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18th over: England 118-3 (Root 37, Brook 12) Things settled down for an over with just a Joe Root single from Ali. England’s run-rate drops below seven for the first time in this innings.
17th over: England 117-3 (Root 36, Brook 12) Brook hits Zahid for another four to mid-wicket. The young Yorkshire lad looks to be in good shape.
16th over: England 111-3 (Root 35, Brook 7) Six runs milked by Ali without breaking a sweat.
Good morning Em Jackson!
“Good morning James, good morning everyone,
If England somehow manage to conjure up a lead of 350 (the lead is around 175 as I write) and agree to fall short (probably again, remember the claims of 750 on Day 2?), then they lose, as we look at the shenanigans of this release. in this light?
I admit, that might be pessimistic…but if Pakistan could chase down 350 in one day, it would be a drama.”
This game is boiling hot Em. FWIW I think the ground is fine, it’s flat of course, but all three results will still be possible on the last day. Admittedly, this could be more due to England’s prolific scoring rate, which means the game has still had a chance to progress.
15th over: England 105-3 (Root 30, Brook 6) Brook gets off the mark with a smashing six at mid-wicket! Zahid fell short and Brook was on it in an instant.
14th over: England 96-3 (Root 27, Brook 0) Harry Brook joins Root at the crease. England lead by 177.
Nicholas Gates uploads an email:
“In response to Adrain Patterson’s lovely Shakespearean effort and having been following the play while on a school trip to the Christmas markets in Aarchen, Germany, I thought I might lamely add, ‘Happy Jack ‘ by The Who as a fitting musical tribute to Jacks. “Brilliant debut”.
Updated at 08.24 GMT
Wicket! Crawley ct Mohammad Rizwan b Mohammad Ali 50 (England 96-3)
Crawley makes his fifty and then takes a feather on a short ball and has to crawl! Rizwan was safe behind the stumps but had to be checked to reveal the incriminating spike of the DRS.
13th over: England 91-2 (Crawley 48, Root 25) Test debutant Zahid Mahmood is on his way and off to a good start, just one run away from his first over.
12th over: England 90-2 (Crawley 47, Root 25) Pakistan start to leak runs, there have been 44 since lunch. Zak Crawley plays a cover of an elegance that seems to purr all over the place. Nasser describes it as “exquisite” and it really was, worth seeking them out later. Joe Root gives Babar more to think about by sliding the final ball of the over for four more. Ten off the end.
11th over: England 80-2 (Crawley 42, Root 20) Great over! Crawley plunders two boundaries off Naseem’s first two balls, all long levers and timing, looks excellent – loves playing against Pakistan. Joe Root then plays an outrageous reverse scoop that flies wide for four over the keeper! 14 races, underway…
Updated at 08.06 GMT
10th over: England 66-2 (Crawley 33, Root 15) Shot! Crawley plays a Pietersen-style flamenco through mid-wicket for four!
9th over: England 58-2 (Crawley 28, Root 12) Ahh, that’s lovely from Root, a delicious late slip for four from Naseem Shah, silky hands from the Sheffield man.
Adrian Paterson has been dipping his pen and delving into his sonnets:
“Jim, like an English bed without sleep. Innsbruck Academic I’m trying to celebrate Will Jacks remarkable debut performance working on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 128. I’m not doing so well, being just this side of very inappropriate. Perhaps some less advanced OBOs might help, as many of the lines about “sweet fingers” and “dead wood” (dead bat, or perhaps batsmen who have walked out) seem to apply to bowling, the kind that might puzzle the beaters (“so ticklish they would change state”). It should work: after all, it’s a (cheeky) sonnet by Will (S.) all about Jacks (in this case, meaning the balance of the keys on a wooden keyboard instrument, so that jump when touched with fingers).
How many times, when you, my music, play music
On that blessed wood whose movement sounds
With your sweet fingers when you gently sway
The bold concord my ear confounds,
Do I envy those nimble jumping cats?
To kiss the tenderness inside your hand,
While my poor lips, I should reap that harvest
On the dare of the wood beside you, curling up.
To be so tickled they would change state
And the situation with these dance chips,
on whom your fingers walk with a soft step,
Making dead wood happier than living lips.
Because the cheeky are so happy in this,
Give them your fingers, give me your lips to kiss
oh well Anyway, Jacks is certainly enviable right now, and should definitely be kept on his toes. And keep working agile with yours!”
