The pair chewed up 255 balls between them, blocking out Yasir’s vicious leg-spin and milking the pace bowlers for singles, but when Bairstow was deceived by a flat non-spinning delivery from Yasir, Pakistan smelt blood.
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Soon after victory, all the Pakistan players lined up and did press-ups on the field – a gesture remembering their instructors at an army academy back home where they underwent training to prepare for the four-test series against England.
Yasir Shah was named man of the match after the leg-spinner continued his hold over the English batsmen, with his four for 69 in the doomed chase giving him 10 for the Test.
The game ebbed and flowed dramatically, the tension, the stress was palpable leading up to tea and beyond on the fourth day as England kept coming back. “Credit to Pakistan. We’re very confident we can beat them, but we have to get better”.
“I thought we were okay on the first day, and then on the second day to allow Yasir to take six wickets when the ball wasn’t turning – he bowled beautifully – but that hurt us. Hopefully the cricketing gods might (turn in our favour at Old Trafford)”.
“I think and I hope that he’ll perform like that, and prove to everybody and just be a really good man now, a really good cricketer and human being”.
Then began the ebbs and flows of fortune. Neither side grabbed the initiative. “It was a really good win for us”, he said. “In general, this is quite an inexperienced side we played and some of that showed”, he said.
England were holding firm at 195 for 6 thanks to a determined stand of 56 between Jonny Bairstow (48) and Chris Woakes (23).
However, he had the final say in the match, taking the last England wicket of Jake Ball in the second innings to give Pakistan a 75-run victory.
Chris Woakes was a star performer for England, claiming 11 wickets while also making gritty contributions with the bat in each of his side’s innings.
England have won just one of their last six Tests at Lord’s – against New Zealand in May a year ago – with two draws and three defeats.
James Vince, dropped in the slips, struck nine fours, mainly through the offside, on his way to a Test-best 41 not out at lunch without looking assured.
“Obviously the coaches and the captain will decide selection moving forward, but we’ve got quality seamers to come in and Ben Stokes obviously can play just as a batter at times. That set the tone for the rest of the game”.
Cook was the first to go, nicking a feather through to Sarfraz Ahmed off the metronomic Ali for 8, before Hales chased a wide delivery and was snared at slip to the same bowler, for 16.
“We did a camp in Abbottabad before the skill camp in Lahore, and we used to do an honour code every time, we just stepped into the ground and did 10 push-ups”.
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“We’ve lost here before, Australia thrashed us here, but we bounced back”.
