All things considered, not least the fragility of their collective minds after suffering virtual dismemberment in the second Test at Old Trafford, it was an excellent day for Pakistan.
Putting England in to bat might have seemed a gamble on the part of Misbah-ul-Haq – although recent history of Tests here would argue otherwise – but it paid dividends. So, too, did the straight exchange of a left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz for a right-armer, Sohail Khan, hitherto a bowler with a single Test wicket in a two‑match career and an absence from the national side of five years.
Sohail bowled with vigour and enthusiasm, hurtling himself willingly into the fray, and finished the day with five for 96 for his pains. There is something rather heartwarming in that. The change of line offered by Sohail might also have had some bearing on the indifference of the England batting, which had become used to an exclusively left-arm Pakistan pace attack.
A number of batsmen played themselves in well enough – Alastair Cook, James Vince, Gary Ballance and Moeen Ali – but only the latter pair progressed beyond a half‑century, with Ballance top-scoring with 70 before finding another unfortunate way to get out to Yasir Shah.
Moeen, though, had played a hand that was steadfast rather than reckless (we should not forget that only a few years ago he played one of England’s finest rearguard innings against Sri Lanka), and reached a well-constructed half-century from 99 balls. Looking to be a little more expansive in the latter stages, however, when he had the tail for company, Moeen was finally caught behind off Mohammad Amir, who was using the second new ball to finish things off. England were all out for 297 right on stumps.
Moeen’s innings had its controversial moment, however, or one at least in which the apparent anomalous nature of the decision review system manifested itself. He had made 44 when he attempted to sweep Yasir, the ball ballooning from pad to short leg, who completed a diving catch. Bruce Oxenford, the umpire, duly dispatched the batsman as having been caught, whereupon Moeen sought a review. The ball may have flicked a glove or wrist on rebound from the pad, which had been hit first, but neither HotSpot nor Real Time Snicko could provide conclusive evidence, so Moeen was reprieved on those terms.
The confusion now lay in Hawk-Eye showing that he might have been lbw, although there was an umpire’s call in that. However as Oxenford, in giving the catch, had implicitly given him not out for lbw, that decision also stood. What a simple game it is.
If Misbah’s decision to field first might have had an element of wariness regarding the England seamers, then he will have known that no side since Ricky Ponting’s infamous 2005 decision (if you are Australian) to put England in have won a Test at Edgbaston by batting first. Furthermore, scores in the first innings of matches since have been 141, 231, 263, 72, 224, 426 – although that represented a recovery from 283 for nine thanks to Tino Best – and 136. So a gamble, but one based on some solid empirical evidence.
Wednesday’s twin failures of Cook, a relative one given his sumptuous form of late, and Joe Root, were reflected in England’s fortunes, with only Ballance, showing great diligence, and furthering his case.
Alex Hales helped Cook to add 36 for the first wicket, but received an excellent delivery from Sohail that feathered his edge: the batsman’s slow trudge back was that of a fellow who knows there are not many chances left now.
The loss of Root, soon after, caught at slip while trying to force off the back foot, was a huge blow for England, as was that of Cook, lbw to Rahat Ali for what, by his standards, was a skittish 45 with eight boundaries, although the call on the line of impact was marginal.
Vince and Ballance went some way to rectifying the situation with a fourth-wicket stand of 69. While Ballance played his own idiosyncratic way, stepping back and across the crease, initially from a guard taken half a pace out of his crease, Vince was doing his utmost not to be dragged into driving outside his off‑stump, a huge exercise in self-denial.
If it looked a struggle, then there was one nicely timed clip through midwicket, generally a no-go area for him until, predictably, he was seduced, and edged a catch low to Younis Khan at second slip who, with the ball seemingly staying airborne longer than it ought, swooped to slip his hands under it at grass height. Vince stood his ground and it was referred to the third umpire, who had no such doubts. Vince had scrapped for his 39 but, as is the case with Hales, it is not yet anything like sufficient.
A poor shot from Jonny Bairstow, looking to cut something that was too close to his body and which bounced a fraction, brought Ballance and Moeen together and they batted as comfortably as any pair all day to add 66.
Ballance at least knows how to construct a Test innings and has the temperament to do so, and looked set to add to his four Test hundreds. There were 10 boundaries from him, the last of which was threaded beautifully through the legside guard of fielders posted for Yasir, the shot of the day. But next ball, with the bowler around the wicket, he shuffled across his stumps, tried to flick a turning leg‑break but succeeded only in edging down the leg side to the wicketkeeper, Sarfraz Ahmed, who took the third of his five catches with excellent anticipation.
