Sports Desk
Manchester: Pakistan have lost two wickets on the score of 139 on rain-hits the opening day of Old Trafford Test against England.
English pacers Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer claimed a wicket each. In the 15th over, Archer got Pakistan first wicket as he removed Abid Ali’s off stumps. Abid departed after scoring 16.
Woakes trapped Pakistan captain Azhar Ali in front. He departed on the score of duck. Vice-captain Babar Azam and Shan Masood are at 4 and 27 respectively.
Earlier, Azhar won the toss and decided to bat first. Pakistan have picked two leg-spinners Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah. England are unchanged from their last win against West Indies.
“We can’t control the weather but we are clear in our heads. We are going with two spinner and three pacers, with Shadab as an all-rounder,” Azhar said after winning the toss.
“You can not replace Test cricket with practice games, but we have prepared well and are looking forward to the encounter. Obviously, we are missing the crowd, we get a lot of support here, but hopefully, we can entertain them at home,” he added.
England’s captain Joe Root is not sure whether his main man Ben Stokes will bowl or not but pointed that his runs are always valuable for the side.
“We have tried to make the most of the practice days, we are unchanged, we would also probably have batted first. Ben is not quite 100% fit and it’s too big a risk, but his runs have been invaluable and he’s a huge part of the dressing room,” Root said.
Pakistan:
Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah
England:
Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, James Anderson
