LEEDS – England batted steadily to establish a first-innings lead of 25over Pakistan at tea on the second day of the second Test at Headingleyafter the morning session was lost to rain.
The only wicket to fall was captain Joe Root, who edged a ball aimed acrosshim by Mohammad Amir. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed collected a regulationcatch to give Pakistan initial hope of forcing their way back into a matchwhich has seldom gone their way.
But nightwatchman Dominic Bess (40 not out) and Dawid Malan (27 not out)saw out the session to take England to 199 for three in reply to Pakistan’sfirst-innings total of 174.
Root had looked in fine form after a frustrating morning when persistentrain prevented play until 2.45pm.
Resuming on 106 for two, England showed their aggressive intentions bytaking off in the first three overs, a flow of runs helped by some sloppyfielding from the visitors.
But the captain departed on 45, having added just 16 to his overnightscore. While batting was seldom easy in overcast conditions, the pitch hadfew terrors and England, still smarting from their nine-wicket first Testdefeat, looked set to build a big lead in their bid to square the two-Testseries.
After a quiet start, Bess began to show more adventure, flashing oneexcellent square drive to the boundary off Faheem Ashraf to the boundary.
The 20-year-old had already excelled with the bat in his first Test atLord’s with a gutsy 57 and, after coming in just before the close onFriday, continued to show his potential as he steered England pastPakistan’s first-innings total.