England score 657 runs in 1st innings, Zahid Mehmood takes 4 wickets in Pindi Test
Abdul Jabbar Faisal
RAWALPINDI: Two well-composed, flawless, and unbeaten innings, Imam-ul-Haq (90) and Abdullah Shafiq (89) responded positively to England, who gathered a gigantic total of 657 runs in their first innings. Green Shirts were 181 for 0 runs in 51 overs and the duo of opening batters amused the spectators of twin cities Rawalpindi and Islamabad here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Abdullah Shafiq and Imam-ul-Haq began Pakistan's innings with buoyancy and did not try to play any needless strokes and waited patiently for the poor balls till the end of the day. Left-handed batter Imam-ul-Haq hammered 90 runs studded with 13 boundaries and a six while his partner Abdullah scored stupendous 89 runs innings, as he smashed 10 fours and a couple of sixes during his 158-ball innings.
Both batsmen were unbeaten when the field umpires Ahsan Raza and Joel Wilson decided to call off the day-2 game owing to bad light. Hosts openers Abdullah Shafiq and Imam-ul-Haq will resume their first innings on Saturday morning at 181 for 0.
No English bowler either spin or pacer could not impress with the ball on the day and flat batting pitch.
Earlier, on Friday morning, England restarted their first innings at an overnight score of 506 runs for 4 and the visitors threw their rest of six wickets in 125 minutes after adding 151 to their total of 657 runs. In the very first over of the day, they lost their vital wicket of captain Ben Stoke, who hit a six at the start of the innings, as it seemed that when he entered into the field the world record of the fastest Test century was in his mind, as he hit a huge six on the first ball that he faced but failed to achieve that a mindset target. Ben was clean bowled by Naseem Shah on the last ball of the first over of the day. He scored 41 runs in 18 balls.
On the other side, Harry Brook continued his previous day batting pace and knocked 5 sixes and 19 fours during his 153 runs innings in 116 balls. Ollie Robinson (37) and Will Jack (30) were other main contributors in England’s total. Ollie hit six four and one six while Will smashed 4 boundaries during their 29 and 37 balls innings respectively.
Zahid Mehmood was the most successful bowler for Pakistan, as he claimed 4 wickets in his first Test match after conceding 235 runs. Pacer Naseem Shah chipped in 3 wickets for 140 runs, as he hit at the backbone of England's batting line in the morning session. Naseem’s spell restricted the visitors batting to score over 700. Pacer Mohammad Ali and Haris Rauf shared 2 and 1 wicket respectively.
Summarized Scorecard (Day-1):
Toss: England won and decided to bat
England (Batting): 657 all out in 101 overs
Harry Brook (153 runs, 116 balls, 4x19, 6x5), Zak Crawley (122 runs, balls 111, 4x2, 6x0), Ollie Pope (108 runs, 104 balls, 4x14), Ben Duckett (107 runs, 110 balls, 4x15, 6X0), Joe Root (23 runs, 31 balls, 4x3, 6x0), Ben Stoke (41 runs, 18 balls, 4x6, 6x2)
Pakistan Bowling:
Zahid Mehmood (4 for 235), Naseem Shah (3 for 140), Mohammad Ali (2 for 124), Haris Rauf (1 for 78)
Pakistan Batting:
Imam-ul-Haq 90 runs not out (148 balls, 4x13, 6x1), Abdullah Shafiq 89 runs not out (158 balls, 4x10, 6x2)
Pakistan (Playing XIs):
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain & WK), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mehmood
England (Playing XIs):
Ben Stokes (c), Joe Root, James Anderson, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Jack Leach, Liam Livingstone, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson
Schedule of Tests:
9-13 December – 2nd Test, Multan
17-21 December – 3rd Test, Karachi
