Rain ruins chance of second Test result

Just 10 full overs were possible on the penultimate day of England’s rainruined second Test against Pakistan, with Rory Burns the most frustrated man at the Ageas Bowl after falling for duck in the slim passage of play.

After losing the entirety of day three to bad light and showers, the majority of the scheduled 98 overs would have been needed to advance the match in any meaningful fashion but the teams were on the field for less than an hour in total before the skies in Southampton opened again.

Pakistan’s first innings, which began on Thursday morning, was finally drawn to an end for 236 when Stuart Broad dismissed top-scorer Mohammad Rizwan for 72, leaving England to take guard in gloomy, bowler-friendly conditions.

Burns was a virtually blameless victim, nicking an unplayable Shaheen Afridi delivery behind for a four-ball nought, and, even though only five overs were possible before the covers were called on, it was a surprise that he was the only one.

Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley were made to fight for survival off nearly every ball as Shaheen and Mohammad Abbas found movement through the air and off the pitch and reached seven for one before the weather set in and play was eventually called off at 4pm.

With a grim forecast on the cards for today a tepid draw now seems the only possible outcome, preserving England’s 1-0 lead heading into the final Test of the series, and the summer, at the same venue next week.

Conditions were clear enough for play to begin on time at 11am, though why English cricket is so inflexible on revising its starting time is an issue worth revisiting considering the fair weather and good light that had been in place over the previous hour.

Pakistan added 13 to the score in 5.2 overs, finally wrapped up when Rizwan was beaten through the air by Broad and sent a leading edge looping to Crawley at cover.

Finally it was time for England’s batsmen to see what the touring attack could do with the heavy cloud cover that has hung over the ground all week.

Burns had his answer quickly enough, nicking Shaheen’s first ball just short of slip and then succumbing to an even better fourth delivery.

It was Burns’ second duck for England in 20 Tests and a third successive failure against Pakistan’s new-ball bowlers since signing off against the West Indies with a 90.