ENGLAND NEED LORD’S PRAYER
Woakes heroics may not be enough as disciplined Pakistan eye series lead
ENGLAND will need to make history at Lord’s if they are going to win the first Test after a compelling third day ended with Pakistan moving slowly but surely towards what looks like a match-winning advantage.
Pakistan will resume today on 214 for eight, a lead of 281, and ready to unleash Yasir Shah on England for a second time after Chris Woakes did everything in his power to keep England in the hunt.
Woakes, who is maturing into a considerable Test performer, took five wickets to add to the six he claimed in the first innings to lead the England attack in the controversial absence of Jimmy Anderson.
However, Pakistan showed considerable discipline and application to make themselves firm favourites to take an unexpected 1-0 lead.
To avoid that outcome, England must achieve what would be their highest successful chase at Lord’s.
First the tourists earned themselves a priceless first-innings advantage of 67 by quickly taking the last three England wickets, leaving Woakes stranded on 35, and then they took full advantage of an attack relying heavily on their unlikely spearhead.
What a gripping day’s Test cricket this was and how refreshing it is to have a genuine contest after the one-sided series England and played out against Sri ri Lanka in front of largely empty stands at Headingley and Durham.
The middle session in particular was everything Test cricket should be, with England straining every sinew to make e inroads and Pakistan skilkilfully hanging on before calmly building a formidable lead.
Only 71 runs were scored between lunch and tea, with England taking three big wickets, but the 28,000 at Lord’s were treated to high-quality drama that also featured the best and worst of umpiring and the Decision Review System.
When Misbah-ul-Haq, the firstinnings centurion, lofted only his second ball high and wide to the running Alex Hales on the mid-wicket boundary, Pakistan had slipped to 60 for four and England were sensing the tables turning.
The Pakistan captain was determined to hit Moeen Ali out of the attack, as he had done first time round, but the indecent haste with which he tried to clear the ropes was punished by an excellent catch and England were in business.
If the idiosyncratic Younis Khan had fallen soon after, firstly being reprieved by a superb piece of officiating and then being rescued by technology from a lamentable decision, Pakistan really would have been in big trouble.
Younis looked absolutely plumb to Jake Ball on 10 but the DRS confirmed what the excellent Kumar Dharmasena had deduced — that Younis had feathered the ball on to his pad and was correctly adjudged not out.
Then Steven Finn, bowling much better than in his inaccurate firstinnings display, thought he had Younis a run later which would have left Pakistan on 75 for five, only 142 ahead, and England very much in the driving seat.
Instead Joel Wilson, who had taken an eternity to answer Finn’s appeal in the affirmative, saw his latest marginal call overturned when Pakistan made the first successful review of this first Test in nine attempts from both sides.
Woakes had been denied the new ball despite his six-wicket firstinnings haul but as soon as he was belatedly introduced by Alastair Cook, he again became the most impressive of England’s bowlers.
It was Woakes who began that middle session in the best possible way for England when he dismissed Shan Masood — who spent a large chunk of his childhood living in St John John’s Wood close to Lord’s — in the first over after lun lunch. A At least Masood hung a around for almost 18 overs, 15 overs longer than his partner in what looks a vulnerable Pakis stan opening combinati tion in Mohammad Ha Hafeez, who offered slip catch catch-ing practice to fall to Stuart B Broad. Woakes also claimed the wicket of Azhar Ali, falling to a marginal lbw for the second time in the match, during a spell of two for 15 from 10 overs that was arguably the best yet in Test cricket for an ever-improving bowler.
Younis had lived both skittishly and dangerously, constantly jumping around his crease, before gifting Moeen his second wicket when he under-edged an attempted cut and England still had a sniff when Woakes bowled Asad Shafiq with another absolute beauty.
But England really had to dismiss Pakistan before the close and heads began to drop when a diving Broad could not hold on to a lob to mid-off by Yasir Shah and then Jonny Bairstow dropped the busy Sarfraz Ahmed.
It was the first blemish from Bairstow in an otherwise immaculate display but it was a bad one and the case for Jos Buttler to return and take the gloves as soon as he has recovered from a broken thumb is a strong one. Bairstow did much to make amends when he claimed Sarfraz to give Woakes his 10th wicket of the Test and the Warwickshire all-rounder reached another five-for just before the close by brushing Wahab Riaz’s glove. But the smiling Yasir is still there on 30 and is sure to be the key man when Pakistan bowl again.
Both missed chances were grassed off the unfortunate Finn, who is surely struggling to hold on to his place for the second Test at Old Trafford on Friday with both Anderson and Ben Stokes bowling at Southport yesterday.
The fact that the pair, so important to England, were fit for Championship action does not reflect well on the selectors and medical staff who insisted they were not ready to play here and questions have to be asked if England do indeed go one down in this four-Test Investec series.
As it is both must play in Manchester, as long as neither suffers a reaction to their exploits for Lancashire and Durham. Finn and debutant Ball, who has equipped himself well on his debut, are the most likely to stand down.