Key events
39th over: Pakistan 136-5 (Saud 74, Usman 12) Robinson is into his seventh over on the spin, I wonder if they should give Josh Tongue a two over burst before tea? The strapping Notts man has only bowled three overs so far in this innings and his awkward angles will give the batters yet another challenge. Go on Joe…
38th over: Pakistan 135-5 (Saud 74, Usman 11) Stuart Broad thinks that Gus Atkinson is perhaps feeling the lack of wickets a little and searching a bit too hard. I’m not really sure I understand but I’m happy to believe the big fella. Four off the over, Saud has been becalmed but he’s still there chipping away with a Test century just beginning to peak/peek on the horizon.
37th over: Pakistan 131-5 (Saud 71, Usman 10) Ollie Robinson’s Test bowling average is now better than Jasprit Bumrah’s. There’s more than one way to skin a Test cricket cat, you could say. It’s cloudy at Lord’s and the lights are on, not very nice batting conditions.
36th over: Pakistan 126-5 (Saud 70, Usman 6) Oh, forgot to say – they will play until 4.40pm with tea from then until 5pm. The final session can go til 7pm should England need it. A couple off Atkinson who still looks good for no reward. Yet.
35th over: Pakistan 124-5 (Saud 69, Usman 5) Robinson is made to wait a little longer for his milestone but he won’t mind that, there will have been times in the last few years when he probably thought he wouldn’t play for England ever again. Ali Usman knocks a single into the leg side to keep strike, England won’t mind that with Saud locked in at the other end.
34th over: Pakistan 122-5 (Saud 68, Usman 4) Atkinson is up into the 90s on the speed gun and has Ali hopping at the crease. A waft outside off nearly goes to Dan Lawrence in the gully but he palms it around the post for four. Robinson will continue on the hunt for his ton of Test wickets.
33rd over: Pakistan 115-5 (Saud 66, Usman 0) Robinson completes a wicket maiden and gets a huge hand from an appreciative crowd when returning to fine leg. What a summer he is having. England are in a hurry now with an end open, Ali Usman is the new man.
WICKET! Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Robinson 1 (Pakistan 115-5)
Urgh! Rizwan plays another hack across the line but this time he misses and Robinson has him LBW! Not a good way to go after the resistance that went before but Robinson doesn’t care on bit – he goes to 99 Test wickets and has 8-28 in the match – and counting.
32nd over: Pakistan 115-4 (Saud 66, Rizwan 1) Top over from Atkinson who looks much more comfortable from the Pavilion End, he’s up at 89 MPH and he darts two unplayable balls past Saud’s groping outside edge.
31st over: Pakistan 113-4 (Saud 64, Rizwan 1) Rizwan is the new man in the middle with Lord’s looking a little gloomy once more, not unlike Pakistan’s fortunes. Eeeesht! Rizwan tries a huge hack at his third ball and is lucky to squirt a single into the leg side to get off the mark. Saud keeps ticking with a controlled pull for one.
WICKET! Shan Masood lbw b Robinson 26 (Pakistan 111-4)
That man Ollie Robinson gets the breakthrough! Masood goes too far across his stumps and the ball pins him on the knee roll in front of middle. A huge appeal but the umpire is unmoved. England send it upstairs and sure enough Robinson is hitting the stumps again.
30th over: Pakistan 111-3 (Masood 26, Saud 63) Atkinson beats Masood twice in succession with balls angled in that nip away sharply at the last. Top bowling but no reward for Gus Gus. Masood guides two past point and then keeps strike for the next with a scampered leg bye.
29th over: Pakistan 108-3 (Masood 24, Saud 63) Rinse and repeat. Ollie Robinson stitches together his fourth maiden with another Woody Woodpecker over on a postage stamp outside off stump. You’d hate to face it.
Now then, Root is taking Archer off and summoning the currently wicketless Mr Lord’s – Gus Atkinson.
28th over: Pakistan 108-3 (Masood 24, Saud 63) A purr of appreciation around Lord’s as Saud plays a beautiful square drive off Archer that skims across the turf for four. Nasser Hussain wants Archer to try some short stuff for a few overs with Robinson banging it in relentlessly on the top of off stump from the other end.
Nasser knows his onions, the next ball Saud flaps at a short one in at the armpit and is very lucky that it loops over Dan Lawrence at square leg.
27th over: Pakistan 101-3 (Masood 23, Saud 57) Ollie Robinson from the Nursery End, he is devilishly hard to play on this pitch, wobbling it into the pads and away from the outside edge. He beats Masood twice in the over and Jamie Smith showcases some nifty work with the gloves to make two sharp takes. A ripple and a cheer as Pakistan goes to three figures with a glide past the cordon for two from Masood.
