The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

England vs Pakistan: International Cricket, second Test – Day 4 live scores

25th July, 2016
First ball: 8pm (AEST)
Venue: Manchester
TV: Live, Fox Sports
Betting: Pakistan $1.85, England $2.54
Overall record: Played 78, England 22, Pakistan 19, Drawn 37

England
Alastair Cook (c), James Anderson, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Toby Roland-Jones, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes

Pakistan
Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Rahat Ali, Sami Aslam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Younis Khan, Zulfiqar Babar
England take on Pakistan in the third Test. (AAP Image/Dave Hun
Expert
25th July, 2016
4

England are on the verge of winning the second Test match and leveling their series against Pakistan, with weather seemingly the only thing that could stop them. Join The Roar for live scores from 8pm (AEST).

After losing the first Test in the series quite convincingly, England have come out firing during the second and now find themselves in an almost uncatchable position.

They piled on the runs during their first innings, thwarting what was quite a strong Pakistan attack – Yasir Shah, who took a stack of wickets in the first Test ended at 1 for 213 and Joe Root scored a massive 254 as England declared their innings at 8 for 589.

Pakistan then struggled in a big way during their first innings, as they so often can. Brilliant one match, terrible the next as they crashed and burned for just 198.

Misbah-ul-Haq would top score with just 52, and after the hosts made the pitch look like a road, Pakistan made it look more like a minefield – or a fifth day sub continent pitch.

Despite James Anderson being back amongst it for England, Chris Woakes was still the star of the show as he grabbed four wickets.

England would then elect not to enforce the follow-on, something that has become the normal around the cricketing world and again made the pitch look like a road as they lost only a single wicket to stumps.

They closed play with the score on 1 for 98, giving them a massive lead of 489 – something that is now unassailable and would take a record-breaking chase.

Advertisement

Alistair Cook (49 from 53 balls) and Joe Root (23 from 19) will resume play as the not out batsmen, and given their aggression to stumps yesterday you would expect them to keep that up and a declaration to come sometime before lunch.

Overcast conditions are expected for today’s play while the final day could be lost to rain, meaning England will be keen to wrap things up today.

Day 4 prediction
England should wrap it up today, or go very close. They have a lead of nearly 500 runs, which is simply not going to be caught. The game now comes down to how long Pakistan can bat for, and how long England wait to declare.

Pakistan will be happier with every passing over they spend in the field, as it inches them a fraction closer to a draw, particularly if the weather forecast is upheld for Day 5.

Be sure to join The Roar for live scores of Day 4 from 8pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments in the section below.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde

close