England vs Pakistan Live Score, 3rd Test, Day 1: A maiden Test century from Zak Crawley and a half-century from Jos Buttler took England to a strong 332/4 at stumps on Day 1 of the third Test against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Only one chance for England, with Jofra Archer coming in for Sam Curran. Pakistan were in a dominant position in the first Test but managed to lose the hold and eventually lost the match to England at Old Trafford. Then the second Test concluded without a result as rain affected play. With England leading the series 1-0, Pakistan have to eke out a result for them to get something out of the series.
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England dominate Day 1
At stumps on Day 1, England reach 332/4 (Zak Crawley 171*; Jos Buttler 87*) against Pakistan (Yasir Shah 2/107)
Last three overs remain
Well, well, well! After a long time, we’re just a few minutes away from 90 overs being completed in a day. Yes, and we’ve had that without any interruption. Weather and light have been supportive on Friday and that’s the kind of thing we want. None the less, this has been a near-flawless session for England. They were 184 when the session began and now are past the 300-run mark. Buttler in the 70s, and Crawley in the 170s, their partnership just five away from 200 runs.
England have scored at a healthy rate
34 have come off the first five overs with the second new ball as England continue to inch towards dominance. They’ve scored at 3.79 an over in their innings and already five boundaries have been hit in the last five overs. Shaheen Afridi has been twice hit for two fours in an over. Safe to say, the second new ball hasn’t quite worked out well for Pakistan
Will the second new ball help Pakistan?
90 overs have been bowled which means the new ball is available. And Pakistan have taken it without much doubts. This is a going to be a crucial period of play as we enter the last 10 overs of the day. A wicket here will lift Pakistan’s spirits, which has been run ragged by Buttler and Crawley. At the same time, if England can see this through, they’d have played a wicketless session.
150 for Crawley
Zak Crawley keeps going strong, brings up his 150 off 233 balls. 17 fours in his innings so far. England 275/4. The partnership between Buttler and Crawley is 148 off 234. What a stunning comeback by England staged by these two.
Fifty for Buttler
Fifty up for Jos Buttler off 85 balls with six fours and two sixes. England 239/4.
Buttler in the groove
Growing in confidence, is Jos Buttler. Comes down the wicket, gets to the pitch of the ball from Yasir Shah and tonks in over the ropes. Two balls later, he does the exact same thing and this one goes quite some distance into the stands. Off the last ball, Buttler drives for another boundary, making it 16 off that over from Yasir Shah. Also, with that 100-run partnership is up for the fifth wicket between Buttler and Crawley.
200 up for England
This has been a good bit of fightback from England. From 127/4, Crawley and Buttler have added 81 runs and counting for the fifth wicket to take England to 208/4 at the end of the 65th over. You can imagine how there’s hardly any purchase for the fast bowlers on this wicket. Rizwan is standing up to Mohammad Abbas. And just as we mention it, Crawley take in a loose delivery and hits it for his 14th four of the innings.
Crawley fifth-youngest England centurion since 2000
Zak Crawley, at 22, has become the fifth-youngest Test centurion for England since the dawn of the new millenium. Ahead of him are Alastair Cook, Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Ben Stokes.
A hundred for Crawley
Drives the ball on the up for a single and with that, Zak Crawley brings up his maiden Test hundred for England. Gets there off 170 balls. There aren’t too many in the stadium but this is one sweet memory he will always cherish. What a moment for the 22-year-old.
Crawley 97* at tea
England reach 184/4 (Zak Crawley 97*; Yasir Shah 2/60) at the tea interval on Day 1 against Pakistan. Crawley will be three shy of a maiden Test century when play resumes in approximately 20 minutes.
Long conversation between umpires and Yasir Shah
In between overs, there was a long conversation including the two on-field umpires, Yasir Shah and Pakistan captain Azhar Ali. The commentators mentioned that maybe Yasir had something to do with saliva but there’s been no evidence of it so far. Meanwhile, Zak Crawley has entered the 90s. With 10 minutes to go for tea, can he get there before the interval?
Buttler looking in good touch
He’s been a little under the pump for his performances of late but today Jos Buttler is looking as confident as he did during last year’s World Cup final. He’s faced 30 balls for 20 runs – 16 of which have come in boundaries. He’s looking assured in his footwork against Yasir Shah. Could be and Crawley bring England back from this spot?
News coming in…
Teenage pacer Naseem Shah was on Friday included in Pakistan’s 17-member squad announced for the three T20Is against England beginning on August 28. The 17-year-old, who has played six Tests so far, is yet to make his white-ball debut for Pakistan. Besides Naseem, Pakistan also included 19-year-old batsman Haider Ali, who performed well in the U-19 side, first class cricket and Pakistan Super League.
GONE! Yasir strikes again
WOW! What a delivery that is from the young Yasir Shah. Takes off out of nowhere and castles Ollie Pope’s stumps. Gets a little late to bring the bat down in time and TIMBER! England 127/4 and Pakistan have stormed back in this match post lunch.