26th over: Pakistan 99-3 (Masood 21, Saud 57) Archer gets one to lift and it jams Masood’s fingers onto the bat handle. Ouch. There’s a break in play while the physio brings on some magic spray and Shan is good to continue, the odd grimace notwithstanding.
England only have one review left and they wisely decide not to use it on an lbw shout to Saud who then swivel pulls the next ball for four with something approaching disdain. Good to see this from Pakistan, I feared we might be all done by now when Babar departed at 14-3 this morning.
Out come the players, Shan Masood and Saud Shakeel will resume their burgeoning stand of 80 runs and Jofra Archer is the man who till try and break it first up for England. Play!
James Wallace
Thanks Tom and hello everyone. I bring good news too – the rain has cleared off, the sun is out again and the official word is that we’ll be back underway in five minutes.
The sun’s out again at Lord’s, but a fair bit of mopping up is needed. So during this break, I’ll ease my way out of the chair and usher in James Wallace. And who knows – if the weather continues to prove erratic and this Pakistan pair continue to be much less so, he might even see us into an improbable fifth day. Thanks for your emails and for following. Bye.
News from elsewhere: forgotten man Ben Foakes has got a 50 for Surrey against Essex, and could help them avert defeat. More here …
And in other sports, BlueCo’s lead revenue generator have been doing some goals:
Rain stops play
And suddenly – a short sharp shower. Nasser Hussain on comms seems confident it won’t last, and who am I to argue? They’re off for now though.
In the meantime … why not sign up for The Spin, our weekly cricket newsletter:
25th over: Pakistan 94-3 (Masood 20, Saud 53), target 389. Lawrence again, with his extravagantly twirly action, just getting a bit of grip and turn away from the left-hander, and he’s managing to stem the run-flow – a maiden.
24th over: Pakistan 94-3 (Masood 20, Saud 53), target 389. A controlled pull from Saud in front of square brings him two more off Archer. He tries one again later in the over, forcing Emilio Gay at square leg to duck only for the ball to dob back to the bowler. A single completes the over.
23rd over: Pakistan 91-3 (Masood 20, Saud 50), target 389. Actual spin klaxon! Dan Lawrence comes on to bowl his tweakers for England’s first spin of the match. He starts with, erm, a loosener, round the wicket at the left-handed Masood that strays down leg for four byes. He finds some revs and turn later in the over though, forcing Masood to be cautious and respectful, which he has been for his whole innings to be honest.
22nd over: Pakistan 87-3 (Masood 20, Saud 50), target 389. England are bothered by the state of the ball, which Root has twice referred to the umpire Paul Reiffel. No dice currently though. However comfortable Saud has looked, Archer serves a reminder of his threat by banging one into the batter’s forearm. In comes short leg but Saud can still find the gaps for a leg-bye in that region. Archer’s still finding pace and bounce but hasn’t been anywhere near as accurate since lunch.
Fifty for Saud Shakeel!
21st over: Pakistan 84-3 (Masood 19, Saud 50), target 389. Saud goes after Atkinson’s short ball, and hoiks off the top edge over the keeper for four. He adds two more before a punch down the ground for four takes Saud to a damn fine 50, his first in England, and he’s looked properly classy today.
20th over: Pakistan 74-3 (Masood 19, Saud 40), target 389. Masood flicks Archer for a single before the bowler keeps Saud on the alert with a sharp bouncer. When Jofra then goes fuller, Saud drives pleasingly for three then Masood nudges a two as the runs continue to flow
This stand has probably been as good as Pakistan have batted on this tour, but it’s depressing that their support level in the crowd has been nowhere near what it used to be. High prices? Disillusionment with the team? Would be interested in the reasons.
19th over: Pakistan 68-3 (Masood 16, Saud 37), target 389. Atkinson continues at the nursery end, and whisper it but batting is beginning to look a little easier now, as it can with settled batters and a less new ball. A single for anchor-man Masood brings up the 50 partnership, which Saud celebrates with a nice square cut for four off a loose delivery.
18th over: Pakistan 63-3 (Masood 15, Saud 33), target 389. Jofra Archer, suitably rested, returns at the Pavilion End, and concedes four straight away as Saud sends an unconvincing leading edge through backward point for four. Two more ensue before Saud helps himself to four more down to fine leg, a rare buffet offering from Archer.
Out they come again, the rain still holding off.
An email from Bob O’Hara who reminds us that West Indies’ 84 heroics might have produced the highest successful Test run chase at Lord’s, but not the highest overall one:
The Windies (or West Indies as they were known in those days) don’t hold the record for the highest run chase. That belongs to Middlesex, who chased 472 to beat Yorkshire in 2014. Yorkshire were famously craptained by one Joe Root. Hopefully he’s learned a thing or two since then.
