Cricket

Pakistan vs England Second Test Update: A Tale of Two Tests

Pakistan vs England Second Test Update: A Tale of Two Tests

This time last week, England were part way through executing one of the greatest Test wins of all time.

Right now, they may well be in the middle of pulling off a second win. This one, however, is unfolding in a very different manner. We look at how the first two innings of the second Test between Pakistan and England have unfolded, as well as our predictions for how the rest of the match will play out.

Bazball Runs Into Pakistani Spin

Yesterday morning, Ben Stokes won the toss in Multan and opted to set the pace in this Test again by sending his openers in to bat on day one.

51.4 overs later, and the English batters were all done with their stint in the middle. The visitors had managed to accrue 281 runs in that time, but were ultimately bundled all out within the first two sessions of this match. It was a move that had many declaring Bazball—England’s ultra aggressive approach to Test cricket—had been proven foolish for the first time in this new era of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum leading England’s Test side.

Scoring at a rate of 5.43 runs per over, England adopted a similar approach to the one that has seen them win seven of their last eight Test matches. Instead of batting patiently and waiting for bowlers to tire or bowl loose deliveries, England threw their bat at everything. For some, namely Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, it worked with both top-order batsmen making 63 and 60 respectively. For others, it bombed—Joe Root and Harry Brooks were both out within minutes.

It was Pakistani debutant Abrar Ahmed who was the undoing of England. The wrist spinner took England from 145/2 to 281 all out courtesy of seven wickets across his 22 overs, with his spin completely beating the English batters.

Pakistan vs England

Pakistan Do What Pakistan Do Best

With many decrying the English foolery of throwing their wickets away against the Pakistani spin, Pakistan stepped out to bat needing 281 to balance the books.

At 142/2, Pakistan were sitting pretty and poised to punish England for their brief first innings. That is, until England’s spinners had something of their own to say about the matter. Within the space of 60 runs, Pakistan’s final eight wickets tumbled, leaving them in tatters at 202 all out conceding a 79 runs first innings lead to England.

It was primarily the spinning prowess of the experienced Jack Leach and part-timer Joe Root that saw England turn the screws on Pakistan in the second session of day two. Ollie Robinson found the initial breakthrough bowling the dangerous looking Babar Azam on 75, before Leach and Root dispatched Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Ali all cheaply. Faheem Ashraf stuck around to put on an extra 30 runs with the tail, but it was not enough to salvage the innings.

All Eyes on England’s Approach

The first two innings of the first Test between Pakistan and England produced 1,236 runs and took up the best part of eight sessions. Now, with only 483 runs scored between the two sides and well over three days’ play remaining in the Test, England step out to bat again ahead by 79 runs already.

Having gone hammer and tongs in the majority of their batting innings so far, does England’s Bazball have room for a more measured approach when the match situation allows? How will England’s batters get on rooting in and batting out five or six sessions here?

Time will tell, as there’s plenty more excitement still to unfold in the second Test match between Pakistan and England.


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