Naseem gets Root with a gem
OUT! Naseem Shah squares up Joe Root, who is out caught behind for 29. Pitches on good length and moves away. Root’s legs are rooted to the crease and he offers a healthy edge to Mohammad Rizwan behind the wicket. Good, timely strike for Pakistan. England dealt a blow early in the second session. They are 114/3.
Root gets going…
England captain Joe Root has helped himself with a couple of quick boundaries post lunch. He placed Naseem Shah at the vacant third-man region before pouncing on to a short and wide ball from Yasir Shah. The 100 is up for England for the loss of two wickets.
Welcome back!
And we’re back with the second session of the day. Still nothing to worry about as far as the weather is concerned. The sky is clear and we are set for the post-lunch session on the opening day. Mohammad Abbas to start proceedings and on strike will be England skipper Joe Root.
Fifty for Crawley, England 91/2 at lunch
After being stranded on 49 for almost five overs, Crawley completed his half-century off the final ball of the session. A fuller ball from Afridi and Crawley drove it down the ground for four. England would close this session at 91/2 and would be happy with their progress. We’ll resume in approximately 40 minutes from now.
Yasir strikes, Sibley out
Out! Pakistan have struck with a timely blow here. The partnership between Sibley and Crawley had reached 71 when the dangerous-looking stand was broken. Sibley went down the wicket to charge Shah but missed the ball altogether as it rapped him on the pads. The batsman went upstairs but the review couldn’t save him. England 73/2
50 up for England, Sibley and Crawley steady
This has been excellent batting from Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley to bring up England’s fifty. Their partnership is beginning to look promising and even though Pakistan have introduced Naseem Shah in the attack, the pair has seen him off effectively. Eight boundaries already in the first hour of play
Spin introduced
It hasn’t taken Pakistan long to bring on Yasir Shah. Just 10 overs bowled but England batsmen haven’t found it too tough to score runs. The first 10 overs brought 33 runs with Sibley and Crawley aiming to play themselves in.
Crawley, Sibley up against Pakistan’s pace
Zak Crawley is off the mark with a first-ball boundary and added a second four two balls later off Shaheen Afridi. A few plays and misses as Afridi and Abbas try and mount pressure. Excellent content between bat and ball.
Out! England lose Burns cheaply
Edged and taken. Afridi strikes to remove Burns. There was an umpire review for a clean catch in the slip cordon where Masood took the catch. The soft signal was out and in the replay, it looked pretty clean. England 12/1.
First runs
England off the mark, just off the third ball of the innings as Rory Burns opens the face of the bat to glide the ball wide of third man boundary. First four of the innings and England are off the mark.
Captain’s Corner
Joe Root: We are going to bat first. It looks a bit dry than thep previous wicket. It’s strange conditions, the winds are quite strong. Hopefully, we can knuckle down and get off to a good start. One change, Sam Curran misses out for Jofra Archer is in. We just want him (Archer) to bowl fast. We don’t know when our next game of Test cricket is going to be, so want to make the most of it here.
Azhar Ali: We would’ve loved to bat first, looks like a very good wicket. But toss is not in our control. We will try to pick up early wickets and utilize the conditions. We are playing with the same side. It’s the last Test and important one for us. We are fresh and we will look to give everything. Every batsman likes to score runs and I would want to finish off on a high. It’s difficult that we can’t go out, but we are happy to be playing cricket.
Team News
England (Playing XI): Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root(c), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
Pakistan (Playing XI): Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali(c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah
England win toss, opt to bat
Joe Root wins the toss and he’s opted to bat. Jofra Archer was seen warming up and he’s been included in the side in place of Sam Curran. This means England will bowl with Anderson, Broad and Archer. Pakistan batsmen better watch out.
Toss is delayed
The toss has been officially delayed due to the weather.
It has started raining
Toss is about to take place and there is some bad news. It has started raining at the Ageas Bowl. Azhar Ali and Joe Root are waiting for the umpires.
Abbas has strategy in place for Stokes
“Ben Stokes is a big name in cricket right now. He is one of the world’s best allrounders, and he’s performed several times for his country. Before the game, we watched videos and analysed how best to disrupt him. So we went round the wicket straightaway,” Abbas told Pakistan Cricket Board.
Broad honoured by ECB
Stuart Broad has been given a framed silver stump for taking 500 Test wickets for England. Players from the home side will wear black armbands as a mark of respect for Dan Lawrence’s mother, who died earlier this month.
Revised timings
‘Following positive discussions with the England & Wales Cricket Board, (ECB) the International Cricket Council (ICC), led by Match Referee Chris Broad and various stakeholders including broadcast partners, the ECB and the ICC have agreed to revised start times ahead of the #raisethebat third Test starting on Friday at the Ageas Bowl. The flexible approach will enable the prospect of making up time for inclement weather during the morning session of subsequent days rather than at the end of the day,’ ECB said in a statement.
Jofra comes back
It looks like Jofra Archer has been drafted back into the squad. It is likely that pacer Mark Wood will miss out.
Pitch report
The pitch is dry and the weather is much better than the last Test. However, there is a lot of wind flowing around the stadium.
Hello and Welcome
Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Day 1 of England vs Pakistan 3rd Test match at Rose Bowl Cricket Ground in Southampton.
