MANCHESTER: It was Pakistan’s day at Old Trafford on Thursday as first opener Shan Masood propelled them to an impressive first innings total of 326 and then the bowlers ripped through the England top-order on the second day of the first Test.
England were struggling at 92 for 4 at stumps leaving the tourists in a commanding position in the series opener. Pacer Mohammad Abbas took two while Shaheen Afridi and Yasir Shah took one wicket apiece.
The biggest hero for Pakistan was Shan, who joined a select group of Pakistan batsmen to have scored hundreds in three successive Test innings with an impressive 156.
Later, England collapsed to 12-3 with star batsman Ben Stokes out for a duck. It took Pakistan just four balls to strike, with Rory Burns lbw for four to towering left-arm paceman Shaheen Afridi.
Pakistan were soon celebrating again when Mohammad Abbas had Dom Sibley lbw, the batsman wasting a review when clearly out.
But there was no need for the third umpire to get involved when Abbas bowled left-handed batsman Stokes for a seven-ball nought with a superb delivery that clipped the top of off-stump.
Earlier, Shan batted for nearly eight hours in largely bowler-friendly conditions for a Test-best 156, surpassing his 135 against Sri Lanka in Karachi in December.
He received excellent support from Shadab Khan (45) in a sixth-wicket stand of 105 that turned the tide after Pakistan had been struggling at 176-5.
Pakistan had managed just 48 runs for the loss of three wickets in Thursday’s first session to reach 187-5 at lunch.
But with five overs until the new ball, England captain Joe Root bowled his own occasional off-breaks immediately after the interval, while frontline spinner Dom Bess bowled from the other end. They bowled several loose deliveries to release the pressure on the batsmen. Shan and Shadab added 27 in those five overs.
Although Root took the new ball as soon as he could, with Pakistan 214-5 off 80 overs, the runs continued to flow.
There were no nervous 90s for Shan, who had been reprieved twice on 45 by Jos Buttler on Wednesday after the wicketkeeper dropped a catch and missed a stumping off the unfortunate Bess.
Two late-cut boundaries off Stuart Broad took him to 96 before twos off Broad and James Anderson saw Shan to a 251-ball century, including 13 fours.
With the series being played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus, there was none of Pakistan’s traditional enthusiastic crowd support to acclaim the landmark.
Instead, Shan’s team-mates clapped and cheered the 30-year-old from the changing room balcony, with batting coach Younis Khan joining the applause.
Shan is the sixth Pakistan batsman to score a hundred in three consecutive Test innings after Zaheer Abbas, Mudassar Nazar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq.
Shadab holed out off Bess with a mistimed slog to mid-on.
Jofra Archer took two tail-end wickets off successive deliveries before Shaheen Afridi survived the hat-trick.
Shan hoisted and drove Bess for two sixes before falling lbw after tea to Broad, having faced 319 balls and hitting 18 fours. Broad led England’s attack with 3-54 from 22.3 overs. Archer also took three wickets.
Score Board
Pakistan won toss
Pakistan 1st Innings
Shan Masood lbw b Broad 156
Abid Ali b Archer 16
*Azhar Ali lbw b Woakes 0
Babar Azam c Root b Anderson 69
Asad Shafiq c Stokes b Broad 7
Mohammad Rizwan c Buttler b Woakes 9
Shadab Khan c Root b Bess 45
Yasir Shah lbw b Archer 5
Mohammad Abbas c Root b Archer 0
Shaheen Afridi not out 9
Naseem Shah c Buttler b Broad 0
Extras (b1, lb7, nb2) 10
Total (all out, 109.3 overs) 326
Fall: 1-36, 2-43, 3-139, 4-150, 5-176, 6-281, 7-291, 8-291, 9-317, 10-326
Bowling: Anderson 19-6-63-1 (1nb); Broad 22.3-9-54-3; Woakes 20-6-43-2; Archer 22-4-59-3 (1nb); Bess 20-4-74-1; Root 6-0-25-0
England 1st Innings
RJ Burns lbw b Shaheen 4
DP Sibley lbw b Abbas 8
*JE Root c Rizwan b Yasir 14
BA Stokes b Abbas 0
OJ Pope not out 46
JC Buttler not out 15
Extras (lb 2, nb 3) 5
Total (4 wickets, 28 overs) 92
Yet to bat: CR Woakes, DM Bess, SCJ Broad, JC Archer, JM Anderson
Fall: 1-4, 2-12, 3-12, 4-62
Bowling: Shaheen 9-4-12-1, Abbas 7-0-24-2, Naseem 5-2-18-0, Yasir 7-0-36-1
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough and Richard Illingworth. TV umpire: Michael Gough