8th over: England 50-2 (Crawley 25, Root 7) Mohammad Ali starts after the break. Just a (very wide) slip in place. England start with a pedestrian positive four runs from the over. Nasser Hussain said at half-time that England are not at all interested in a draw, that they are happy to risk losing if it means they have given themselves the best chance of winning. With this shift in mindset towards traditional Test match thinking, the fear of failure is simply not there with this side.
If England aim to get to six overs, then they can hang an odd target of 350 and have a dart at Pakistan for a few overs in the shade tonight.
The players return to the field in Rawalpindi. Got my Paddington Bear on and scoffed down loads of toast and jam here in cold London, time to settle in for a few hours of cricket.
Reading for lunch/breakfast:
What either side would give to have Shoaib Akhtar and his 100mph thunderbolts in this game. I spoke to the man who brought England down to earth in 2005.
Let me ask you a question.” Shoaib Akhtar stares at me with those saucer eyes. “Tell me, honestly, when were you happiest?”
“Um, I’m not sure. The birth of my child?”
That seems to me the right thing to say and I think it could be called the former fast bowler’s bluff. There is no possibility.
“Right, increase that by a thousand and it will be close to what it feels like to bowl really fast. If you get a wicket after all that effort, when the ball hits the stumps, the sound goes into your soul and explodes like an atomic bomb. This is true happiness.”
It was a morning Will Jacks will never forget:
This is lunch.
Root and Crawley move away for a bit of screen. There have been five wickets and 126 runs in the first session of the day, this match is starting to open up. England have eight second-innings wickets in hand and a lead of 124. Penny for ’em?
7th: England 46-2 (Crawley 24, Root 4)
6th over: England 41-2 (Crawley 21, Root 2) Root is off the mark with a good hip flick. We’ll do one more before the lunch break.
Wicket! Pope ct Shah b Mohammad Ali 15 (England 36-2)
Another missing! Pope pulls a top edge drive straight to Naseem Shah on the leg side fence. The lead is 117. Joe Root is the new batsman. good that
5th over: England 36-1 (Crawley 18, Pope 15) Boundaries after Crawley, who goes after Naseem here. Two cross bat shots disdainfully fly to the fence. Another couple makes it ten from the end. THROW! Shah bowls a tricky return catch off the last ball, a lead from Crawley goes in and out on the turf.
4th over: England 26-1 (Crawley 8, Pope 15) Pope is busy, a ginger Duracell bunny in the crease. He picks Ali for a couple of singles and a two over third, ending the over with a lightning whip for four to mid-wicket.
Updated at 0650 GMT
3rd: England 15-1 (Crawley 7, Pope 6) Crawley gets into the fun and unfurls a textbook cover for four.
Mike Forsythe is with us and this is more or less his little one:
“Good morning, my 16 month old son has decided to wake up for the first ball of the day since the start of the test match. I can only assume from this that he will be a big cricket fan, and the fact that that he would rather read Peppa Pig than watch the action is just a testament to the tension that is playing out in this contest.
Finally someone agrees, thanks Mike. This is going to get spicy, I have a feeling.
2nd over: England 11-1 (Crawley 3, Pope 6) Pope plays a decadent flamenco shot off the front foot that whistles for four. England will keep coming, you can count on that.
1st end: England 4-1 (Crawley 2, Pope 0) Phew! Naseem hammers away at Pope’s pads and there’s a big draw. NOT OUT. The ball slipped right down the leg. Pope has just kept the wicket so that they are not remembered.
Becky Chantry is tuned into:
“Good morning! I wish I was still in sunny Cyprus at the moment but I’m really happy for Jacks this morning – the six on his debut is great work. I expect England to bat very positively again today and I hope he declares with a c350 advantage , but unfortunately, like others, I’m struggling to see anything other than a tie…”
Wicket! Duckett ct Salman b Shah 0 (England 1-1)
Here we come! Duckett goes for a golden duck! He was trying to get Shah away but only managed to practice the catch in the slips. Shah walks away and the crowd is into it. Ollie Pope is the new batsman. don’t go anywhere
Updated at 0631 GMT
I’m with Ali. Stuck. There’s a hint of dawn creeping in here and I have a feeling it’s going to be very exciting. I think England will be looking to bat fifty overs and get as many runs as possible, which of course also gives Pakistan more than a chance to take the game.
England take a first innings lead of 78 runs. With almost two days left for the Test, it will be interesting to see his batting approach from here. Will they bat as aggressively as they did in the first innings to try and force a result?
—Cricketwallah . . .