Woakes keeps England alive
Impressive bowling helps hosts claw back Pakistan advantage in a third-day thriller at Lord’s. Trevor Bailey reports
THE increasingly impressive Chris Woakes completed a 10-wicket match haul as England battled to stay in touch with Pakistan on a fluctuating third day of the first Investec Test. Woakes’ outstanding 10-over spell either side of lunch might easily have been rewarded with more than two wickets – to add to his career-best six for 70 in the first innings – and by the close he had added another five for 31.
His skill and discipline did most to claw back Pakistan’s advantage, as they reached stumps on 214 for eight and an overall lead of 281 in an enthralling contest which seems sure to go to the wire – if not quite the full five-day distance.
Woakes said his Test wickets were arriving “like London buses” at Lord’s and admitted to a minor embarrassment when he came back to take two more wickets late in the day, after Steven Finn had gone without success at the other end – with two catches dropped off his bowling.
“I apologised to him, because I came on and picked up a couple of cheap ones – and he’d bowled really well and deserved a couple if not more,” he said. “But that’s the way it works. Sometimes they come along like London buses – obviously, as in this game.”
Woakes insisted others deserved credit too, for keeping England in it after they had been bowled out for only 272 – principally by Yasir Shah (six for 72).
“I’ve managed to get the majority of the wickets today, but at the same time everyone was building the pressure at both ends,” he said. “It is crucially important, to bowl in partnerships, and we did that really well.”
England will have to bat better, however, in their second innings.
“[Yasir] took six in the first innings, so he’s obviously a threat – his record would suggest that,” added Woakes. “We’ll have to play him better than we did in the first innings. We didn’t feel we batted well as a unit – we were potentially 100 light.”
Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur still fancies his team’s chances of going 1-0 up.
He said: “If we can sneak ourselves 300, with a gun leg-spinner like Yasir Shah bowling into a little bit of rough that’s been created, I think it’s going to be a very good Test match.”
Yesterday, England managed just one morning breakthrough, after losing their own last three wickets to be bowled out for 272. Then in sunny conditions, but with swing available and on a pitch offering a little variable bounce, Stuart Broad struck in only his second over when Mohammad Hafeez fenced a catch high to Joe Root at second slip to go for a duck.
Azhar Ali joined Shan Masood to help the tourists to 40 for one at lunch – but Woakes was already posing plenty of problems, and he upped the ante in the afternoon.
He was off-driven for four by Masood but slanted one across the left-hander next ball for an edge to slip off the back foot. Azhar then fell foul of a marginal DRS process, after Woakes brought one up the slope. Woakes and Broad had dried up the scoring chances to a bare trickle, and Misbah-ulHaq decided the correct response was to get after Moeen Ali.
What worked in his first innings century, however, backfired second time round as he fell for a silver duck – very well caught by Alex Hales in the deep after climbing into an ambitiously early slog-sweep at the off-spinner.
Pakistan had lost three wickets for 16, and were vulnerable – but Younus Khan dug in, and rode his luck, standing between England and a truly telling surge through Pakistan’s middle order, twice surviving lbw calls on DRS – Jake Ball denied by the thinnest of inside edges and Finn by the Lord’s slope past leg-stump.
England’s attack perhaps deserved better, and could not be faulted, but it was credit to Younus and Shafiq that their stand of 69 extended into the evening session. Younus became the second of Pakistan’s heavyweights to miscalculate against Moeen, bowled trying to cut an off-break which was too full – to go for a stoic but valuable 25 off 95. Then the returning Woakes saved the best ball of the day for Shafiq, bowled one short of his 50 by a nipped effort up the slope of a good length.
Counter-attacking Sarfraz Ahmed had already shown his hand, though – and he and Yasir made England pay for dropping each off the luckless Finn in a partnership of 40 which kept Pakistan ahead of the game.
Yasir had only two when he chipped one to mid-off, where a tumbling Broad could not gather, and then Sarfraz was badly dropped by Jonny Bairstow on 36.
England needed Woakes again, from the pavilion end for the first time, to see off Sarfraz before the close – Bairstow safe when a second edge came – and for good measure, he made it five for the innings again when Wahab Riaz looped behind off the glove.