Finally we have a full 90 overs of play in England, although initially delayed by light drizzle. The day was lit up by a scintillating century from Zak Crawley and his record unbroken partnership of over 200 with Jos Buttler. The first two sessions were evenly contested, however, England completely dominated the third session with 148 runs @ 4.35 runs per over.

England bats first

English captain Joe Root won the toss and chose to bat first on a dry surface, leaving out Sam Curran for Jofra Archer in his team. Pakistan named an unchanged eleven. Shaheen Afridi got an early breakthrough when he forced Rory Burns to edge one to Masood, who took a good low catch in 4^th slip. Crawley joined Sibley in the middle and the positive intent of Crawley took the partnership and team’s score past 50. Sibley was outdone by a straighter one from Yasir, when coming down the track he failed to make connection with ball and was trapped in front of the wickets. Root was next to come and looked good for his 29 before being served an unplayable delivery from Naseem. Before the wicket taking delivery, he bowled some wayward ones on either sides which were punished by Root, but then he bowled the one that after pitching on length seamed away just enough to take Root’s edge to the hands of flying Rizwan in front on first slip. Pope’s stay on crease was cut short by Yasir’s flipper that castled him up, stuck on backfoot. Pakistan had gained an upper hand reducing England to 127/4 when Buttler came to crease, never to be separated in the day’s play.

Crawley’s century

Crawley came out with positive frame of mind and was scoring at brisk pace before Sibley’s departure. After a brief moment of defensive play, he regained his touch with attractive strokeplay. An off-drive through mid-off brought his half century. He played both pace and spin with equal ease and proper footwork. Just after tea, a push to cover brought his maiden ton, but he was not done yet. In the company of Buttler, he grew in confidence, even playing a reverse sweep to Yasir from round the stumps. He ended the day at 171* off 269 balls adorned with 19 hits to the boundary.

Partnership with Buttler

At 127/4 England needed someone to consolidate the innings and Butter did just that. Just one top class innings can do wonders to the confidence of good batsmen. The innings of 1^st test gave him the confidence that he belonged to test cricket as well. Initially a bit defensive, he set himself free with two big hits and a boundary off one of  Yasir Shah’s over, eventually getting to his half century with a couple to square leg. The duo of Buttler and Crawley scored freely in the last session and also saw off the 10 over burst with new ball safely. They took their partnership past 200, the highest ever in Tests at Southampton. England ended the day with 332/4.

Expectations from Day 2

England would love to bat Pakistan out of the match, having a 1-0 lead already in the series. Crawley would be looking to make his maiden ton into a double while Buttler would be keen bring up his second test ton. Pakistan would be hoping for some assistance from new ball and bag some quick wickets and not let England go too far ahead. Let’s see what the second day of the test has in store for us.

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