Babar Azam and Shan Masood both took Pakistan on the op on the first day of the 1st test match against England.
Babar Azam and Shan Masood
Pakistan ended a rain-stricken first day in Manchester thanks to undefeated punches from Babar Azam and Shan Masood.
After deciding to hit first, Pakistani openers Abid Ali and Shan Masood managed to hold off the opening spells of James Anderson and Stuart Broad despite numerous failures, and they had amassed 36 runs by the time Abid was undone by a skillful piece of bowling from Jofra Archer.
🏴 STUMPS 🇵🇰
— ICC (@ICC) August 5, 2020
Shan Masood will resume tomorrow on 46* while Babar Azam is going strong on 69* 💪 #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/new4OkTIEs
A couple of bouncers in Archer’s first game had Abid duck and weave before the right arm quickly released a beautifully executed in-swinger to mess up the opener’s stumps.
Captain Azhar Ali had only seen three balls when a shower of rain forced a short delay, and Chris Woakes held him in front of him with a duck catcher almost immediately after his resumption.
At 43/2, Pakistan was in a dangerous position, but Shan remained determined in defense and found support in the form of Babar Azam. This support became the main event after lunch when the vice-captain raced from only 70 balls to his fifty after scoring only four out of his first 27 balls.
In an inning filled with his usual shots, including the commanding front and rear foot covers, Babar took the swing for visitors after the shaky start.
Shan Masood and Babar Azam combined for an unbroken 96-run partnership to put Pakistan on top after the first day in Manchester.#ENGvPAK REPORT 👇 https://t.co/DxjW2B6v2l pic.twitter.com/biPBFMZUB5
— ICC (@ICC) August 5, 2020
Dom Bess could have had Shan’s wicket on either side of a rain delay that had a thin edge before the break and a clear stumping chance afterwards, but in both cases an additional rebound prevented wicket keeper Jos Buttler from cleaning the ball clean .
After the rain, only 7.5 overs were possible before bad light forced an early end of the day. During this time, the partnership between Babar and Shan grew to 96 runs. The kick-off ended the day just four runs before his own half-century after seeing 152 balls, while the team standings had risen to 139/2 at the time Stumps was called.