Quintin Jardine (@QuintinJardine) July 22, 2016
If they were 400 when the third wicket fell I’d agree, but 238 for three against Pakistan can easily become 250 all out. He also tends to accelerate the longer he bats.
83rd over: England 305-3 (Root 139, Ballance 20) If England are three down at the close, they should be able to pick their own score tomorrow. They could either bat for around three hours and get 550 before declaring, or go on to 700 and give themselves three and a bit days to bowl Pakistan out twice. I do like the old Allan Border tactic of completely humiliating the opposition (okay, England) by batting until lunch on the third day, declaring on 650 for four and then bowling out the opposition (okay, England) twice to win by an innings. But modern captains are more likely to push things forward, so I’d expect them to aim for a declaration about an hour after lunch.
82nd over: England 302-3 (Root 137, Ballance 19) Balance – I SAID BALLANCE YOU STUPID AUTOCORRECT – leans into a swinging half-volley from Rahat Ali and crashes it through the covers for four. That takes England past 300. It’s been a superb day for them, with two thoroughly admirable centuries from Cook and especially Root.
81st over: England 298-3 (Root 137, Ballance 15) Amir waits impatiently to receive the second new ball from Kumar Dharmasena. His first ball is on the hip and dragged round the corner for four by Root. There is a bit of swing to encourage Amir, and Ballance, playing one of those weird defensive shots where he just leaves his bat out in front, edges the last ball into the ground and wide of second slip for four more.
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80th over: England 289-3 (Root 132, Ballance 11) Root works Yasir off the pads for a couple and drives another single off the back foot. He’s stockpiling runs before the second new ball, which is due at the end of this over.
79th over: England 281-3 (Root 128, Ballance 9) Root may have had trouble turning fifties into hundreds, but once he gets to three figures he usually makes it count. These are his ten Test centuries in descending order: 200*, 182*, 180, 154*, 149*, 134, 130, 128*, 110, 104.
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78th over: England 281-3 (Root 126, Ballance 9) “I’m with Graeme Swann on this one. Joe Root should not be England captain...and I’m a Yorkie,” says John Marshall. “Why risk taking away everything that is great about Joe Root. He’s the perfect cheeky chappy vice-captain that lifts the team when needed - you can’t be that and the guy who has to tell someone they’re dropped. Just because he’s the best batsman it doesn’t mean he’s automatically the best captain. I’m sure he could do the job but whether it is best for the team I’m not so sure. There’s not many other obvious choices I admit, but I’d probably go for Stuart Broad...shock, horror, a bowler, I know.”
I wouldn’t rule it out – you never know how people will change in their late twenties – but I certainly wouldn’t have it as nailed-on as seems to be the case now. Sachin Tendulkar is a decent lesson that it doesn’t work for everyone, and it doesn’t have to be your best player. I assume it won’t be an issue until at least after the 2017-18 Ashes, by which time other candidates may have emerged. In the long-term, if he cracks Test cricket, I think Jos Buttler might be a good outside bet.
77th over: England 279-3 (Root 125, Ballance 8) Root swivel-pulls Wahab smoothly for four, splitting the two fielders on the fence perfectly. That was a beautiful shot could easily have been played by one of the great No3s, Ricky Ponting. I think this is a really exciting day for England. Great No3s don’t come along every century. Root has a serious chance of becoming one after this.
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76th over: England 274-3 (Root 121, Ballance 7) “Didn’t Robin Smith do well at No3 for a little while,” asks Paddy Blewer, “particularly against the Windies?” Not so much: his best work was done between four and six. From memory I think he made around 3496 of his 4236 Test runs in those positions.
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75th over: England 274-3 (Root 121, Ballance 7) Wahab has moved around the wicket now. He bowls consecutive no-balls to Root, and looks about as exasperated with the umpire as I am with auto-correct every time I type Ballance.
“Meaningless geeky stay alert,” announces Tom Bowtell. “For the second time this summer an Englishman’s average exactly matches his strike rate - this time Root with 53.94. “Maybe this happens a lot with top batsmen averaging in 40s & 50s.” Or with Chris Tavaré.”
74th over: England 271-3 (Root 120, Ballance 7) Ballance inside-edges Yasir onto the thigh, with the ball looping well short of Azhar Ali at short leg.
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73rd over: England 271-3 (Root 120, Ballance 7) Wahab is trying to drag himself into Shane Watson mode. He rips a bouncer past Root’s chest, which is harshly called no-ball, and then has a yorker squeezed out.
Hello again. I’m not sure England have ever had a great, long-term No3. The most productive, Wally Hammond, made 3440 runs in that position, which only puts him 16th on the all-time list. And they came in a few different spells. After today’s streetwise hundred, an important breakthrough in that position, surely only the dreaded captaincy can stop Root scoring thousands of runs at No3 over the next six or seven years before he drops back down the order in his dotage.
Essential drinks-break reading
72nd over: England 265-3 (Root 117, Ballance 6) Yasir was only changing ends. Not content with being the most prolific starter in Test history, he intends to be the hardest-working man in showbusiness too. Root works him round the corner for a single, Yasir gets what looks like a warning for running on the pitch, that’s drinks, and it’s time for me to hand over to Rob Smyth. Thanks for reading. Sound of the day so far: the crowd singing “nah, nah, nahhhh, na-nuh-na-nahh, Joe Root”.
71st over: England 264-3 (Root 116, Ballance 6) Yasir, who has bowled 85 overs in eight days, takes a break. Wahab returns, with a no-ball, and follows up with a half-volley, which Root dispatches for four through the covers, in a way that demands to be described (with apologies to Cathy Anderton, 13:09) as dreamy. Two more cover-drives bring him only a dot and a single.
