Sports Desk
SOUTHAMPTON: Veteran seamer James Anderson made early inroads to leave Pakistan tottering at 24-3 after England rode on brilliant knocks from Zak Crawley and Jos Buttler to post 583-8 declared on the second day of the third and final Test against Pakistan on Saturday.
England, 1-0 up in the rubber and looking for a first series win over Pakistan in a decade, left the tourists with a massive task to overcome a deficit of 559 runs and save the match over the remaining three days at the Ageas Bowl.
Pakistan lost openers Shan Masood and Abid Ali along with Babar Azam in just under 11 overs, as Anderson claimed all three wickets and is only four short of becoming the first pace bowler to reach the milestone of 600 in Tests.
Shan — who had survived on the DRS — was plumb lbw for four before fellow opener Abid Ali (1) edged Anderson low to Dom Sibley at third slip.
And with what became the last ball of the day, Anderson had star batsman Babar Azam lbw for 11, with one that cut back into the right-hander.
Anderson had stumps figures of 3-13 in 5.5 overs.
Earlier, Crawley, 22, became the third-youngest England player to make a double century and went on to make 267, while Buttler scored a career-best 152 as the pair shared a record fifth-wicket partnership of 359.
Buttler saw his seven-and-a-half-hour innings — the longest of his 47-Test career — end tamely when he chipped a gentle return catch to occasional spinner Fawad Alam.
Chris Woakes (40), Dom Bess and Stuart Broad added 82 runs to help England post their highest total in four years since they made 589-8 declared, also against Pakistan, at Old Trafford four years ago.
Three of Pakistan’s frontline bowlers conceded over 100 runs each, with leg-spinner Yasir Shah (2-173) and teenage paceman Naseem Shah (1-109) both going for more than four an over.
