England go head-to-head against Pakistan at the prestigious Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, England on July 14 in the First Test of the Investec Test Series.
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Pakistan (1st innings): M. Hafeez c Bairstow b Woakes 40, S. Masood c Bairstow b Woakes 7, A. Ali lbw b Ball 7, Younis Khan c Ali b Broad 33, Misbah-ul-Haq (batting ) 48, A. Shafiq (batting) 12.
There was talk of Misbah retiring after he led Pakistan to a series victory over Alastair Cook’s in the United Arab Emirates previous year, but the veteran dropped down to the famous turf to perform press-ups after getting his name on the honours board.
HollywoodLifers, who do you think will win the First Test between England and Pakistan?
“It’s the big story about this Test match, but I thought the way both sides played in the UAE (in 2015) that the spirit between us was different to in the past, and I hope we can carry that on and talk about the cricket”.
Anderson managed to fracture his shoulder on the last ball of Test series against Sri Lanka last month and although he has bowled in the nets, Cook said the selectors were preserving England’s leading Test wicket-taker for the second Test at Old Trafford.
Amir, now 24, received a five-year ban from cricket for his part in the affair but Cook once more insisted he had no qualms about playing against the left-arm quick.
However, he has no qualms facing Amir again. “After five long years, his punishment served, he is back and a live wire on the pitch”.
Alastair Cook’s team is fourth in the ICC world rankings behind Australia, India and this summer’s tourists Pakistan, who they face in the first Test at Lord’s on Thursday.
“We have to be careful not to build him up in our own minds for all that we know how skilful he is”.
Paceman Ball, replacing the injured James Anderson, got in on the act by trapping Azhar Ali (7) in front with a rapid yorker and the risky Younis Khan (33) looked well set before hitting Broad straight to midwicket.
But Riaz said of Root: “He is the backbone of the England team and getting him out early will put the pressure on England”. “It’s all about how you think, how you plan, and then you execute those plans on the field”.
The Expected playing eleven for England will be from-Alastair Cook (c), Alex Hales, Gary Ballance, Joe Root, James Vince, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jake Ball, Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones.
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“With the wickets and the skill he has got though of course it was a temptation to take that gamble”. Ahead of the much awaited first Test, let us have a look into some of the key statistics.
