Southampton, 14 August 2020: A gritty 60 not out by Mohammad Rizwan lifted Pakistan to 223 for nine on day two of the second ICC World Test Championship fixture against England at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton. The day’s play ended prematurely due to bad light. Only 86 overs were possible on the first two days of the Test due to rain interruptions and bad light.
Pakistan resumed their innings in a tricky position Friday with the scorecard reading 126 for five but Rizwan’s Test career’s second half-century had the tourists improve their position considerably when bad light forced an early end to the day’s play.
The wicketkeeper-batsman along with Babar Azam (47) saw off a challenging morning session, the start of which was delayed by 90 minutes due to rain. The pair added 32 runs to Pakistan’s overnight score before Babar was dismissed by Stuart Broad.
The right-arm pacer added another wicket to his tally when he trapped Mohammad Abbas (two) LBW. James Anderson, England’s leading wicket-taker in Test cricket, was the other bowler to dismiss a batsman over the course of the 40.2 overs bowled in the day. Shaheen Shah Afridi was run out for nought at the non-striker’s end by a Dom Sibley direct-hit.
Rizwan and Naseem Shah (one not out) will resume Pakistan’s innings on Saturday.
Scores in brief:
Pakistan 223-9, 86 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 60 not out, Abid Ali 60, Babar Azam 47, Azhar Ali 20; James Anderson 3-48, Stuart Broad 3-56)
