England’s record breakers showed just how tough it will be to win the first Test as Pakistan dug in on day two at Rawalpindi.
After racking up an astonishing 506-4 on day one, England pushed to 657 all out, their highest tally against Pakistan and in a Test in Asia.
Harry Brook eventually dropped for 153, at one point taking over from Zahid Mahmood for 27, also an England Test record.
On top of that, the 398 runs added in the boundary four and six was the most England had ever scored in a Test leg.
However, as much as England’s batters enjoyed the flatter pitches, their bowlers were pushed back by Pakistani openers determined to make the most of the conditions.
Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq took the home side to 181-0, still 476 behind.
Imam, undefeated at 90, was dropped at 11, while Shafique was lucky not to be caught in the side of James Anderson’s leg as he headed for 89 paces.
A grueling weekend for England lies ahead.
The task of victory revealed to England
After the pyrotechnics of the first four sessions of this match, the majority of day two was played at the traditional pace of Test cricket.
England will have been well aware of the quality of the pitch for the stick, but their time on the pitch showed the effort needed to take the 20 wickets needed for victory.
Ben Stokes’ side tried everything, including a spell of bouncers from the captain himself. Liam Livingstone spent time off the pitch and didn’t play.
In favor of the tourists is how quickly they scored their runs – there is plenty of time to force victory. Even if Pakistan beat all day Saturday, they will still be far behind.
Pakistan revival brought local fans to life on a day when lunch was extended for Friday prayers. Not only was each race cheered enthusiastically, but there were also chants of “welcome to England” as they were first tested in the country for 17 years.
These chants gave way to “Pakistan will win”. Unlikely, but the mild conditions mean saving the game isn’t out of the question.
Shafique and Imam dig
While England bristled with intentions, Shafique and Imam contented themselves with discipline and patience, punctuated by occasional displays of aggression.
Shafique, 23, is an outstanding prospect, averaging 67 in the previous seven tests. He played some nice cover drives, while the left-handed Imam was happier to muscle the ball to the leg side.
Both needed moments of fortune, which could turn out to be crucial.
Imam’s slight advantage over spinner Jack Leach was brought down by Ollie Pope, standing behind the stumps after regular keeper Ben Foakes was ruled out with illness.
Pope did well to gather a Shafique glove to the side of Anderson’s leg, but replays showed the ball had bounced, then in the next, Shafique firmly turned Leach into the stomach of the legged sub short Keaton Jennings, who had little chance of hooking up.
Both sped up late in the day as England began to tire. With the light waning and the moon rising, tourists would have been delighted to have the chance to get off the ground and regroup.
England push for more records
Even though England failed to reach their day one highs, they still scored 151 runs from 26 overs on Friday morning, while losing six wickets.
While Thursday’s batting was a controlled assault, Friday was often all there was to go, an intention signaled when Stokes hit his first pitch of the day over the head of six-year-old Naseem Shah.
Stokes was thrown two balls later for 41 of 18 and Livingstone hit a six before scoring nine, leaving Brook to carry the attack.
In his 101 on day one, Brook took 24 from a Mahmood. This time two sixes, three fours and a three made it the fifth most expensive in test history. Brook’s Assault helped bring back the Mahmood 4-235 leg spinner, the costliest numbers ever by a newbie to the test.
After Brook was caught square leg deep from Naseem, a 65 stand between Jacks and Ollie Robinson took England past 600.
By the time last man Anderson beat Mahmood, England had their fifth-highest total of all time.
