Hasan Ali stars as England lose three in opening session

Hosts finish with score of 72 for three at Lunch

Hasan Ali claimed two important scalps as England finished first session of the opening Test against Pakistan at the score of 72 for 3.

After opting to bat first, the home side lost Mark Stoneman (4) at the score of 12 on the bowling of Mohammad Abbas, whereas Joe Root (4) and Dawid Malan (6) departed at the score of 33 and 43 on the bowling of Ali.

Veteran opener Alastair Cook survived the first session and finished with unbeaten on 46 off 92 balls with the help of nine fours, whereas wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow remained 10 not out off 25 balls with the help of one four.

Toss

England won the toss on Thursday and opted to bat first against a new-face Pakistan Test side in the first of the two-match series at the Lord's.

Pakistan are looking to improve their rankings and show the world that this young side can rise up to the occasion and take on the challenge of facing England on their home turf.

Rahat Ali has been replaced by the Hasan Ali from the playing XI that beat Ireland in the one-off Test by five wickets.

"It looks on the surface like slightly bowling conditions, but it looks slightly dry underneath and looks to be beginning to crack," says Joe Root, England's captain.

"We've gone with Wood ... with the surface so dry, hopefully he can exploit the conditions later," he added.

Meanwhile, Sarfraz says he would've bowled first if he would have won the toss.

Pakistan line-up includes: Azhar Ali, Imamul Haq, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Abbas.

The England line-up includes: Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, Joe Root (c), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Mark Wood, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.