70th over: England 258-3 (Root 111, Ballance 6) Root swivels and pulls Rahat for an easy two, seeing it big and seeing it early. He adds a quick single: since passing 100, he’s been nicely purposeful.
69th over: England 255-3 (Root 108, Ballance 6) Ballance joins the party with an off drive for four. And that’s the third hundred of the past hour or so – conceded by Yasir. England have played him so much better here, and they have taken a big step towards turning the series round.
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68th over: England 251-3 (Root 108, Ballance 2) These two are well used to batting together for Yorkshire and England. They take a single apiece off Rahat, and then Root clips him for four through the on side to bring up the 250. And there are still 22 overs to go tonight.
67th over: England 245-3 (Root 103, Ballance 1) Yasir, meanwhile, continues to run straight into the law of averages. He has none for 97.
“England HAVE to get 500 here,” says Richard Hands. “Don’t they?” I’d settle for 400 myself.
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66th over: England 244-3 (Root 102, Ballance 1) Ballance almost perishes as Rahat curls a classical outswinger past his outside edge, lefty to lefty. With the two hundreds and the two wickets all coming in a rush, this match has become every bit as bittersweet as Lord’s.
65th over: England 244-3 (Root 102, Ballance 1) Ballance, crabby but confident, gets off the mark with a nurdle off Yasir. And Root clips through midwicket to reach a terrific hundred, his tenth in Tests, off 167 balls, with 14 fours, many of them delicious. “What a high-class knock that is,” says Nasser Hussain.
@garynaylor999 @TimdeLisle Other way round for me. Technically pretty good, just a bit woolly between the ears. Dopey. Error-prone.
— Scott Oliver (@reverse_sweeper) July 22, 2016
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64th over: England 238-3 (Root 97, Ballance 0) Amir takes a breather after an exacting spell, Root cashes in by cutting Rahat for four, and then Vince falls – driving loosely, again; failing to build on a start, again; and this time, failing to make use of a missed chance. It’s not his fault he’s up at No.4, but he’s not helping himself either. Is the collapse on?
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WICKET! England 238-3
Vince nicks Rahat, thinks about reviewing but drags himself off. Out for 18.
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63rd over: England 233-2 (Root 92, Vince 18) Another Root single, and another Vince four – a whippy flick to midwicket, which was a clever piece of improv as Yasir hurried one on to him. Then Vince leaves a ball that shaves his off stump. He could not be accused of being boring.
62nd over: England 228-2 (Root 91, Vince 14) Root continues to take singles. Vince tries to tighten up. And an OBO veteran plays devil’s advocate:
Talent and tenacity are fine, it's technique that Vince lacks @TimdeLisle
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 22, 2016
61st over: England 227-2 (Root 90, Vince 14) Vince cuts Yasir for a stylish four, a mirror image of Cook. Then he cover-drives him for four more, a mirror image of David Gower. He has raced to 14. Yasir, after taking 10 for 141 at Lord’s, has none for 85 here, but I wouldn’t write him off yet.
60th over: England 219-2 (Root 90, Vince 6) Root, who has been so controlled, wafts at Amir and almost gets a nick. Then he plays and misses again, less flirtatiously. Amir has been the biggest threat by far. Everyone deserves a second chance and he is taking his with both hands.
An erudite email arrives from Jeff Docherty. “Root by chance in Classical Chinese thinking is ‘Ben’,” he notes. “It carries a symbolic meaning of providing a basis, a foundation, the trunk. If the trunk is removed, all that is built on that foundation is lost. Keep going Joe!”
59th over: England 219-2 (Root 90, Vince 6) Root slips into the nineties while no one is looking at him. Vince, chastened, knuckles down and gets forward to Yasir.
58th over: England 218-2 (Root 89, Vince 6) Vince escapes, perhaps thanks to Younus standing too close at second slip. The stroke was flaky, which seems to be right in character, alas. It’s the fourth chance missed in the series off Amir, who would have nine wickets if they had all stuck.
DROPPED!
Vince flashes at Amir, a sharp chance to second slip, and Younus Khan can’t hold on.
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57th over: England 217-2 (Root 88, Vince 6) Root helps himself to a single off Yasir’s first ball, showing that he doesn’t feel the need to monopolise the strike. Vince repays his faith with a wristy flick for two and a chunkier one for four. He clearly has the talent; we will see if he has the tenacity.
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56th over: England 210-2 (Root 87, Vince 0) James Vince may, at a pinch, be an England No.6. He hasn’t done anything so far to suggest he’s a No.4. But that’s where he finds himself, through a curious concatenation of factors: Root’s promotion, Nick Compton’s struggles, James Taylor’s heart condition, Ian Bell’s eviction, Kevin Pietersen’s exile. And thanks to Cook and Root’s heroics, the situation Vince has walked into here is not unlike being at No.6. He starts with a nice solid leave.
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Thanks Rob. Masterful use of Ralph Fiennes there. So England have lost Alastair Cook, just when he was back to his absolute best. His 105 is England’s first Test hundred by a specialist batsman this summer (Bairstow two, Moeen one). Now Joe Root has to go on and make the big hundred that Amir’s rapid daisycutter denied Cook. Root has been superb so far – outscored by Cook since lunch, but still playing beautifully, and judiciously too. We’ve seen a captain’s innings, and a future captain’s innings.