Happier times for Middlesex all round really. Talking of which, they and Derbyshire are trying to force a result in their rain-ravaged match at Derby. Tanya has all the latest from around the grounds …
Lunch: Pakistan 53-3
17th over: Pakistan 53-3 (Masood 15, Saud 23), target 389. Masood pushes Atkinson round the corner for a single to bring the 50 up, and three more behind square on the offside end the session, one that hasn’t altered the picture of England dominance, but this Pakistan pair have shown some intelligent resistance after a stunning new-ball salvo from Archer and Robinson. Again.
Anyway, off for my own lunch now. Back soon.
16th over: Pakistan 49-3 (Masood 14, Saud 20), target 389. Shot of the morning from Saud Shakeel, unfurling a gorgeous cover drive for four from the first ball of Tongue’s over. This partnership is now worth 36, which is decent by the standards of this match, and Pakistan’s highest of it.
15th over: Pakistan 45-3 (Masood 14, Saud 16), target 389. Atkinson, with only one wicket to his name this series, replaces Robinson and sees his first ball dabbed low past the slips for four by Saud, who then picks up a single with a rather less elegant hacked inside edge. But Atkinson serves warning of his unrewarded talents by brilliantly inducing a play and miss to end the over.
14th over: Pakistan 40-3 (Masood 14, Saud 11), target 389. Some rare runs for Masood, twice square cutting Tongue for four with relish. Then it goes all manic again as a muffled lbw appeal from Tongue is followed by the batters running two, but they run them so complacently that Saud has to dive to make his ground after Root throws to Smith. The umpires review but that dive proves decisive. He survives.
12th over: Pakistan 30-3 (Masood 4, Saud 11), target 389. This has been a long spell from Robinson but he’s still mostly getting it just where he wants, at that nagging offside line and length. One from the over.
12th over: Pakistan 29-3 (Masood 4, Saud 11), target 389. Archer has his standard five-overs breather but there’s more pace coming down the track at Pakistan in the form of Josh Tongue. Saud nudges a single before England review another lbw denial after Tongue brings one in to Masood, but he’s outside the line. Pakistan are at least looking for singles now though, and grab a couple of scurried ones here.
On the subject of West Indies 84 and all that, this summer’s lamentations over Pakistan’s decline do share something in common with those of A Certain Age’s Windies nostalgia. For Marshall, Richards, Holding etc read Wasim, Waqar, Inzy et al. We need more than nostalgia though damn it – we need a properly competitive Test cricket ecosystem.
11th over: Pakistan 27-3 (Masood 3, Saud 10), target 389. England opt to review a not-out lbw call as Robinson raps Saud on his back leg but it’s pitching outside off. Bit of an indulgent review, that. Then Saud squirts an edged drive beyond third slip for four.
Talk of West Indies 1984 always encourages nostalgic reverie from cricket fans of a certain age, and Anthony Bradley’s memories are duly stirred: “That test was one of my favourite memories. We’d just finished our entrance exams, so we had nothing to at prep school except build tree houses, race bicycles down the hill and (for me) choose a spot of grass in the walled garden and stare at the blue sky and clouds, excited at the prospect of beating the almighty Windies while glued to TMS. The joy of being young and free was shattered by Greenidge and Haynes that day, and life was never the same again.”
Yeah that was the only Test that year that England were competitive in for more than a day, Botham at his best etc, before it was emphatically snatched away by what for our generation was the Brazil 1970 of cricketing behemoths.
10th over: Pakistan 22-3 (Masood 3, Suad 5), target 389. Masood dabs a single – a rare example of Pakistan being able to handle a short-pitched Archer delivery – but Jof’s not just here for the chin music, as he whistles an outswinger down the slope past Saud’s edge.
9th over: Pakistan 19-3 (Masood 2, Suad 4), target 389. Masood flicks a single, as Robinson’s field is adjusted with a more legside bias, including a leg slip. Saud responds with due caution.
“It’s such a shame that this opening pair of bowlers are so (comparitively) long in the tooth,” writes Dean Kinsella. “Jof’s speed and Ollie’s precision could really have been an opening pairing for the ages. Let’s hope for a final hurrah next summer.”
8th over: Pakistan 18-3 (Masood 1, Suad 4), target 389. The capitulation continues, as the once-prized scalp of Babar is claimed by Archer, whose searing short one is looped up to slip. Saud Shakeel, another decent batter due a score, comes to the crease, and has a wild swish first up at one outside off, failing to connect, but Archer is continuing to send down the snorters. You’d really want to see Archer doing this against a more in-form side … though he’s fallible, Saud hammering a lovely shot through point for four.
Wicket! Babar c b Archer 6, Pakistan 14-3
That was almost unplayable, Archer ripping one in towards Babar’s grill, he gets an uncoordinated edge and it loops up into the hands of Jordan Cox at third slip.
