Pakistan tour of England 2020 Test series, Day 1: The first match of the Test series kicked off today at the old Trafford. Pakistan won the toss and opted to bat. So far Pakistan has registered 139 runs in 49 overs at the loss of 2 wickets. Abid Ali (16 runs) was sent back to the pavilion at 15.1 overs by Jofra Archer. Chris Woakes gave Pakistan skipper Azar Ali (0 runs) no chance to contribute any runs to the visitor’s innings, eliminating him at 18.1 overs.
But lo and behold arrives Babar Azam on the crease with a puffed-up demeanor and owned the stage. He scored a scorching 69* off 100 balls, scoring his 14th Test half-century. Shan Masood assisted him and the duo seamlessly stitched a partnership of 96 runs.
However, rain washed off the game after 121/2 and delayed the match for three hours. The game continued for only 20 minutes after the resumption of the match. The umpires decided to bring it at a halt in the final session due to insufficient lighting. Hence, the action was limited only to 49 overs on the opening day of the series.
Babar Azam reached his 50 runs mark before the rain hindered the game. He was in a terrific form and the attacks of the pacers proved ineffective against him. Shan Masood faced a bit of trouble at the start. Although he soon anchored his position, thanks to some careless bowling work by the English bowlers. Spinner Dom Bess did a satisfactory job but could render little damage to the duo. A disappointing start for the English team and an impressive one for the visitors. The innings will resume from 50th over tomorrow. The host team would not want to repeat the same mistakes again while the opponents would be in the look-out for stacking up the runs at minimum loss.
England Squad: Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root(c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler(w), Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Sam Curran.
Pakistan Squad: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali(c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Fawad Alam, Sohail Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Kashif Bhatti.
