England versus Pakistan 3rd Test 4th Day: Azhar Ali and Abid Ali leads Pak fightback in a rain curtailed day
Thanks to solid defensive approach by Abid and Azhar Ali,
Pakistan has ensured that they are on the verge of a draw on the 4th
Day played at Ageas Bowl, Southampton on Monday.
After being asked to follow-on, Abid Ali and Shan Masood
came to open the innings for Pakistan. The England bowlers produced good
deliveries but could not produce breakthroughs. Jos Buttler dropped a simple
catch that hit the edge off James Anderson bowling. After the initial spell by
Anderson and Broad, Root bought on Woakes and Jofra Archer into the attack.
Shan Masood and Abid Ali looked solid with their defensive
technique. Woakes bowled tight lines and lengths. With the scoreboard reading 41
for 0, bad light and rain stopped play. The umpires called early lunch.
There were heavy rains and the match did not begin. The rain
stopped and umpires decided to start play. James Anderson and Stuart Broad
started the bowling for England. Shan Masood looked edgy while Abid Ali played
with solid defense. Stuart Broad provided the breakthrough for the hosts as he
dismissed Shan Masood. Masood tried to leave the ball and was given out LBW.
Masood decided to review, and the decision was upheld. The Pakistani openers added
49 runs for the opening wicket.
After the initial spell, Jofra Archer was bought into the
attack replacing Stuart Broad. Dom Bess was introduced into the attack but Abid
and Azhar Ali remained solid with their defensive technique. Joe Root tried all
things. James Anderson came back into the attack and got rid of Abid Ali with a
good delivery coming back in. Abid Ali was given out by umpire and decided to
review the decision, it was upheld. Abid scored 42 off 162 balls. Abid and
Azhar put on 39 runs for the 2nd wicket.
With the wicket of Abid Ali, James Anderson is just one
wicket away to grab 600 wickets. The forecast for the final day is for heavy
rains.
Due to poor light, Joe Root decided to bring himself on. Dom
Bess did a decent job but could not provide any wickets. Pakistan ended the
fourth day at 100 for 2 still trail by 210 runs.
Pakistan 273 in 93 overs ( Azhar
Ali 141*, Rizwan 53, James Anderson 5/40
) and 100 for 2 in 56 overs ( Abid Ali 42, Azhar Ali 29*, James Anderson 1/18) trail
England 583 for 8 in 154.4 overs ( Crawley 267, Jos Buttler 152, Shaheen Shah
Afridi 2/121, Alam 2/46) by 210 runs.
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