Pakistan under pressure facing massive England total
Manchester: England batsmen led by double-centurion Joe Root have put their side in complete control of the second Test with batting of the highest class. Pakistan face a daunting total which by tea on the second day was a colossal 533 for six and is likely to be substantially increased by the time Alastair Cook, the England captain, decides to declare. Root was on 226, his second Test double century and his highest Test score and Jonny Bairstow on 32, in an unbroken 62-run stand at the break. A major task has been set for Pakistan batsmen when they eventually take to the crease.
Resuming on 314 for four, England had Pakistan struggling for a wicket for almost the entire first session with Joe Root and Chris Woakes batting with ease on a pitch which offered little to the five bowlers Pakistan used. It wasn’t until three overs before lunch, which was taken on 427 for five, that the first wicket of the day fell, when Woakes departed. By then he, along with Root had added a hundred runs of their 103run stand off 174 balls.
Having come in as nightwatchman, Woakes gave excellent support to Root who was 141 overnight. He scored steadily against both pace and spin taking his score to 42 with a confident flick of Wahab Riaz and a sweep of Yasir saw him to 48 before reaching his second Test half century smacking a full toss from part time spinner Azhar Ali for a single.
On 58 from 104 balls in two hours at the crease, Woakes provided Yasir Shah, the ten-wicket hero of the previous Test, with his first wicket of the innings after he had been hit for 139. The Pakistan leg spinner gratefully accepted the return catch and if the breakthrough brought some relief to Pakistan, it was short lived as Joe Root, who was on 178 at the time and Ben Stokes put on 57 in just over an hour.
Root remained totally unperturbed by the bowling and moved on to 170 sweeping Yasir for four. While palying with confidence he took little chances and became more cautious as the approached a double century. At that stage he faced 61 balls without hitting a four and in fact the last 17 of this runs before reaching 200 had come from singles. He reached the milestone with a reverse sweep to the third man boundary off Yasir having faced 355balls in a fiveand-a-half-hour stay at the crease.
Pakistan could do little to restrict the rate of England as yet another fine stand developed, this time between Root and Bairstow. Misbah-ul-haq, the Pakistan captain rotated his bowlers frequently but it made no impression to the batsmen. Root displayed a full range of strokes and found gaps in the field almost wherever he wanted to score. There were lapses in Pakistan’s ground fielding and chances for catches were wasted.
England have a good recent record on this ground where they have remained unbeaten in the last fifteen years. Certainly they have done enough already in this Test match to ensure that record will be extended at least by another year.