Abbas, Hasan on song as Pakistan bowl England out cheaply
LONDON: Seamers Mohammad Abbas and Hasan Ali took four wickets each as Pakistan bowled out England for 184 shortly after tea on the opening day of the first Test at Lord’s, with Joe Root’s decision to bat first backfiring on Thursday.
On a day when Pakistan’s pacemen bowled good line and length and their fielders produced some brilliant catches, England collapsed from 149-4 in the 48th over to all out 11 overs later, with the last five wickets falling for the addition of just 18 runs.
Alastair Cook — who was playing a record-leveling 153rd consecutive Test match, which equalled Australia great Allan Border’s all-time record for successive appearances at this level — was England’s top scorer with 70 before he was bowled by Mohammad Amir.
Otherwise, Abbas (4-23) and Hasan (4-51) did the damage in conditions that have proved to be helpful for Pakistan’s quartet of seamers.
After Root elected to bat, Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed said he would have wanted to bowl if given the choice.
At tea England were 165 for five, having slumped to 43 for three before lunch with Cook hold the innings together.