NASSER HUSSAIN: England's seamers outbowled their counterparts
NASSER HUSSAIN: England’s seamers were brilliant on day three… they completely outbowled their Pakistani counterparts
- England have Pakistan under the pump in their seminal three-match series
- The hosts reached lunch on the third day 64 for no loss chasing a target of 355
- Ben Stokes’ side bidding to make history in winning the second Test in Multan
That spell between lunch and tea from England’s three seamers was magnificent – and it continued the pattern of the first Test, where the English quicks have outbowled their Pakistani counterparts.
On the last day at Rawalpindi, where the surface was even more turgid than this one in Multan, James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Ben Stokes took charge of the Test, which is probably why Stokes felt he wanted to bring in the extra seamer here in Mark Wood when Liam Livingstone got injured.
And with Stokes maybe still feeling it a bit after his long spell on that last day, the presence of Wood has provided him with a security blanket.
Jame Anderson celebrates with Ollie Pope after taking wicket of Pakistan’s Muhammad Rizwan
But the fact is, you stick to your strengths whatever the conditions, and one of England’s strengths right now is the quality of their seam attack. With no pace or carry in the pitch, they aimed for lbws and bowleds, and in that little session after lunch on the third day they achieved that superbly.
In England, you start with your seamers, then go to your spinners. But it’s been a role reversal out here – so much so that Anderson was the fifth bowler used by Stokes.
But in his first over of the innings, his ball to Mohammad Rizwan was an absolute beauty, really – a stroke of genius. It angled in, then nipped away, and if Rizwan is getting that 100 times, he’s not laying a bat on it once. The seam position was perfect, and reminded me of the ball that bowled Michael Clarke at Trent Bridge during the 2013 Ashes.
Then came Ollie Robinson’s dismissal of Babar Azam – the second time he has bowled him in this Test, which on this surface is phenomenal. He’s got his Test wickets this year at 17 apiece, and I don’t think we’re talking enough about his skill.
In the first innings, he made use of a bit of reverse swing to bowl Babar and trigger a Pakistani collapse. In the second, he went a bit wider on the crease and possibly hit a crack that has formed outside the right-hander’s off stump when you’re bowling from the media centre end.
Finally, when reverse swing did come into play, they had Wood to exploit it – and that’s one the assets he brings to the table. That was a serious delivery to bowl Abdullah Shafique through the gate.
Saud Shakeel and Imam-ul-Haq batted well after that, which just showed what a good pitch this still was, especially with the heavy roller removing so much of the assistance for the spinners.
So that little passage of play showed how much England’s quicks have learned these past few years. Just about the only thing they didn’t get right was when they didn’t review that little tickle down the leg side from Imam on Wood.
I thought the spinners were fine, and they got a huge late boost when Jack Leach had Imam well caught by Root at slip. At times, Leach will know he’s been a little bit short, allowing Shakeel and Imam – the two left-handers – the time to sit back and work him off the back foot.
But that may be a consequence of the fields Stokes likes to give him, with mid-off and mid-on up. It could be that Leach is a bit worried about being belted over the top, so if anything he errs on the short side.
That, though, is the way Stokes likes to go – he would regard pushing either of those men back as a negative move. And as we know with Ben Stokes, negative is not part of his vocabulary.
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