England v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Day 2 – England bat Pakistan out of the match
Zak Crawley ended the day as the third youngest double centurion for England, Jos Buttler reached his first Test hundred in exactly two years, and James Anderson etched 3 wickets closer to the elusive 600 Test wickets club, as England assert their dominance further on Pakistan, finishing the second day of the third Test match with a 559-run first-innings lead, having reduced their opponents to 24/3.
The two overnight batsmen started off the day in a cautious manner, as Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Afridi tried to keep things tight. An hour-long rain delay later, the players were back on the field, only to return to the sheds ten minutes later due to a second steady shower.
The highlights in between the two breaks consisted of a few good deliveries from Abbas; probing Crawley with juicy half-volleys and then banging it on the perfect length to beat him all ends up, some delightful wicketkeeping from Mohammad Rizwan, and Jos Buttler surviving a close leg-before shout. Crawley got his first runs of the day with a leg glance through mid-wicket for a boundary off Shaheen after the second rain-break.
Buttler survived a second scare one short of his second Test hundred, a much more frightening moment. A nick was heard after he was beaten all ends up by Abbas, and the umpire decided to adjudge him out. Buttler did not waste a nanosecond in making the ‘T’ sign. Replays showed that it was the contact between the ball and his pad that exerted the noise, enforcing Richard Illingworth alter his decision.
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Buttler got to his hundred the next ball, with a backfoot drive through backward point for three, his first hundred as a wicketkeeper-batsman in Test match Cricket. Applause and an elated celebration followed from the Taunton-born Cricketer, who has been in immense pressure throughout the summer due to his performances with bat and gloves.
More milestones were to follow after lunch. The duo registered the highest 5th wicket partnership for England in Test Cricket, when they breached the previous record of 254 set by Keith Fletcher and Tony Greig in 1973 against India in Mumbai. Soon afterwards, Zak Crawley, whose temperament has been impeccable throughout the innings, reached his double hundred in a rather uncharacteristic fashion, with a nick through the slips for four.
It seemed like there would be no limit to how much the two of them would end up with after that. Despite the quicks and Yasir Shah probing and persisting with a few good deliveries every now and then, the bad balls were dispatched to the fence by the two of them, and the pressure exerted by the bowlers leaked away.
Crawley and Buttler shared a record-breaking 5th wicket partnership of 359
Yasir Shah, in particular, took a lot of stick, especially from Crawley. Slog-sweeps through square leg and mid-wicket were followed by an elegant lofted drive with the spin, which, despite not being timed too well, carried well over the long-off boundary. Just like yesterday, Crawley decided to go for the attack, with Buttler providing solid support at the other end.
Azhar Ali decided to try his luck by bringing on his part-timers. Masood came on to bowl some dibbly-dobbys and was dispatched by Crawley over long-off. Crawley brought up his 250 in the next over with a dismissive flick over square leg for four off Abbas.
Crawley looked to be set for a third hundred in the innings, but his mammoth knock finally came to an end courtesy a neat bit of glovework from Rizwan. Having kept for 132 overs, Rizwan gathered Asad Shafiq’s loopy, part time off-break well down the leg side and took the bails off sharply to catch Zak Crawley, who got into a tangle after trying to run down the pitch to negotiate the spin, well out of his crease. Crawley had to settle for 267, the second-highest maiden Test hundred score by an Englishman, as he walked back to the pavilion having received accolades from his opposition on the way out. Thus also ended a record 359-run stand between Crawley and Buttler.
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Chris Woakes, who probably has a couple of rashes on his shins, having had his pads on for almost a couple of days, made merry on the final session of the day, throwing his bat at anything too full or short, finding the fence on several occasions. Buttler, who has played the anchoring role more or less throughout the day, gently pushed the 2nd delivery of the 144th over from Naseem through extra cover to bring up his maiden 150.
Unlike Crawley, Buttler could not convert his big hundred into a double. He only managed to chip a long- hop from Fawad Alam next over back to the palms of the bowler, handing Fawad his maiden Test wicket.
Fawad struck again soon afterwards, getting Woakes to hole out to Yasir Shah at extra cover by tempting him to go for the booming drive. Stuart Broad then joined Dom Bess in the middle and both the batsmen enjoyed themselves to the fullest, striking a few lusty blows to take England to 583. Broad’s dismissal, cleaned up by an in dipper from Shaheen, prompted Joe Root to call his batsmen back in and have a crack at the fatigued Pakistan top order at the fag end of the day.
Indeed, England had a crack at the Pakistan top-order. Anderson, in the third over, got one to viciously swing back in and trap Shan Masood plumb in front. Anderson nicked out Abid Ali, the other opener in the next over, with the catch being neatly taken by Sibley at third slip.
Babar Azam came in and immediately showed off a touch of elegance, literally, by punching a full length delivery in the same over past mid-on to the fence. However, he could not see the day off with Azhar Ali, failing to keep out an in-ducker from Anderson, in the process being hit on the back leg and adjudged leg before on what turned out to be the last ball of the day.
Brief Scores:
Close of play, day 2
England 1st Innings 583/8dec (154.4 Overs)
Crawley 267, Buttler 152, Fawad Alam 2/46
Pakistan 1st Innings 24/3 (10.5 Overs)
Babar 11, Anderson 3/13