Relentless England seal 330-run win

1469468415763

England 589 for 8 dec and 173 for 1 dec (Cook 76*, Root 71*) beat Pakistan 198 and 234 (Hafeez 41, Anderson 3-41, Woakes 3-41) by 330 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Pakistan’s win at Lord’s in the opening Test set this entertaining series alight, but England could not have responded more emphatically. They completed a 330-run win at Old Trafford on the fourth evening in a manner that answered many of the questions Lord’s presented.

Given a firm pitch of decent bounce and pace, England’s pace attack exposed the vulnerability of Pakistan’s batting line-up and they will yearn for more of the same at Edgbaston and Old Trafford. They played Yasir Shah with skill – 1 for 264 in the match, although much of the reason for that rested with the captain, Alastair Cook, and Joe Root, the golden child, whose first-innings deeds took the match out of Pakistan’s reach.

If it had been the fifth day, there would have been an air of tension as Pakistan’s last pair held out with the floodlights burning, the light fading and the sense of showers around. But England’s task was completed a day early, the debate over their decision not to enforce the follow-on with a first-innings lead of 391 made entirely redundant.

There was a cloud on England’s horizon, however, and it came in the form of a torn calf suffered by Ben Stokes. Only just back from a knee operation, Stokes broke down in the middle of his sixth over and will play no further part in the match; he might play no further part in the summer. A strong, raw-boned man, his injuries are piling up with disturbing regularity. However, the emergence of Chris Woakes, seven wickets in the match, will ensure the balance of the side is not unduly affected.

If England chose the conservative option by not enforcing the follow-on, nobody could suggest their second innings lacked impetus as they rattled up 173 for 1 at nearly a run a ball before the declaration – the last 75 in nine overs on the fourth morning. “Couldn’t have gone better,” said Cook

Misbah-ul-Haq now faces a huge task to rally his side in the nine days before the third Test at Edgbaston. When Pakistan’s captain became the fifth wicket to fall 15 minutes before tea – out for 35 as he jabbed a wide yorker from Woakes on to his stumps – the edifice …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *