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Shafiq leads solid Pakistan reply
- Updated: August 12, 2016
Tea Pakistan 196 for 3 (Shafiq 79*, Younis 26*) trail England 328 (Moeen 108, Bairstow 55, Sohail 5-68) by 132 runsLive scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Asad Shafiq bounced back from the indignity of last week’s pair at Edgbaston to anchor a strong Pakistan reply to England’s first-innings 328. By tea on the second day at the Kia Oval, he had moved along to 79 not out, with the veteran Younis Khan bedding in on 26, to carry his team to 196 for 3, a deficit of 132.
Under cloudless skies on a perfect day for batting, Pakistan showed character and determination after resuming their innings on an ominous 3 for 1, following the dismissal of Sami Aslam by Stuart Broad late on the first day. The nightwatchman, Yasir Shah, set the tone, thriving during a hard-fought first hour to make 26 from 48 balls, while Azhar Ali made 49 before gloving a sweep to the keeper off Moeen Ali.
But it was Shafiq, whose twin scores of 73 and 49 had been vitally understated contributions to Pakistan’s first-Test victory at Lord’s, who was the mainstay of his team’s response. With 11 fours and a big smeared six over midwicket to lay down a marker when the spin of Moeen was reintroduced to the attack, he assessed the conditions with aplomb to move within sight of his ninth Test century.
Dropped catches, however, provided a significant part of the narrative, with each of the day’s first three batsmen being offered a lifeline in the course of their innings. As England themselves demonstrated in the first innings, when a spate of let-offs allowed Jonny Bairstow and Moeen to engineer …
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