Tea: England 210-2 (Root 87 not out)
It was an almost unplayable grubber from Amir that took the bottom edge and rattled into the stumps. Cook should have been forward but it kept very low. Pakistan really needed that, and will come out after tea hoping to raise hell now that, relatively speaking, they have an end open. Root is still there on 87 - I have no idea why I thought he was in the 90s - and will be joined by James Vince after tea. Root has equalled his highest score at No3, made at Adelaide in the grisly 2013-14 Ashes.
Tim de Lisle will talk you through the first hour after tea; you can email him here. Thanks for your company; bye!
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WICKET! England 210-2 (Cook b Amir 105)
Amir goes around the wickt for the last over before tea. When he overpitches, Root clips a high-class boundary through midwicket and then cuts a single to move to 87. A century today, if he gets it, will mean so much to him after recent events.
But now Cook has gone on the stroke of tea!
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55th over: England 205-1 (Cook 105, Root 82) Cook crunches Yasir through the sliding Amir for four. We are an international newspaper of course, but from an England perspective this was a very good time for Misbah to lose the toss for the first time since 1972. England bat ridiculously deep – Woakes at No9 – and their lower-middle order hitters could do some serious damage with a platform like this.
“There was talk earlier on Sky as to whether Botham or Imran Khan was the better all-rounder, but surely Alastair Cook trumps them both?” says Joe Haycock. “Neither can match Cook’s test batting average of 47 or his outstanding test bowling average of 7, no question for me.” Don’t forget Michael Slater.
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54th over: England 198-1 (Cook 101, Root 80) Root, forced onto the back foot, edges Amir down into the ground and through the vacant fourth-slip area for four. Pakistan are waiting for something to happen; with tea a few minutes away, they might have to wait a bit longer.
53rd over: England 193-1 (Cook 101, Root 75) Misbah tries to burgle a wicket by introducing the part-time legspinner Azhar Ali. Cook plants his front foot and whips to leg in the familiar style for one of three singles in the over.
In a way we had a little sample of how current batsmen would have fared against the 90s bowling monsters not so long ago,” says David Hopkins. “See how England’s rock solid batting order collapsed in the one series where Mitchell Johnson found his range on a consistent basis.” They were exceptional circumstances but yes, it was like seeing privileged kids parachuted into the mean streets of New York for an ill-conceived reality TV show that ends with a series of fatalities.
A HUNDRED FOR COOK!
52nd over: England 190-1 (Cook 100, Root 73) Cook works Amir for two to reach a quite brilliant century, his 29th in Test. It’s one of his fastest too, coming from just 157 balls. From the second over of the day he has been in almost total control, both in defence and attack. It’s not an exaggeration to say this innings could be the difference between winning and losing the series. It’s his first in 11 Tests and his beaming expression shows how much it means.
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51st over: England 187-1 (Cook 98, Root 72) Root decides it’s safe to pull the slog-sweep out, muscling Yasir flat and hard for four. This has been a brilliant demonstration of what I believe we are now supposed to call game-management. Graham Gooch says it’s about how many runs you get, not how you get them. Today it’s been about both. This a classic example of two senior players pointedly writing righting the wrongs of a defeat.
“Cook is no slow accumulator any more is he?” says Gary Naylor. “Sure he’s hardly Brian Lara when it comes to scoring through all 360 degrees, but he has his er... areas and he usually puts away balls when he has the chance.” Good point. His career strike-rate is 47 now.
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50th over: England 180-1 (Cook 97, Root 66) Mohammad Amir returns to the attack, every delivery accompanied by boos and woos and no-ball calls. Oh banter, so much to answer for. Whatever happened to empathy? Root drives lazily for a single, and then Cook is beaten by a full-length jaffa that moves late past the outside edge. Gorgeous bowling. He finds the edge later in the over, but it’s played deliberately with soft hands and scuttles away for four. Cook has 97.
“What with you missing some of the action, probably through lethargy, boredom or being out on the tiles far too often (how much is too much?), and the idle daydreaming going on amongst even the OBO faithful, it’s highly likely to be a high-scoring, record-breaking draw, provided the pitch and weather hold,” says John Starbuck. “It would give us some entertainment, but not a lot of tremendous excitement. Still, adjusting one’s expectations is also a part of cricket.” It is, though there’s no way this match will be a draw. You have my word.
49th over: England 175-1 (Cook 93, Root 65) Since the end of last summer Cook and Root have batted together eight times, with four century stands and a 99. They will bat together a lot more now that Root has gone to No3, and should surely be England’s defining batting partnership for the next few years. Cook brings up the 150 partnership, and moves into the 90s, by square-driving Yasir for four more.
48th over: England 170-1 (Cook 89, Root 64) Wahab’s last spell on Sunday was almost laughably good. This does not compare, mainly because the ball isn’t reversing. There is also nothing like the pace in this pitch that we expected, which is a shame. It might quicken up tomorrow I suppose. For now, Cook has plenty of time to work a boundary through backward point and then repeat the stroke for two more. He has, in the parlance of our time, left a few centuries out there in the last year; he’s 11 runs away from taking one back to the shed with him.
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47th over: England 163-1 (Cook 83, Root 63) Cook has driven nicely today, with great control both down the ground and through extra-cover. That shot brings him two more off Yasir to continue this excellent session for England.
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46th over: England 159-1 (Cook 80, Root 62) “Good afternoon Rob., says Jonathan Lewis. “Just read Curtly Ambrose’s autobiography on holiday. Firstly, what a guy. Comparing the top 15/20 bowlers from the 90s to present day, you realise that Atherton, Stewart, Thorpe and the rest could add five to their averages if they played now. However, I reckon that they wouldn’t change those experiences and battles against the greats for anything. I also wondered if the 90s produced the highest quality batch of bowlers across all test countries at one time or am I just remembering those days more fondly.”
