Pakistan were in the driver’s seat as Day 2 of the third Test against England came to an end in Birmingham on Thursday. Opener Sami Aslam and No 3 Azhar Ali put up a determined display, which left the England bowlers frustrated at Edgbaston. However, after scoring a brilliant 139, Ali was out on the last ball of day’s play, bowled by Chris Woakes, giving England something to cherish in the end. Pakistan were 257/3, trailing England by 40 runs with Younis Khan at the crease on 21.
Ali had come to the crease following the dismissal of Mohammad Hafeez, who was James Anderson’s 50th Pakistani Test scalp. Anderson now has taken 50-plus wickets against seven teams, excluding only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Ali put on an exquisite 181-run partnership with Aslam, who suffered a run-out dismissal after scoring 82 runs. Ali celebrated his 10th Test century with a customary round of 10 push-ups that has become a trademark for the Pakistan players. Earlier, England had been dismissed for a total of 297 runs on Day 1, with pacer Sohail Khan starring for Pakistan with a five-wicket haul.
Ali, who was under a little bit of pressure, having scored only 39 runs in four innings prior to this one, made sure that he would leave the ground with a standing ovation this time around. The 31-year-old managed to score two centuries and one half-century in the warm-up matches but had failed to replicate that form in the first two Test matches.
