Yasir Shah followed the lead of his captain to give Pakistan the edge after two days of the first Test at Lord’s. Misbah-ul-Haq’s hundred provided the initial inspiration and Yasir followed that up with a virtuoso display to leave England battling for parity, his fifth five-wicket haul in 13 Tests, on a pitch that offered him little assistance, underlining his claim to be one of the most dangerous spinners currently playing the game.
It could have been worse for England, with Alastair Cook dropped twice off the bowling of Mohammad Amir on his way to 81. Amir eventually bowled Cook for his first Test wicket since he removed Graeme Swann on the same ground almost six years ago but the spotlight had already begun to shift to his team-mate Yasir. The last legspinner to take a five-for at Lord’s was Mushtaq Ahmed in 1996 also the last time Pakistan won on the ground.
England had been 118 for 1, Cook and Joe Root adding a century stand for the second wicket, before Yasir struck for his first Test wickets outside of Asia. Root, in his first innings replacing Nick Compton at No. 3, looked at something like his dynamic best before trying slightly too hard to force the pace and top-edging a slog-sweep to be taken at midwicket two short of a half-century. It was to prove a costly indiscretion.
Pakistan had their first look at England’s reshaped middle-order, an area Misbah had tentatively suggested his bowlers might be able to exploit before the Test, and Yasir in particular liked what he saw. James Vince briefly shimmered on an otherwise dull, cloudy day, before playing back to be lbw to Yasir DRS confirming it would have clipped leg stump for a fifth innings without a significant score at Test level; Gary Ballance clipped one four on his comeback but was then beaten by a gently turning legbreak, pushing down the wrong line.
Jonny Bairstow bristled with intent as he attempted his latest England rebuilding effort, hammering boundaries either side of the wicket with the vigour of a blacksmith at his anvil, but he too fell to Yasir, attempting to cut a delivery that was too full and seeing it skid on to the stumps.
Woakes’ 6 for 70 had helped finish off Pakistan with only 57 added to their overnight score before the stage was transported back to 2010, as Amir prepared to bowl to Cook once again. Amir’s first delivery in Test cricket after a five-year ban for his involvement in spot-fixing on this ground was met by a few pseudo-witty cries of “no-ball” from the crowd and it was unceremoniously tucked away into the covers for a single by Cook.
The England reply had been anchored by Cook, who benefitted from two glaring errors in the field. When he had made 22, Amir slanted the ball in to take the edge, just as he had done as a teenager, only for Mohammad Hafeez to make a mess of a straightforward low catch at first slip. There was further anguish for Amir when he began his second spell during the afternoon, his first delivery luring Cook into a drive as the ball left him, only for the ball to hit wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed on the wrist as he dived to his left.
Cook had reached his fifty by that point and went on to pass Sunil Gavaskar’s record as the opener who has scored the most runs in Tests, but a rather less pleasing statistic for England soon emerged. Of the last eight Tests in which Cook has made a 50-plus score, none have resulted in victory (two draws, eight defeats).
In the morning session, a burst of three wickets in eight balls, including the dismissal of Misbah for 114, saw England wrap up Pakistan’s innings inside the first hour. Having been 282 for 4 shortly before the close on Thursday, Pakistan might have been disappointed to make only 339.
Misbah, fresh from becoming the oldest captain to score a Test hundred, began the second day with designs on seeing his side up towards 400 and a secure position from which his bowlers could mount an attack. He could only add four runs to his overnight score, however, before Stuart Broad brought a delivery back to burst between bat and pad and rattle the stumps.
That dismissal meant Pakistan had gone from 310 for 7 to 316 for 9, with Woakes removing Sarfraz and Wahab Riaz in the preceding over. Sarfraz had looked in dangerous mood, frequently stepping down the pitch to cut and drive on his way to 25 from 29 deliveries but he gifted his wicket when slapping a short, wide delivery to backward point to give Woakes his maiden five-for.
Two deliveries later, Wahab was following Sarfraz back to the pavilion, as Woakes followed up an excellent outswinger with one of the fastest balls of the match, full and ducking in past a flimsy defence to leave off stump flat on the ground. As the crowd applauded Woakes’ achievements, Amir walked out for his first involvement in a Test since the corresponding match at Lord’s in 2010. But this was far from the main event, as Yasir would later prove.