Yes exactly. In a different era they’d have scored thousands more, but the ones they scored wouldn’t have been nearly as sweet. Imagine how good it must feel to make 154 not out out of 252 on a nasty pitch against Ambrose, Marshall, Patterson and Walsh. If you are talking about all the teams rather than a few countries, I’d say the 1990s was easily the strongest era of pace bowling there has been. You had Warne, Murali, Kumble, Mushtaq, Symcox and Saqlain as well.
45th over: England 156-1 (Cook 78, Root 61) On Sky, Nasser Hussain reminds us that these two have struggled to convert fifties into hundreds of late – one in the last eight for Cook, one in the last 10 for Root. Cook moves to 76 with a fine cover-driven boundary off Yasir, who switches back over the wicket as a result. An excellent over for England, 11 from it, though the last of those came from a Cook inside-edge that only just fell short of short leg.
“Tut tut,” says Donald. “Please inform Guy Hornsby that Pakistan are not ‘mavericks’ – they are ‘mercurial’. It’s so important, that.”
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44th over: England 145-1 (Cook 70, Root 58) Wahab moves around the wicket to Root but there is still no sign of movement. England are in a terrific position at the moment. That said, their first innings in this match is a good example of why you should never relax against Pakistan when they have a proper attack.
43rd over: England 143-1 (Cook 69, Root 57) Yasir switches around the wicket to Cook, who gets a thick edge into the off side for a single. He continues from that angle to Root, who ignores a number of deliveries that pitch well outside leg before working a single to midwicket.
“Rob I suspect that there are plenty of us out there but the steady run accumulation and relative lack of drama (Hales’ predictable wicket apart) has lulled us all into a soporific stupor of satisfaction …. hence the lack of anguished comments,” says Alan Smith. “Long may it continue but you’ll probably get a steady stream of angst now I’ve given the kiss of death to the innings.” Would that it were so simple to influence sport.
42nd over: England 141-1 (Cook 68, Root 56) Drinks. “Afternoon Rob,” says Guy Hornsby. “This has the makings of another classic Test match. Despite the previous result, it’s fantastic to have Pakistan back on these shores. They’re still mavericks, of course, but there’s an added steel and match winners there, especially in the bowling, that means they are a match for anyone. This can only be a great thing for cricket in general, as nothing pleases me like seeing the established order upset (and I include England’s renaissance in that, arf). This is proper ‘who blinks first’ cricket. And I’m not going to even put a smidgen of jinx on these two. The truth is, our whole line-up could be out to this lot’s best ball. And that’s just how it should be.”
Indeed. High-class bowling has almost become a rare, magical gift. It would be fascinating to see 1990s attacks on 1990s pitches bowling to 2010s batsmen.
41th over: England 138-1 (Cook 65, Root 56) Cook is irritated by his inability to punish a rare short ball from Yasir. I’m irritated by my inability to keep up with play. One from the over.
“I see a sycophantic headline in, er, the Guardian: ‘Prince George already playing tennis, says mother Kate at Wimbledon’,” says Paul Ward. “Might the young noble be the answer to England’s spin problem for the next Test?”
Do we really want somebody representing our country when he treats animals like this? But that point reminds me of a remarkable aside from David Gower the other year. Apparently, during the 1984 series against the West Indies, England were so desperate for a leg-spinner that they seriously considered picking one from club cricket. To face the West Indies.
40th over: England 137-1 (Cook 64, Root 56) With England in control, Misbah decides it’s time to give the match an intravenous injection of Wahab Riaz. There’s no sign of reverse as he starts to rev up during his first over, from which there are five low-risk runs. Anyone out there?
39th over: England 132-1 (Cook 63, Root 53) Cook gets four more with another classy straight drive off Yasir that nutmegs Root and beats mid-off. Yasir responds with a lovely delivery that takes a leading edge as Cook tries to work to leg and flies well wide of Younus Khan at slip on its way to the boundary.
38th over: England 124-1 (Cook 55, Root 53) This is a long spell from Rahat, presumably to let the ball get older and Wahab and Amir’s legs gets fresher. It will surely reverse-swing at some stage. Rahat’s attempted tempter to Root is called wide, the only run from the over.
37th over: England 123-1 (Cook 55, Root 53) Pakistan live by Geoff Boycott’s maxim about adding two or three wickets to the score, and will hang in the game until they get their wicket. Yasir is starting to get into his work now.
36th over: England 123-1 (Cook 55, Root 53) The sweeper Yasir runs a long way to prevent a boundary when Cook times Rahat through extra cover. Root then ignores his own danger ball – wide, almost yorker length – from Rahat. He has been extremely disciplined so far. You learn a lot more in defeat than victory I suppose.
35th over: England 119-1 (Cook 52, Root 52) Cook pushes Yasir down the ground for four to bring up his half-century, a little masterclass in batting time on the first day of a musn’t-lose match.
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34th over: England 113-1 (Cook 46, Root 52) “I wasn’t surprised when I heard that Adil Rashid was carrying the drinks, but the more I think about it the more puzzled I am,” says Tim Sanders. “Not because he’s a Warne or even a Yasir, but he’s our best spinner judging by the past few seasons in county cricket; and, as Bayliss has emphasised, he would turn the ball away from all their right-handers. Plus as part of a five- or even six-man attack, he wouldn’t have to do a containing job. My guess is they left him out at the last because of the weight attached to dropping a player. Much better, as you say, to see it as a squad of players and rotate / pick the XI for the occasion.”
