Southampton, (Asian independent) England tailenders helped the hosts pile up 583/8d before James Anderson knocked off Pakistan’s top three towards the end of the second day of the third Test between the two sides at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday.
Earlier, Jos Buttler was dismissed by Fawad Alam, who had never bowled before in Test cricket. Looking to steer the ball along the ground, Buttler ended up offering it straight back into the hands of the bowler, thus ending his innings on 152 off 311 balls.
Chris Woakes, Dom Bess and Stuart Broad then put up a combined 53 runs before England captain Joe Root declared the innings.
England then managed to squeeze in about 11 overs. Shan Masood was the first to go, falling to James Anderson yet again after making just 4. Masood’s opening partner Abid Ali was then caught in the slips in Anderson’s very next over after which captain Azhar Ali and Babar Azam stuck around nervously for some time.
Just as it started to look like the pair may have seen themselves through to the end of the day, Anderson trapped Babar plumb in front of the stumps.
Earlier, Zak Crawley was denied a triple century as the England No.3 departed for 267, thus ending an epic 359-run stand between him and Jos Buttler for the fifth wicket.
Crawley, who has been in the middle since the first session of the first day of the match, was finally dismissed by part-timer Asad Shafiq, getting stumped down the leg side. He walked off to applause from the Pakistan fielders and his teammates in the dressing room who were also up on their feet.
Buttler and Crawley’s stand was the joint sixth highest partnership of all time for England in Test cricket. England are leading the series 1-0 and are looking to secure a first win at home against Pakistan since 2010.
Brief scores: England 583/9d (Crawley267, Buttler 152; Fawad Alam 2/46) vs Pakistan 24/3 (Babar 11, Azhar 4*; Anderson 3/13)
