Key events
WICKET! Lawrence c Rizwan b Usman 51 (England 322-5)
The breakthrough at last! Lawrence skies a sweep and presents Rizwan with a simple catch.
69th over: England 317-4 (Brook 63, Lawrence 51) Khurram Shahzad replaces Mohammad Ali as the token seamer. Brook greets him with a pull for four, seeing it so early that he hits it straight, and a late cut for two. With a couple of singles as well, that’s eight off the over.
Fifty to Dan Lawrence!
68th over: England 309-4 (Brook 56, Lawrence 50) A better over from Usman, no fours or threes. But Lawrence glances him for the single he needs to reach 50 for the first time in a Test since March 2022. He’s played some greta shots and a few false ones, but mainly he’s shown a strong temperament after his struggles the last time we saw him, when he was a makeshift opener and a fish out of water.
The players take drinks with England now leading by 136. This could get ugly.
“Root 66?” says Mark Hayden. “I expect this can’t be the first time he has been dismissed on that score, but I can’t remember when, if so.” He’s done it only once before in Tests – against India at Lord’s in 2014, in a losing cause. And never in an ODI or T20 international, so your suspicions were very nearly right.
Hundred partnership from Brook and Lawrence!
67th over: England 307-4 (Brook 55, Lawrence 49) Mohammad Ali continues with his gentle barrage. Lawrence goes for the pull, gloves it, picks up four and brings up the hundred partnership, off 129 balls. It’s been a fine counter-attack from England after Cox and Root both fell in the space of five balls. Lawrence marks the moment with a much better shot, a crunching cover drive for four.
66th over: England 298-4 (Brook 55, Lawrence 41) After conceding only a three in his last over, Usman reverts to allowing a four – a cut from Brook, showing quick feet and quick hands.
65th over: England 294-4 (Brook 51, Lawrence 41) Mohammad Ali again, with his bouncer ploy. Brook lets one go, rightly deciding that it’s too high, then pulls the next for a single. Discretion as well as valour.
Fifty to Brook!
64th over: England 292-4 (Brook 50, Lawrence 41) Usman stays on for now, and Lawrence cuts for three. Brook cuts too, just for a single, but it’s enough to get him to 50 off only 55 balls. It’s his 29th fifty in 38 Tests. Ten of them have turned into hundreds, and four of those have been at Pakistan’s expense. His average against them is now 89.
63rd over: England 289-4 (Brook 49, Lawrence 38) A single to each batter off Mohammad Ali, and then a change of tack from Salman Agha, who shelves his wide-of-off theory to switch to bouncers. Harry Brook takes the bait … and pulls for four.
62nd over: England 283-4 (Brook 44, Lawrence 37) You can see why Usman is still on, because he keeps bowling the odd good ball. But you can also argue that he needs to be taken off, because he’s conceding a boundary or two every over. The latest is an on-drive from Lawrence, struck with some venom. Then Lawrence goes down the track and misses a full toss, and there’s another little flurry of chaos: a missed run-out, a failed LBW appeal, a bad review. This whole game has been a masterclass in how not to use the DRS system.
61st over: England 279-4 (Brook 44, Lawrence 33) Brook plays his loveliest shot today, a delicate late cut off Mohammad Ali that should be two but goes for four as Ali Usman kicks it into the Toblerone. Next ball, Brook flicks for four more. So, if only for a moment, we have a 44, a 66 and two 33s on the scorecard.
60th over: England 271-4 (Brook 36, Lawrence 33) Usman goes for three singles and then a four, as Lawrence commits to the sweep and nails it.
59th over: England 264-4 (Brook 34, Lawrence 28) The latest false shot comes from Dan Lawrence, who edges Mohammad Ali just short of Shafique at second slip. Ali has a clear plan, bowling well outside off to deny Lawrence his clips and whips to leg: it works in this over, which is a maiden.
“Hahahaha,” chortles Abhishek Chopra, “@ Smylers’ observations about England’s drinks carriers! Maybe the drinks carriers are high on their own supply!”
58th over: England 264-4 (Brook 34, Lawrence 28) Usman repeats his howler from a few minutes ago, giving Brook an easy sweep for four. With his next ball, he beats Brook outside off, but his over still goes for eight. His figures are not flattering: 11-0-51-1.
57th over: England 256-4 (Brook 28, Lawrence 26) Brook tucks Ali for two, then plays an ugly shot, flirting outside off without moving his feet. But, for all their stumbles, these two have added 54.
56th over: England 253-4 (Brook 25, Lawrence 26) Ali Usman, who’s been so steady, bowls a rank bad ball and gets swept for four by Brook. When Lawrence tries the same shot, there’s a strange sequence of events. He misses, the ball hits the pad, and then hits the bat. Mohammad Rizwan hurls himself into an appeal when he should be trying to catch the ball. Chris Gaffney shakes his head, Salman Agha reviews, and sure enough the ball was missing leg stump. Cricket, eh.