I agree with pretty much all of this. It’s a bit rough on Rashid, but it’s probably rough that kept Moeen in - with three left-arm seamers, there will be some filth outside the right-handers’ off stump in the fourth innings.
33rd over: England 112-1 (Cook 45, Root 52) You wouldn’t expect Yasir to get much spin on a Friday afternoon even if the game started on a Thursday, so he is probing for LBWs and bowleds. Root is willing himself to play straight, and it’s a maiden.
32nd over: England 112-1 (Cook 45, Root 52) Root has not gone off the pull after after that dismissal at Lord’s. He just intends to play it better, as he does when he drags Rahat behind square for four with excellent placement. A flick to midwicket for two brings him to a fine half-century, the first of his new life at No3, from 86 balls. It’s been a controlled innings, yet he is still scoring at a strike-rate of 59.
I wasn’t sure about moving him to No3 at a time when the middle order was fragile but I’m starting to suspect Trevor Bayliss might know more about cricket than I do! If he and Cook can regularly take England to 100 for one or 150 for one, it should generally make life easier for those below him. I suppose it’s better to have your best player setting the tone at 10 for one than trying to alter it at 20 for two.
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31st over: England 105-1 (Cook 45, Root 45) Yasir is a hypnotic bowler, and that’s my excuse for missing his second over of the afternoon. One from it.
30th over: England 104-1 (Cook 45, Root 44) Cook pushes Rahat pleasantly down the ground for four. England have played it straight today in more ways than one. He is half-beaten later in the over, pushing in the general direction of a length outswinger.
“I was wondering if England’s ongoing issues with the middle order are in part due to the chopping and changing,” says Tony Rowlinson. “James Vince for example is clearly a quality batsman based on his first class record and technique, but there is talk of dropping him after four matches. Surely we need to give him time to adapt which could probably take up to 16 - 20 innings before we know if he is cut out for Test level? I will admit though, I am slightly unconvinced by Hales as an opener.”
Yes, me too, though I would not consider a change until the winter until he has a complete shocker and England are 2-1 down going into the final Test. As for Vince, seven Tests seems to have become the accepted trial period, purely because there are seven Tests in the English summer. I still think we need to be more open-minded about omitting players, and think in terms of a squad rather than an XI.
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29th over: England 99-1 (Cook 41, Root 43) Yasir Shah is worked around the corner for a single by Cook, and I missed the rest of the over because I was daydreaming. Sorry.
@TimdeLisle in now a good time to point out that the top three run scorers in CC are English openers?
— Chris Parker (@ChrisRParker) July 22, 2016
28th over: England 97-1 (Cook 40, Root 42) Rahat Ali starts after lunch, with Misbah placing a man on the point boundary. He is in the action from the first ball, which Root drives for a single. Rahat wasn’t at his best this morning, with some commentators suggesting that’s because he’s no longer allowed to follow through on a full length as he did at Lord’s. Two singles from the over. Root pointedly ignores a tempter wide of off stump, another demonstration of England’s batsmen leaving their ego in the pavilion.
This is a typically good statspot from Tom Bowtell. “After his 81 at Lord’s I had a feeling that Cook has recently scored good runs when England lose: 105 at Bridgetown, 96 against Australia at Lord’s etc. The stats bear this out: since the start of the 2015 West Indies tour last year he averages 50.68 when England lose and 41.07 when they win. Perhaps swinging pitches where England’s seamers thrive are also the sort of surfaces where Cook nicks off early?” Yeah that’s a persuasive theory, and also he has the patience to bat time on flatter pitches like Lord’s last year.
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In 25 years I've never had a leg over cake!! pic.twitter.com/YbqIMiFF6G
— Jonathan Agnew (@Aggerscricket) July 21, 2016
Thanks Tim. Hello folks. It’s Friday, the sun’s out, the cricket is excellent, so let’s start on a negative note. England are in a good position after some worldly batting from Alastair Cook and Joe Root, but the box seat is never that comfortable against Pakistan - as England found out precisely a week ago when Root’s dismissal sparked a steady, match-losing collapse from 118 for one to 272 all out.
You would expect the ball to reverse-swing for Wahab this afternoon, and we know how fragile England’s middle order can be. I suspect this is how it will be for England with the bat in this series; that whatever the circumstances and whatever the score, they will never feel truly in control. A few of them will relish that challenge, especially as it would make any success so much more virtuous. With the quality of bowling on both sides, I have a hunch this is going to be the best series in England since the 2005 Ashes.
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An absorbing morning, with Cook mostly serene, and Root princely. Yasir Shah, a superstar last weekend, has come back down to earth today with six overs, none for 23. But there’s a long way to go and England’s middle order still looks brittle.
“I think it’s time you opened that thesaurus that’s gathering dust,” reckons Cathy Anderton. “You’ve had 2 ‘dreamy’s now – having had a ‘handsome’ and an ‘imperious’. Vocabulary extension would be good for all of us following the OBO.” Harsh but fair. Don’t despair, Cathy: Rob Smyth will be here shortly.
@TimdeLisle Cook's had 10 different opening partners in his Eng career but none have bettered his 1st (Strauss). Where are all the openers?!
— Adam Michie (@flicksandtricks) July 22, 2016
27th over: England 95-1 (Cook 40, Root 41) Cook helps himself to a single off Yasir with an onside push. Shane Warne isn’t happy with his fellow leggie, feeling that he needs to get outside Cook’s off stump. Yasir, like a kid in a huff, serves up a rare full toss, which Root creams away for four. He adds a single to sneak ahead of his boss as the lunch bell sounds. There may be nobody in world sport who would mind less about that than Cook.
