Visitors impress: Scoreboard pressure on England, says Bari

Pakistan in control after skipper Misbah leads by example with century at Lord’s

KARACHI: A defiant hundred by Misbahul Haq,  along with a supporting knock from middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq, helped Pakistan edge England on the first day of their opening Test at Lord’s.

Pakistan were struggling at 77-3 when Misbah came out to bat but the veteran built some resolute partnerships — first involved in a half-century stand with Younus Khan before putting on a century partnership with Asad — to help Pakistan out of pressure and into a position of some promise.

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Bari feels England are now under pressure after Pakistan put themselves in a position to put on a big score.

“It was a decent day for Pakistan and anything above 300 puts pressure on the hosts,” Bari told The Express Tribune.



However, the 68-year-old feels there is still work left to do for Pakistani batsmen in the first innings.  “The remaining batsmen need to dig deep, with one player holding up one end and others playing around him.”

With the sun out, the Lord’s pitch — one of the more docile ones around in England — did not offer the kind of dramatic movement sometimes on display  in the country, and Bari feels Pakistan can take a 1-0 lead in the series.

“There are no demons in the pitch and I think Pakistan have a good chance of winning this Test, especially considering England don’t have their frontline pacer James Anderson, all-rounder Ben Stokes and middle-order batsman Jos Buttler.”

Bari added that while the batsmen were not at their fluent best, at least they showed grit and resolve to ensure that the hosts did not get any easy wickets.



Batting first good decision, says Shoaib

Another former cricketer, Shoaib Mohammad, praised Misbah for his decision to bat first after winning the toss.

“Misbah must have been hoping to win the toss and he didn’t hesitate in batting first,” said Shoaib.

“It’s a good decision for two reasons — the first is that Yasir will come into play in the fourth innings because he’ll get more purchase on the fourth and fifth days but [for that] we need runs on the board,” he added.



“Secondly, it will give Mohammad Amir time to get rid of some nerves by just sitting in the dressing room. When you sit at the ground for some time, automatically you feel relaxed. It would have been much worse if he had been asked to come and bowl straight away.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2016.

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