Pakistan’s Shan Masood punishes lacklustre England
Shan Masood joined a select group of Pakistan batsmen to have scored hundreds in three successive Test innings as his excellent century led the tourists to 326 all out against England on the second day of the series opener at Old Trafford.
England were struggling at 92 for four at stumps as Pakistani bowlers exploited the conditions.
Earlier, left-handed opener Masood 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 sixthwicket stand of 105 that turned the tide after Pakistan had been struggling at 176-5.
The pair ran England ragged, with even defensive shots producing well-taken runs.
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 then bowled his own occasional off-breaks as well as frontline spinner Dom Bess immediately after the interval.
Two late-cut boundaries off Stuart Broad took him to 96 before twos off Broad and James Anderson saw Masood, who struggled during
Pakistan’s 2016 tour of England, to a 251-ball century, including 13 fours.
Masood, educated in England, was the sixth Pakistan batsman to score a hundred in three consecutive Test innings after Zaheer Abbas, Mudassar Nazar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Misbahul-Haq. —