LUNCH: England 95-1 (Cook 40, Root 41)
And the second hour belongs to England.
Another view of that back-foot punch from Joe Root #EngvPak pic.twitter.com/BJs0bi4X6T
— Vithushan (@Vitu_E) July 22, 2016
26th over: England 89-1 (Cook 38, Root 36) Root leans into Amir and clips him through midwicket for three. He’s been so fluent this morning that if you didn’t know what happened at Lord’s, you might assume he’d made a hundred in both innings. Cook pulls, equally smoothly, for a single.
@TimdeLisle When Hales gets 100 in the second innings to save/win the match, will that silence the knockers? No, probably not.
— Quintin Jardine (@QuintinJardine) July 22, 2016
25th over: England 85-1 (Cook 38, Root 33) Yasir Shah is back at the other end, and for once he’s bearing gifts: a juicy long hop, which Root punches away, with a straight bat, not the crooked thing he brought to Lord’s. He adds a crisp flick for a single.
“A club I played for,” says Dave, “looked kindly on those whose wives/partners made the best sandwiches. Oh, and pork butchers.” Well, Alice Cook, wife of Alastair, is from a family of sheep farmers.
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24th over: England 80-1 (Cook 38, Root 28) Another single from Cook, another 50 partnership from him and Root. They are so much the best batsmen in this England XI that Pakistan won’t be too bothered until they get to 150. Root plays yet another dreamy back-foot drive for four, and an off-drive for one, but almost plays on in between to keep Amir interested.
23rd over: England 74-1 (Cook 37, Root 23) Root resumes his coaching video and reprises his gorgeous back-foot ease through point for four. Then he tries it again, off a shorter ball, and mistimes it for none.
“Maybe a good principle for selection,” Robin Hazlehurst muses, “would be to follow the school-games-teacher model, as everyone should have grown up on it. Then places could be awarded on the basis of who has actually brought the right kit, who has done all their maths homework, and who was not messing about in the swimming pool in sports class last Tuesday. Oh, and the podgy speccy lad gets in as a bowler because we need someone to keep the scorebook while we’re batting.” I was that lad once. “Or just line them all up against a wall and let the captains pick alternately. Not sure how that works for just one team though.”
22nd over: England 70-1 (Cook 37, Root 19) Yasir comes off, so that’s a little victory for Cook and Root. Mohammad Amir is back, trying the other end. He finds plenty of shape away, but no bite, and Cook merrily watches the ball go by.
“Hi Tim,” says Edmund King. “At what point do England just go ahead and select Haseeb Hameed to partner Cook at the top of the order? I mean, it’s presumably going to happen some day anyway, so isn’t delaying the inevitable just a form of procrastination? And he might even do well.”
21st over: England 70-1 (Cook 37, Root 19) Wahab bowls another wide, and a first no-ball. Root plays a handsome clip off his toes which deserved more than a single.
James Debens picks up the baton. “I like Stephen J Nicholson’s suggestion that England should just pick who turns up on the day. There could be distractions, road-blocks to attending the following day – tickets to a Hoosiers, Kingmaker or Steve Brookstein gig on the eve of the Test; jeroboams of champagne and buckets of chicken vindaloo from Curry Centre sent to the players’ houses/camper vans the night before the Test starts; maybe even VHS box sets of Burke’s Law or Nick Berry’s magnificently calming Harbour Lights could be sent. We’d soon know which players burn with a desire to make the ECB proud.” Has anyone ever burnt with that desire?
20th over: England 66-1 (Cook 36, Root 18) Yasir again: Cook pulls him for a fierce four, and nudges another single. Root, hurried a little by a top-spinner, gets a single too. On Sunday at Lord’s, England got becalmed against Yasir, as Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes went (understandably) into their shells. Today they’ve been very positive against him.
19th over: England 60-1 (Cook 31, Root 17) Wahab keeps it tight until Cook nicks a single and Root resumes his demonstration fo elegance under pressure, unfurling that lovely square back-foot push of his for another four. “Grace personified,” purrs Ramiz Raja, who has the voice to match.
@TimdeLisle The opener quandary is deepening. Getting so desperate we need to think laterally & consider anything... pic.twitter.com/1zjPhMaa2j
— Harry (@FactDeJour) July 22, 2016
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18th over: England 55-1 (Cook 30, Root 13) Yasir has a stifled appeal against Cook, which yields only a leg bye. No real danger, but some encouragement for Yasir (rhymes with Nasser, by the way). Root then mixes sober defence with forces into the covers. If he perishes to Yasir again, it will be through a play-on rather than a yahoo.
17th over: England 54-1 (Cook 30, Root 13) Wahab tries to test Root with a bouncer, but merely ends up conceding a wide. There has been more bounce than pace so far, which should mean that the old ball sits up to be hit.
16th over: England 53-1 (Cook 30, Root 13) Yasir again, and Root cuts him, imperiously. Three fours, three demonstrations of radiant orthodoxy: he’s not just trying to atone for Lord’s, he’s making a coaching video. Then he spoils it a little by mistiming a cover drive and calling Cook for an unduly tight single.
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15th over: England 48-1 (Cook 30, Root 8) Wahab keeps Cook honest, and lures him into his first real play-and-miss by the simple device of getting his line and length spot-on. Brian Statham, looking down on his old haunts, allows himself a smile.
More thoughts on the selectors. “On the basis of his pitch in the 10th over,” says John Starbuck, “I would vote for Tom Adam as selector, if we had a vote (which we haven’t) and if the system worked that way (which it doesn’t). As voting for leaders seems all the rage just now, could we invite the Labour Party to run the (S)election for us?”