55th over: England 248-4 (Brook 20, Lawrence 26) Mohammad Ali returns, bearing gifts for the batters. Brook receives a short ball outside off, which he cuts for four with a flourish. Lawrence gets a half-volley on his pads, which he whips away with relish.
The players are out there and among them is Salman Agha, with his finger patched up.
“Thank you for your updates,” says Smylers. Our pleasure! “At Headingley yesterday, the England drinks carriers had clearly been briefed to appear on the field at every Pakistan wicket — something they obeyed diligently, some might even say unthinkingly. This included them charging on to the field after Azan Awais’s wicket, only to be waved off again, presumably on the grounds that only a single ball of the match had been played, none of the team were actually yet in need of a drink.
“Later they also appeared after Ali Usman’s unsuccessful review, when his dismissal was confirmed, even though the review meant it was now past the time announced for the tea break, so the players were heading off the pitch. Again, we got to see them walk on with enthusiasm, only to U-turn in the outfield and head straight off again.
“Do the squad members not in the team actually follow the match, or is drinks carrying a role that requires so much focus and concentration, it isn’t possible to think about anything else?”
A couple of emails. “Afternoon to you, morning from California,” says Michael Coad. “I’d like Dan Lawrence’s middle name to be Henry. DH Lawrence batting for England would be grand.”
“Wondered if you might be interested in my new blog on England v Pakistan at Lord’s in 1996?” asks Steve Pye. “A typical England Test match in the 90s, a story of hope, missed opportunities, Graeme Hick failing, resistance, and of course two collapses. Happy days.”
Poor old Hick: he wasn’t bad, he just never became the superstar that his county record had led us to expect.
Tea! England on top, but not in total command
54th over: England 239-4 (Brook 15, Lawrence 22) Another moral victory for Usman, who lures Lawrence into a top-edged sweep, but again, no wicket, as (unusually for a spinner) there’s no deep square. Lawrence retorts with a cut for four. Usman then thinks he’s got him LBW, but it’s the arm ball, sliding down. And that’s tea, with England living dangerously – but this pair have already added 37 and stretched the lead to 68.
53rd over: England 233-4 (Brook 15, Lawrence 16) Abbas keeps the pressure on with a maiden to Brook.
Meanwhile there’s more news on Quarter-Zip Man, who, Nasser Hussain reports, was given four free pints to replace the ones he dropped. Does that mean Pakistan get some free catches too?
52nd over: England 233-4 (Brook 15, Lawrence 16) Usman, who’s been testing, bowls his best over yet. Making the ball turn as if it was the fifth day, not the second, he finds Lawrence’s inside edge and then his outside edge without quite getting him out. The second delivery spat as well – and dribbled away for four.
51st over: England 228-4 (Brook 14, Lawrence 12) Saud Shakeel, captaining in place of the injured Salman, gives Khurram a breather (15-1-82-1) and brings Mohammad Abbas back for a short spell before tea. Brook flicks him for three.
“One of the things England under Stokes were criticised for,” says James Brough, “was getting into a competitive position and then having a bit of a brainfade. In the last few minutes, Cox has reviewed a thick edge to the keeper, Root’s reviewed an lbw that was hitting middle and Brook’s wafted something straight to second slip. I’m hoping these things come in threes…”
50th over: England 224-4 (Brook 11, Lawrence 11) Brook, facing Usman, picks up two with a Rootish glide. Now both batters are on 11 – but the double Nelson has been and gone.
49th over: England 222-4 (Brook 9, Lawrence 11) Lawrence gets a half-volley from Khurram and drills it back past him for four. He likes the feel of that so much, he does it again.
So we’ve got Lawrence on 11, taking England to 222, after replacing Root, who made 66, with 66 on his back, in his 66th Test as captain. And Emilio Gay made 33. Meaningless, of course, but mildly diverting.
48th over: England 214-4 (Brook 9, Lawrence 3) Dan Lawrence sometimes seems to play with just his bottom hand and it’s almost his undoing now. Trying to whip Usman to midwicket, he gets a leading edge that could easily be caught in the covers. But he survives, so does Brook, and England lead by 43.
47th over: England 213-4 (Brook 9, Lawrence 2) Brook, facing Khurram, wafts at his second ball – and is dropped by Salman Agha at third slip, the captain himself. He got a finger to it and hurt himself in the process. The ball went for four, Salman goes off for treatment, Brook leg-glances for four more – it’s all happening.
46th over: England 205-4 (Brook 1, Lawrence 2) Harry Brook, facing his first ball, gets off the mark with a push into the covers. But suddenly it’s a different game.
45th over: England 204-4 (Brook 0, Lawrence 2) To make matters worse, Root called for another bad review. England’s reviewing has been awful, both in the field and with the bat, and now they’re out of reviews in this innings. The lights are on, the rain is back and there are two new batters at the crease. Dan Lawrence, back from a two-year exile, starts with a purposeful push into the on side for two.
