England vs Pakistan 2020, 1st Test, Manchester: Shan Masood, Mohammad Abbas Make It PAK’s Day

England lost four wickets after Shan Masood's century took Pakistan to 326.

Pakistan bowlers’ impressive show reduced England to 92/4 on Day 2 of the opening Test at Old Trafford, Manchester.

The new ball pair – Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Abbas – didn’t waste time to adapt to the conditions.

They were on the money straightaway and as a result, the hosts found themselves struggling at 12/3. Afridi removed Rory Burns (4) in the first over of the innings, while Abbas sent both Dom Sibley (8) and Ben Stokes (0) back to the pavilion. Stokes was cleaned up by a beauty from the ever-accurate Pakistani seamer.

Yasir Shah got the ball to turn and managed Joe Root’s scalp. The England skipper, who scored 14(58), never looked comfortable at the crease.

Ollie Pope (46), playing just his 11th Test, showed great maturity to remain unbeaten at stumps. Jos Buttler (15*) was at the other end.

Magnificent Masood

Earlier, Shan Masood’s excellent knock led the tourists to 326 all out. Masood became the sixth Pakistan batsman to cross the three-figure mark in three consecutive Test innings after Zaheer Abbas, Mudassar Nazar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq.

Masood batted for nearly eight hours to score 156 (319b, 18×4, 2×6), surpassing his 135 against Sri Lanka in Karachi in December 2019.

Masood received support from Shadab Khan (45) as the duo stitched together a 105-run sixth wicket stand that turned the tide after Pakistan, at one stage, were struggling at 176/5.

Pakistan had managed just 48 runs for the loss of three wickets in Thursday’s first session.

Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer were the pick of the bowlers for England with 3/54 and 3/59 respectively.

Brief Scores: Pakistan 326 (Shan Masood 156, Babar Azam 69, Shadab Khan 45; Jofra Archer 3-59, Stuart Broad 3-54) lead England 92/4 (Ollie Pope 46*; Mohammad Abbas 2-24, Shaheen Afridi 1-12, Yasir Shah 1-36) by 234 runs