“Most clubs I know don’t really bother about selection,” argues Stephen J Nicholson. “They just see who turns up on the day. Could be worth trying?”
14th over: England 48-1 (Cook 30, Root 8) Cometh the end of the first hour, cometh the man of the moment: Yasir Shah. He has a slip but no one at bat-pad, which suggests he wants to start with a maiden, but Cook picks out a watchful single to midwicket. Root, on his best behaviour after Lord’s, defends, first going back, then right forward, and plays a nice back-foot drive for no run. That’s drinks. Honours evenish, Pakistan just ahead.
13th over: England 47-1 (Cook 29, Root 8) Wahab Riaz comes on for Amir, or, to put it another way, Wahab replaces Rehab. Cook drops the bat on a failed yorker and collects a cut-price two, followed by a routine clip for a single. He looks in the mood to make up for missing out on the hundred that was beckoning to him at Lord’s.
12th over: England 44-1 (Cook 26, Root 8) Rahat to Cook: no alarms, and one comfy single to the cover sweeper Misbah has mysteriously posted. Rahat to Root: doughty defence. More from Root here.
11th over: England 43-1 (Cook 25, Root 8) Root plays another sumptuous drive, off Amir, through mid-off, for four. After two indiscretions at Lord’s, Root seems to have resolved to deal only in elegant orthodoxy. But then he shies away from a sharp bouncer and takes it on the shoulder.
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10th over: England 39-1 (Cook 25, Root 4) Cook plays a leg glance off Rahat, a little awkwardly, and gets a streaky four. Then he remembers who he is and plays, or flays, a fabulous cut for four. Ian Botham mentions Beyoncé, but makes the final E silent.
Tom Adam emails about the England line-up. “I guess the thinking behind this selection is that we have to have a spin option, but we also need to bat deep, and so Mo is the best option: Finn can’t bat (and isn’t a spinner) and Vince can’t bowl. But like all chains of reasoning the critical part is the first step and for me that’s where it went wrong. I just don’t see why we have to include a spin option if we don’t have a spinner good enough to trouble these batsmen, and we don’t. If you’re doing nets against Yasir then you can play Mo with your eyes shut using a stick of rhubarb while wearing Geoff’s mum’s pinny. So it seems to me that the reasoning should have gone (a) which fifth bowler is most likely to trouble Pakistan? – answer, Finn, so pick him; (b) who gives way for him? – answer, take the axe to one of Vince or Mo, which probably results in picking Mo since he is a good batsman who could do a bit of spin if desperate. I am available to join any new selectorial structure if my country needs me.”
9th over: England 31-1 (Cook 17, Root 4) Cook keeps Amir at bay and picks up a single. He has turned up with unusually short hair; this military bug is catching. Meanwhile, an interesting point about the opening pair:
@TimdeLisle there's one constant in England's quest to find an opener to bat with Cook, maybe that's where the problem is. #tongueincheek
— (((AndyinBrum))) (@AndyinBrum) July 22, 2016
8th over: England 30-1 (Cook 16, Root 4) Cook, as so often, restores order, easing a short ball from Rahat to backward point for a single. Joe Root greets his first ball with a decisive back-foot block, his second with a confident leave, and his third with a dreamy straight drive for four.
7th over: England 25-1 (Cook 15, Root 0) Hales was dropped, then nearly bowled, then actually bowled, so he can have no complaints. Cook’s long search for a proper opening partner, which seemed to be over when Hales got those patient 80s against Sri Lanka, goes on.
WICKET!
Hales b Amir 10 Castled by an inswinger. Classic stuff.
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DROPPED!
Hales edges Amir through the hands of the man at gully, as Richie used to say, and picks up four.
6th over: England 21-0 (Cook 15, Hales 6) Cook gets his first taste of Rahat, and he likes it, cracking a cut through point for four, although he then gets a leading edge to a yorker to keep Rahat interested. This is already England’s biggest opening stand of the series, beating 8 and 19 at Lord’s.
“Hi Tim,” says Neil Harris. “I hear the outfield is looking a bit churned following the Beyonce & Rihanna concerts. I wonder if there are many single ladies with Umbrellas in the crowd today?”
5th over: England 17-0 (Cook 11, Hales 6) Cook pushes Amir into the covers for two, and the most prolific opener in Test history eases into double figures yet again. Holding reckons there will be a lot of twos today. Less serenely, Cook adds a single on the leg side as Amir shapes one back into his pads and he jabs down on it. The strike is rotated for the first time, and Amir sprays it out wide to Hales as he tries to adjust.
4th over: England 14-0 (Cook 8, Hales 6) Hales gets off the mark with a crisp tuck off Rahat, then survives an LBW appeal to a classic inswinger. It was brushing the bail but wouldn’t have been given, so Misbah is right not to review. Hales celebrates with a glance for four.
“You missed the hashtag from your tribute to Richie,” says Ian Copestake. “The great man may even have called this a schoolboy error once you had explained to him what the hell a hashtag was.”
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3rd over: England 8-0 (Cook 8, Hales 0) Misbah brings in that fourth slip, raising issues of stable doors. Michael Holding approves of the move, but not of the sacrifice of a short leg (“have both”). David Lloyd says, “I don’t think it’s as quick as we all thought.” Amir bowls a maiden, but only by losing his immaculate line and allowing Cook to leave the ball.
In case you missed it: county cricket in record-breaking crowd shock.
