Sport Cricket - England in Pakistan

Atkinson out for a fine 39 in a partnership of over 100 with Smith. 225 - 7
 
300 on this pitch would be a good score, needs The tail to stay in and Smith to have a probable career best knock, but would be a turn around from this morning.
 
Still a great innings from Smith, only worry is that it has shown you can score on this pitch.
 
Well our lower middle order got us to what looks like some sort of respectability.

Let's see if our bowlers can make anything of the pitch (and if the Pakistan batters can be tempted to play some poor shots!)
 
Pakistan 47 for 3
A long long way to go, but IF the pitch deteriorates from here, hopefully Pakistan have not produced a pitch where the toss wins the game.
Would serve them right!
 
How did the Umpire give that out?! Nowhere near the ball.
 
Game very much in the balance. England fought back well with ball in hand.

It's a big first session tomorrow. If we could eek 3 out before lunch we will have put ourselves in a very healthy position.
 
That was a really good day of cricket. Do agree with Hussain’s post-play summary that you shouldn’t be getting boot-high grubbers in the first session of a test match though - so a few question marks over the pitch.

He’s a lively, entertaining character but I’m starting to get quite irritated by Sajid - so enjoyed Smith and Atkinson giving him a bit of tap in their partnership.

England probably left 50+ runs out there with some indifferent shot selection (surely Pope has to be somewhat at risk now, and I’m still not convinced #3 is his best position - albeit he wouldn’t get in the side lower down!) - but the Smith/Atkinson partnership and some good bowling meant they really wrestled some momentum back. The first session tomorrow could potentially decide the entire game…
 
I hope we win this. Not just because it is England, but because Pakistan's pitch preparation methods do (IMO) get pretty close to cheating. They were raking the pitch and had huge heaters and industrial fans on it to try and turn a normally pretty placid pitch into the equivalent of a day 5 or 6 spinner's paradise. It's one thing to decide whether to open the pitch to the elements or to cover it, to cut the grass very short or leave a bit there - and entirely something else to go to those extremes. So I hope it comes back to bite them on the bum.
 
It’s funny that people moaned about the wicket in the first test but, IF England win this test then:

  • It will have been the only one which didn’t just go with whoever won the toss
  • It went the deepest into the scheduled 5 days
  • Saw some records and interesting batting
  • Still allowed England to get 20 wickets

I’d much rather that than a raging turner which just means if you bat first, you win.
 
I'll admit I was very wrong about the wicket for the first test. After the Pakistan first innings and England overhauling their total so massively, I didn't think it offered enough for the game to be finished in the time (never mind with a couple of sessions to spare!). How much of that result was down to the pitch and how much down to the Pakistani batsmen's tendency to buckle under any sort of pressure in their second innings is hard to say of course.

But if I had been right and the wicket was too flat for test cricket, at least it would have been as a result of just that - a naturally rather flat pitch. Playing on 6 day old pitches and ones that have been artificially dried out and raked seems like a step too far. I do understand of course that the groundsman will try to provide a wicket helpful to the home team ('twas ever thus), but this seems pretty extreme to me.
 
Pakistan 47 for 3
A long long way to go, but IF the pitch deteriorates from here, hopefully Pakistan have not produced a pitch where the toss wins the game.
Would serve them right!
I’m hoping that it is a pitch where the toss wins the game tbh.
 
I want England to win but not because it is a pitch where you win the toss and are virtually certain to win the game.
I am not sure that is what sport should be about?
I agree entirely with all of that, but… as we have won the toss on this occasion I’ll take it.

The issue of win the toss, win the game, seems to be a particular problem on the subcontinent. Pakistan obviously feel that they have found a winning formula by creating spinner-friendly surfaces for their bowlers, who I believe are getting more out of the pitch than England’s spinners.
 
A good morning for England
Pakistan 187 for the, 80 behind.
3 wickets for Rehan and 2 for Bashir in the innings to date.2 very young spinners- how good could they be?
 
And a bad post lunch session. Scores level with Pakistan having two wickets left - we need to not let that tail wag!
 
Anything under a 25 run lead will be satisfactory. More than that and i think we could be in serious trouble.

Interestingly, i don't think the ball has turned anywhere near as much today as it did yesterday. Hopefully our batsman will bat with similar application as that of Saud and Noorman.
 
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