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Pakistan lose skipper Azhar as Shan Masood holds firm against England
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Aug 5, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Pakistan captain
Azhar Ali was out for a duck as the first Test against England got
under way at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
At lunch, the tourists were 53-2, with opener Shan Masood having
batted through a tough session to be 27 not out and Babar Azam
unbeaten on four.
With two leg-spinners in Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan in Pakistan’s
side, there was a logic in Azhar’s decision to bat first after he won
the toss, with his slow bowlers likely to be more effective on a
wearing pitch.
Nevertheless, the overcast skies and piercing floodlights made life
tough for opening batsmen with conditions favouring England’s four-man
pace attack, who had been involved in a recent 2-1 series win over the
West Indies. In contrast, Pakistan’s preparation for this three-match
series amounted to just two intra-squad warm-up games.
Shan Masood and fellow opener Abid Ali did well to survive the
first hour against an unchanged England.
James Anderson, closing in on his 600th Test wicket, took the new
ball on his Lancashire home ground in the company of longstanding
team-mate Stuart Broad, fresh from becoming just the seventh bowler to
take 500 Test wickets.
But it was Jofra Archer, England’s quickest bowler, who made the
breakthrough.
Having tested out Abid Ali with several short-pitched deliveries,
the Sussex paceman, with no obvious change in action, then cleverly
bowled him with a full-length delivery for 16.
And Pakistan’s 36-1 was soon transformed into 43-2 when Azhar was
lbw to Chris Woakes for a six-ball duck after the in-form paceman
moved one back into the right-hander. Azhar reviewed but to no avail.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1818hrs