While other England players like Alex Hales, James Vince and Gary Balance have failed to contribute significantly for the hosts, Misbah believes restricting Root and Cook could affect England’s performance significantly.
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It was a disheartening day for Anderson, who claimed 1-32 on a sluggish surface but saw vice-captain Joe Root floor a catching opportunity when Azhar Ali was on 38.
After they were bowled out for 297 on day one, Anderson got his side off to the flawless start when he dismissed Mohammad Hafeez with the fourth ball of the morning but England’s attack struggled to make further inroads.
The visitors are likely to bring in opener Sami Aslam at the expense of Shan Masood, who made 24, 7, 1, 39 in the four innings of two Tests. I probably got a little bit out of order at one point with the umpires; I’ve apologised to both of them for my behaviour. But his mood soon deteriorated and he snatched his jumper out of the hands of the umpire Joel Wilson after being advised during his first spell that he was encroaching on the middle of the pitch.
England, though, will hope the late dismissal of Azhar, fending Woakes to Cook at first slip, will give them some momentum heading into day three.
Aslam’s only prior innings this tour was his 17 against Worcestershire during last week’s two-day warm-up match. The well-organised opener played with a maturity belying his years in both attack and defence.
Azhar (139) and Aslam (82) batted with caution, taking Pakistan to 35 in the first hour of play.
Then Moeen, in his home town and on what was once his home ground, passed his half-century with a pull off Rahat Ali for his fifth four from 99 balls to help ensure England did not fall too short after surprisingly being put in by Misbah-ul-Haq.
Anderson induced a rash stroke from Azhar shortly after lunch but Joe Root spilled a hard catch at second slip and England’s anxiety increased. In hindsight, England had their moments from Day 1 with Ballance and Moeen securing 70 and 63 runs respectively to push England to 250-run mark.
This innings comfortably surpassed Aslam’s previous Test-best of 20 against Bangladesh in Khulna a year ago.
That it was broken in the attempt to sneak another quick run was a cruel twist of fate, as James Vince anticipated the single and threw down the striker’s end stumps to leave a devastated Aslam 18 runs short of what would have been a deserved maiden Test century.
“As a batsman, you really need just to focus as much as you can on that”, the 31-year-old Azhar told reporters after stumps.
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The left-hander paddle-swept him twice for four and took the off-spinner for three boundaries in five balls before tea, his approach to the spinner a total contrast to his careful method against the seamers.