An attendance of 27,119, a domestic record for T20s in the UK, watched a thrilling Middlesex victory over Surrey https://t.co/KqTTYy7zHo
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 22, 2016
2nd over: England 8-0 (Cook 8, Hales 0) Rahat Ali asks some tough questions, with his swing and bounce; Alex Hales, who was Rahat’s bunny at Lord’s, just about finds the answers, but the way he reaches for a wide one is not reassuring.
“As the late Michael Winner said re selectors vs head coach,” says James Debens, improbably, “‘What you’ve got to do is make the dog bigger than the box. Not in a bad way like a mad wolf, in a matchbox, but more like a giant, well-behaved Alsatian in a Kleenex box.’ And who can argue with that summation of deciding who has power of selection?”
1st over: England 8-0 (Cook 8, Hales 0) Mohammad Amir finds his line straightaway and gets some swing, but Cook is equal to it, blocking solidly, playing an assured guide to third man for four – but then edging through the vacant fourth slip for a far streakier four. Misbah left the gap and paid the price.
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For Pakistan, the first Test was all about press-ups. For England, it was more about cock-ups.
Now they’ve got to shape up and buck up, and Alastair Cook is out there to set the tone, in his 50th Test as captain. Three others have made it to 50 – Atherton, Vaughan, Strauss – but none to 55. He can cruise past them all before Christmas.
So, should the selectors be deselected? “Hi Rob,” says Ameya Badwe, flatteringly. (He’ll be along later, after generously handing me the new ball.) “Just something about the debate on the selectors for England. Selectors may seem like a bad idea, but I am sure the England football team could improve if there was a panel of ex-players, coaches etc who picked players for a Head Coach.” Hard to see them doing worse. “In that perspective, cricket actually has it pretty good, there are never too many debates about players being left out?” As the examiners used to say: discuss.
The editor of Wisden is excited.
MISBAH-UL-HAQ HAS LOST A TOSS!
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) July 22, 2016
Pakistan are unchanged, so they stick with four bowlers, who are not as weary as they should be after England failed to get to the second new ball in either innings at Lord’s. England have five bowlers, as usual. Their four seamers are all right-armers; Pakistan’s three are all lefties. England have much more depth in the batting, with Chris Woakes, who stayed in for longer than any other Englishman at Lord’s, lurking down at No.9. But that depth won’t be much use if they don’t play Yasir Shah better. Nasser Hussain reckons they should view him not as the new Shane Warne, but the new Anil Kumble – a fine bowler whom England handled pretty well once they decided to treat him as a medium-pacer.
So England will bat first and bowl last, and sure enough, Rashid has been left out, which means Moeen Ali has to bowl the way he did in one tight spell at Lord’s, and shake off the flakiness that can afflict him. After two years as England’s main spinner, he still plays like a batsman who bowls, even when, as now, he is down at No.8.
THE TOSS
England have won the toss and will bat.
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The bookies have Pakistan as favourites for the series, naturally enough – but England as favourites for this match. They got it wrong at Lord’s...
Anderson replaces his understudy, Jake Ball – you didn’t need a selection panel to see the wisdom of that one. Stokes replaces Steve Finn, which is more arguable after Finn suddenly found himself in the second innings at Lord’s: Mike Selvey, the elder of our tribe, would have played them both. England can’t now do that, but they may yet play six bowlers, with Adil Rashid replacing a batsman, most likely James Vince. My uneducated guess is they will revert to type and pack the batting – although you could argue that Rashid will get as many runs as Vince.
PREAMBLE
Morning everyone (RIP Richie). Back-to-back Test matches can be too much of a good thing, but this one is mouthwatering. We’ve had the extra day off. We’ve got the away team on top. We’ve got England making changes – at least two, maybe three. We’ve got a selection debate, in fact the ultimate one: should the selectors be abolished?
We’ve got a proper change of venue, not from the north to the far north as for the poor old Sri Lankans, but from south to north, London to Manchester, garish ties to full-scale fancy dress. We’ve got a ground where England haven’t lost since 2001 – when Pakistan stole the Test at the death. We’ve got the return of Jimmy Anderson, the lord of the Duke. We’ve got the return of Ben Stokes, Mr All or Nothing. The stage is beautifully set.
Hello. Rob will be here shortly. Until then, here’s Joe Root, who sat down for a chat with Donald McRae:
At Lord’s, batting with elegant authority and positive intent, he reached 48. England were 118 for one when Root played a slog sweep which was meant to clatter the leg-spinner Yasir Shar to the boundary. Until that moment Root had looked ready to hit his 10th hundred in his 43rd Test – only for his mistimed shot to loop up into a simple catch for Mohammad Hafeez.
Root’s disgust with himself as he marched off became a telling memory as the match unfolded – for England never regained their composure. He still sounds rueful – even when remembering the assurance he and Cook had shown.
“We played really well and it was so disappointing to get out because we were in such control. Once they got me out they put us back under pressure. But for those 28 overs we played sensible cricket. We rotated the strike, we took the opportunity to score whenever it was there – and that shouldn’t change. You always want to cash in when you can. But the execution of that shot wasn’t the best and I paid the price.
“We were trying to build that partnership. If you’re both there and it’s 200 for one it’s a completely different game. It takes a lot of pressure off the guys below. So it was frustrating and, in hindsight, a big part of the game turning out how it did. If you get to 40 or 50 you shouldn’t gift your wicket to the opposition – which is exactly what I did.
“But it’s called Test cricket because it’s very hard. One small incident can turn a match on its head. It’s a big wake-up call coming into this Test. If I get into a similar position I have to make it count and not give anything to Pakistan.”
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