It’s not all about England, though. That wicket was a triumph for Khurram, after the pummelling he took earlier.
WICKET! Root LBW b Khurram 66 (England 202-4)
One brings two! After cutting Khurram for a dismissive four, Root plays all round a straight one. Root 66, as it says on his shirt.
44th over: England 198-3 (Root 61, Brook 0) Before that, Root pulled out the reverse sweep and nailed it. He added a single, whereupon Cox played a streaky chip for two. That brought up the 150 partnership – and then Cox perished.
WICKET! Cox c Rizwan b Usman 73 (England 198-3)
The breakthrough! Cox gets a nick, sees the finger go up, tries a review, and finds that the snicko is not on his side. So that’s a bad review but a good innings in his first go as England’s makeshift No 3.
43rd over: England 191-2 (Cox 71, Root 57) Khurram to Cox again: will the carnage continue? Not for now, as there’s a plan – aiming at sixth stump with a packed offside field. Cox shapes to pull but can’t beat mid-on. And that’s Khurram’s first maiden in the match, so he’s shown some resilience.
42nd over: England 191-2 (Cox 71, Root 57) Usman Ali continues, with most of Pakistan’s hopes on his shoulders. He seems to be an old-school left-arm spinner, of the kind England have given up on. The batters handle him with care but still collect four singles.
41st over: England 187-2 (Cox 69, Root 55) Here’s Khurram Shahzad, back from the doghouse – and then straight back in it! His first ball, a long hop, is clonked back to him by Cox, perhaps suprirsed by the lack of pace, and Khurram drops the catch. That’s a full house: bad ball, bad shot, bad miss. Khurram stays on the short side, and Cox pulls him for four, twice. “This is the kind of spell,” says Dinesh Karthik, “that gets your team drooopy in the shoulders.” Cox cuts for four more. That’s 12 off the over and 29 off the last two from Khurram, who now has 11-0-60-0. Oh dear.
40th over: England 175-2 (Cox 57, Root 55) Salman Agha, possibly in desperation, brings on his spinner, Usman Ali. Mark Butcher is just saying the ball is unlikely to turn when Usman rips one past Root’s outside edge. That could make the rest of this match more interesting, as England don’t have a front-line spinner. Root responds immediately, bringing out the paddle sweep and picking up two.
Fifty to Joe Root!
39th over: England 171-2 (Cox 56, Root 52) Yesterday Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue reached their five-fors off consecutive balls (the first time this had ever happened in Tests, apparently). Now Cox and Root do the same thing with their fifties. Root brings up his 108th Test half-century with a clip for four off Ali. Cox adds a crunchy straight drive and the scores are level. That’s drinks, with England well on top: they’ve made 59-0 off 14 overs today.
Fifty to Jordan Cox!
38th over: England 162-2 (Cox 52, Root 47) Salman Agha posts a leg slip for Mohammad Abbas. Cox, unperturbed, flicks for four through the vacant second leg slip. That brings him a fine first Test fifty off 78 balls with ten fours. From what we’ve seen so far, he plays with a flourish.
37th over: England 151-2 (Cox 47, Root 46) A single to each batter off Ali, who now has 11-1-44-1. Some crowds would be getting restless by now, but at Headingley they don’t mind a bit of graft. And they’ve had the satisfaction of seeing Quarter-Zip Man go back for four more beers. He delivered them safely to his mates, acknowledging the cheers with a wry smile.
Hundred partnership between Cox and Root
36th over: England 149-2 (Cox 46, Root 45) After 15 balls without a run, England break the shackles with four leg-byes! Cox, taking the hint, punches Abbas through the covers for four to bring up the hundred partnership – 101 off 26 overs. It’s been fairly serene.
35th over: England 141-2 (Cox 42, Root 45) Stuart Broad is just observing that this Pakistan attack is too medium-paced to switch to sustained short-pitched bowling, when Mohammad Ali bowls a bouncer. “I think that’s the first one we’ve seen in this innings,” Broad says. ““And Joe Root just laughs as it goes past.”
34th over: England 141-2 (Cox 42, Root 45) A big cheer suddenly goes up, and another. The big screen shows a grey-haired man in a green quarter-zip holding a tray of four pints in one hand, but not for long as he promptly drops them. Is he trying to make a meme of himself?
Meanwhile, in the middle… Abbas keeps Cox quiet, then turns him round, draws another of those thick edges and collects another maiden.
33rd over: England 141-2 (Cox 42, Root 45) As Mohammad Ali continues, up comes a graphic showing that 84pc of Root’s runs in this innings have come behind the wicket. Sounds like 37 of his 44… and, right on cue, he glides a single to make it 38 out of 45. Cox follows suit. Apart from that one bad over, the bowlers have been decent today. But because of the hole their batters dug for them yesterday, decency is not enough.
