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England v Pakistan | 1st Test | Lord's | Jul 14-18, 2016 | Day 3

Pakistan won. High-quality leg spin is extremely tough to play. I'd say it's still superior even if you combine off and left arm spin. The good thing about this Pakistan test team is that if the pitch offers seam movement – you got Amir, and if the pitch has some turn – you got Yasir Shah. Even if the pitch does nothing – you have Hafeeze and YK to rack up scores. Regardless of rankings, I'd say Pakistan are probably the 2nd best test side in the world right now.
Pakistan need 350 at least with the pacers we have.
 
Expect plenty of bragging rights in the press conference today about who has the edge. Pakistan will talk about unplayable pitch and batting last
 
I have an idea, send Rahat after one gets out now, I know Sarfraz will get a ton, but still in case, and Rahat should be told to swing at every ball, at least he will make some runs.
 
Sarfraz is such a good and busy player, just love it, game is moving forward
 
I love keepers like Sarfaraz, even though slightly risky they keep the scoreboard ticking and take the game quickly away from opposition.


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We must try and bat till lunch tomorrow. Sarfraz is showing good intent but I feel he should slow it down a touch .
 
Ideal to have Sarfaraz's prowess against spin just when Moeen Ali was starting to look dangerous.
 
The game was pulled half by MoHa with his drop (duck was expected), then by Azhar. In a tight game, PAK'll struggle with a No. 3 that allows teams to regroup from behind.

It's stupid to compare situations, but had Asad played 60% of this innings from No. 3, by this time Cook would have set ODI fielding.
 
Botham is ridiculously biased. If we got 500 he would bet England to win.

In UAE when they needed 280 to win in the 3rd game he was the only commentator who thought England could have won looooool
 
We must try and bat till lunch tomorrow. Sarfraz is showing good intent but I feel he should slow it down a touch .

I don't think he will be successful if he plays slow, everyone's got their unique style n method.


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This is where moen has hurt them. He's not a test quality bowler meaning woakes and Broad have bowled more than they should have

Moeen has picked up 2 huge wickets?

Meanwhile, Finn has conceded over a hundred in the match, is yet to strike and has only bowled 7 overs in this innings.
 
Moeen has picked up 2 huge wickets?

Meanwhile, Finn has conceded over a hundred in the match, is yet to strike and has only bowled 7 overs in this innings.

There was lots of luck involved there finn.

Cook can't afford to bowl moen and Finn now that's why he is over bowling broad. Same will happen with woakes now. Look how much they bowled in the 1st innings
 
Someone please recall the gentleman I forgot name, what is called - "on the rise" drive.
 
think its fairly obvious pak are going to get to about 240 ahead then lose the last wickets quickly
 
these two are playing positive cricket and scorecard is moving which means pressure on England. This is something we should have done from start.
 
Sarfraz just rotating against pace and letting shafiq take care of them. Younis take notes..
 
Good batting from younger lots. With 160-5, Pak are in control of the game.They need to scratch 50+ runs more.
 
Well, with Younis gone think we're one good ball or stupid shot away from going from anyone's game to advantage England.

We could collapse for another 20 runs and be out of the match before lunch tomorrow, but I'd back Shafiq to put on another 75 runs with the Surfraaz/tail and maybe even a 100 runs.

Another 100 runs and most of us would be bullish about our chances to win this, but anything less and England will be bullish.

Misbah's brain freeze aside, the only thing I've been surprised by in this test was Misbah's hundred and Yasir's bowling. Didn't expect any of the seamers to run through England [specialists or centurions till #9] on a flat deck, and maybe if Hafeez/Surfraaz had caught Cook, Amir's nerves would've settled and England could've been decimated by the seamers.

We [Pakistani fans] have rarely had sensible expectations from our team, and I was guilty of that until the fixing, the Akmals, the over-valuing of Hafeez/Azhar/etc, and just realising that the team is a tutti ka adda managed and governed by men I wouldn't trust with a gas station.

I want to believe we can win this series, and it's not impossible but...

1) There's six tail-enders... [two at the top and four at the bottom]. Hafeez won't get dropped, and even if Masood looks out of his depth, it's important to stick with him and work with him because he's already here and not 35. And men averaging 35/40 in hopeless pitches and hopeless quality domestic cricket can't just walk in to face Anderson in Old Trafford.

2) Our keeper is half a batsman at best and I wouldn't bet on him surviving when Ball and Finn are replaced by Anderson and Stokes and pitch/ball do a lot more at Old Trafford et al. I'd like him to average 40/50 this series, but anything touching 35 would be pleasant and acceptable.

3) Azhar isn't going to be setting the stadia alight who will be lucky to average 40-odd this series. And I don't think his dismissals in this test are as much about bad luck as they are about him being an ordinary player. He'd be lucky to be in the top six in the A-teams for the other four good test sides.

4) Younis and Misbah aren't ideal in these conditions but they're going to average higher than the top 3 this series. I'd love both to rack up hundreds in the next three tests, but few would bet on that possibility. I'd say them averaging 50+ isn't impossible, but I'm going to temper my expectations.

5) Shafiq is excellent but can't be relied on to score a 50 or 100 in every innings. He's no Joe Root and he may struggle when the ball swings, and we should be patient with someone who has served the team so well and should be allowed to make mistakes. And that first innings dismissal was probably the worst, tied with Misbah's second ball slog half an hour ago.

As for this test? We could still annihilate England, and it's crucial we win this because at Old Trafford, Woakes will be batting at 9, and while Broad may not be the test centurion he was six years ago, he'll be at 10.

There's also the possibility, since it spins in Old Trafford, England will bring in Adil Rashid. And he can bat too.

And we know Stokes and Anderson are walking into the team for Ball and Finn barring new injury.

They will be vicious because Lord's has been their weakest venue because of the flat track.

Still think we can win. And it's been an excellent test so far, and I'd expect it to be worth the viewing even if Pakistan loses.

Fingers crossed, and if Shafiq/Sarfaraz are there at the end of the day, I'd say this was another day we're slightly ahead of England by the end of it.
 
Bowling has gone flat.

Seems the pitch for now isn't having any demons for pacers.

Pakistan can motor along and get it provided they don't play loose shots..
 
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