LONDON – Pakistan’s batting crumbled to 83 – 7 after it won the toss on thefirst day of the second Test against England at Headingley on Friday,bringing tail-enders into play early in the innings.
Openers Imamul Haq and Azhar Ali fell early in the innings without addingmuch to the scoreboard. Haris Sohail (28) later nicked it to the slips,followed by Asad Shafiq (27). Both the wickets were taken by pacer ChrisWoakes.
Soon after Pakistan resumed innings at 68-4 after lunch, skipper SarfazAhmed (14) was bowled by James Anderson. Debutant Usman Salahuddin was thenext to fall after making only four runs.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who had been struggling with a torn lefthamstring, was ruled out on the morning of the match.
He was replaced by 19-year-old debutant left-arm seamer Sam Curran asEngland made three changes in total to the side which thrashed inside fourdays in the first Test of this two-match series at Lord’s.
Keaton Jennings replaced struggling opening batsman Mark Stoneman and pacebowling all-rounder Chris Woakes came in for dropped fast bowler Mark Wood.
Pakistan were forced into making one change, with middle-order batsmanUsman Salahuddin given a Test debut after Babar Azam suffered a broken armwhile facing Stokes at Lord’s.
Sarfraz explained his decision to bat first by saying: “It looks like agood pitch, a dry pitch, so hopefully we can post a good score.”
England captain Joe Root, playing on his Yorkshire home ground, added:“It’s humid today so we might get swing and we have to use what we get witha fresh pitch.
“We were below par in the last Test and the fact the game has come aroundso quickly has helped us.”
Curran was presented with his Test cap by Graham Thorpe, England’s one-dayinternational batting coach.
“It was nice to give Sam his cap,” Thorpe, a former Surrey and Englandbatsman, told *BBC Radio*’s Test Match Special. “To present it to a Surreyplayer, at his age, was really special.”
“He’s a talented player. England’s search for a left-arm seamer is welldocumented and it’s a great opportunity for Sam,” Thorpe added.
If Pakistan avoid defeat, they will win their first Test series in Englandsince 1996.
England, who have lost six of their last eight Tests, are looking to avoida third straight series loss after reverses in Australia and New Zealand.Teams
England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (capt), Dawid Malan,Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Dominic Bess, Sam Curran,Stuart Broad, James Anderson
Pakistan: Azhar Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, UsmanSalahuddin, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt/wkt), Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, MohammadAmir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas
Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)