Curran swings match towards hosts

SAM Curran chose international left-hander’s day to strike a crucial blow on his return to the England side yesterday as Pakistan struggled against swing in sultry Southampton. Curran brought variety to an attack lacking the extreme pace of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood and gained movement and bounce to claim the key wicket of Abid Ali for 60 as Pakistan struggled to 126 for five on a day limited to 45.4 overs by rain and the threat of lightning. ‘Is that a thing?’ said the leftarmer about left-handers day. ‘I just tried to be patient and hold the line tight. We talked about being patient and sticking together as a unit and luckily it came off.’ Curran, who has been on the winning team in each of his eight home Test appearances, was told just before the start of the second Test he was to replace Archer in an attack more suited to home conditions, rather than with an eye on an Ashes future. And the leader of that attack, Jimmy Anderson, quickly hit back from the ‘one bad game’ in Manchester that led to speculation over his Test future by taking the first two Pakistan wickets. England’s recordbreaker now stands eight short of 600 Test victims. ‘I was shocked with all the stuff about Jimmy before the game as he’s a world-class bowler and anyone who doubts him is not very sensible,’ said Curran. ‘He proved again today how world-class he is. I’m enjoying trying to learn from him. ‘He helped me through my spells and to pick his brains is great for me. I’m sure he’ll go out and get a five-for tomorrow and creep up towards 600.’