Buttler, Bess keep English hopes alive against Pakistan
LONDON: Jos Buttler and Dom Bess shared a spirited century stand to save England from a humiliating innings defeat by Pakistan in the first Test at Lord’s on Saturday.
The pair came together with the hosts reeling at 110 for six, 69 runs behind the touring side and heading for their first loss in a May Test at the home of cricket inside three days.
Buttler, recalled to the side, and debutant Bess calmly added 125 runs in the evening sunshine to put England 56 runs ahead and take the match into a fourth day, although Pakistan should still complete a deserved victory on Sunday.
They added 13 runs to their overnight 350 for eight to extend their lead to 179 and quickly started running through England’s brittle batting line-up.
Alastair Cook, who top-scored with 70 in the first innings, was trapped lbw by Mohammad Abbas for one and Mark Stoneman, under severe pressure for his place in the team, made a scratchy nine before he was bowled by leg-spinner Shadab Khan before England limped to lunch at 37 for two.
Captain Joe Root batted patiently, content to defend and take advantage of the rare loose balls served up by a disciplined Pakistan attack. He reached his 50 before Mohammad Amir took centre stage with two wickets in one over.
Pakistan’s left-arm seamer found the edge of Dawid Malan’s bat to dismiss him for 12 and two balls later Amir produced a brilliant inswinging delivery to bowl Jonny Bairstow and leave England in deep trouble at 91 for four.
INJURED BABAR OUT
Pakistan were dealt a major blow after dependable middle-order batsman Babar Azam was ruled out of the rest of their tour with a fractured left hand.
BRIEF SCORES
England 184 in 58.2 overs ( Alastair Cook 70, Ben Stokes 38; Mohammad Abbas 4/23, Hasan Ali 4/51) & 235/6 ( Joe Root 68, Jos Buttler batting 66, Dom Bess batting 55) vs Pakistan 363 in 114.3 overs (Azhar Ali 50, Haris Sohail 39, Asad Shafiq 59, Babar Azam 68 retd, Shadab Khan 52, Faheem Ashraf 37; James Anderson 3/82, Ben Stokes 3/ 73).