England vs Pakistan | First Test | Day 2: At the end of the second day of the match, Pakistan made comeback in the game. If the first day was entirely for the British, then the second day was totally in Pakistan’s favor. Pakistan’s bowling, which was heavily stomped on the first day of the Test match, bowled England out in the first session of the second day.
On the second day of their match in Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique summoned their energy and shinnied towards England’s mammoth first-innings total. In the ongoing Test, Imam and Shafique put up a strong opening stand for Pakistan, and concluded Day 2 at 181/0 and still 476 runs behind England.
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England Vs Pakistan: 1st Test | Day 2 | Review
Resuming action on 506-4, England batted with a no-holds-barred approach and went on to score their greatest total ever against Pakistan. On his path to an 18-ball 41, captain Ben Stokes casually stepped out to hit the second ball of the day over bowler Naseem Shah’s head for a six. Stokes looked to continue where he left off the previous day, but Naseem Shah dismissed him in the first ball of the second day.
On Thursday, the 23-year-old Harry Brook, who smacked six fours in a Saud Shakeel’s over, personified England’s incredibly exciting style of cricket by extracting 27 runs from a Zahid Mahmood over. Leg spinner Zahid got 4 wickets while conceding 235 runs, the most of any test debutant. As Brook’s 153 off 116 balls, which included five sixes and 19 fours, was eventually ended by Naseem, England added 151 runs to their overnight total before being all out.
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England Vs Pakistan: 1st Test | Day 2 | Scorecard
England Batting:
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
| Zak Crawley | b Haris Rauf | 122 | 111 | 21 | 0 | 109.90 |
| Ben Duckett | lbw b Zahid Mahmood | 107 | 110 | 15 | 0 | 97.27 |
| Ollie Pope † | lbw b Mohammad Ali | 108 | 104 | 14 | 0 | 103.84 |
| Joe Root | lbw b Zahid Mahmood | 23 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 74.19 |
| Harry Brook | c Saud Shakeel b Naseem Shah | 153 | 116 | 19 | 5 | 131.89 |
| Ben Stokes (c) | b Naseem Shah | 41 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 227.77 |
| Liam Livingstone | c Saud Shakeel b Naseem Shah | 9 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 90.00 |
| Will Jacks | c Naseem Shah b Mohammad Ali | 30 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 103.44 |
| Ollie Robinson | lbw b Zahid Mahmood | 37 | 51 | 3 | 1 | 72.54 |
| Jack Leach | not out | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| James Anderson | c Imam-ul-Haq b Zahid Mahmood | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 60.00 |
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON |
| Naseem Shah | 24 | 0 | 140 | 3 | 5.83 |
| Mohammad Ali | 24 | 1 | 124 | 2 | 5.16 |
| Haris Rauf | 13 | 1 | 78 | 1 | 6.00 |
| Zahid Mahmood | 33 | 1 | 235 | 4 | 7.12 |
| Agha Salman | 5 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 7.60 |
| Saud Shakeel | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 15.00 |
Imam and Abdullah made sure Pakistan remain in the game despite their unwillingness to match the jaw-dropping strike rate (6.5 in more than 100 overs), which was achieved by their English counterparts.
As Ben Stokes set attacking fields, England’s slow bowling delivered 21 continuous overs. However, Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq continued to rotate strikes and boundaries at odds. Shafique hit his eighth four of the innings off Jacks to bring up his fifty, and Imam quickly followed suit by pushing a Root delivery toward cover for a single. Pakistan ended Day 2 with 181 for 0 (Imam-ul-Haq 90*, Shafique 89*).
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