Pakistan, following-on, were 41 for four in their second innings when rain forced an early close, having been made to follow-on after they were dismissed for 74. That left them 331 runs adrift of England’s 446 as the home team eyed a victory that would give them a 3-1 win.
It appeared the damage at Lord’s was done as much as anything by a world record eighth-wicket stand of 332 between Jonathan Trott (184) and Stuart Broad (169) which rescued England from the depths of 102 for seven.
Pakistan were playing their sixth Test in seven weeks and there were signs that schedule had caught up with them. They lost seven wickets for 28 runs after tea yesterday with Graeme Swann taking four for 12 in six overs and Steven Finn three for 13 in five.
Salman Butt top-scored with 26 in an innings where only three batsmen made double figures. Broad followed up his century by bowling Mohammad Yousuf for nought with an outswinger.
England captain Andrew Strauss enforced the follow-on with Pakistan – 372 behind on first innings – soon in further trouble at nine for two. Broad’s memorable match continued when Imran Farhat mis-hooked a bouncer to Alastair Cook at mid-on.
Yasir Hameed was lbw to James Anderson before Salman was lbw for 21 to Swann. And just before a downpour forced the players off the field, 41 for three became 41 for four when Yousuf (10) miscued a pull off Finn to Trott at deep square leg.
Earlier, Trott almost became the first player to score two Test double hundreds at Lord’s, following his 226 against Bangladesh in May. His innings of more than nine hours, featuring 19 boundaries, ended when he was caught behind off left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz.
Trott’s methodical approach was what England needed after the rest of the top-order were undone by swing bowling, mainly from Mohammad Aamir (six for 84) on Friday.
His partnership with Broad surpassed the previous eighth-wicket Test-best of 313 shared by Wasim Akram (257 not out) and Saqlain Mushtaq (79) for Pakistan against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura.
England resumed Saturday on 346 for seven with Trott 149 not out and Broad unbeaten on 125. Broad went to 150 with a superb cover-driven boundary off Asif, having faced 273 balls with a six and 14 fours. But his six-and-a-half hour innings finished when he missed a sweep against Saeed Ajmal and was given out lbw on referral. Broad was just shy of the world record score by a Test No 9 of 173 made by New Zealand’s Ian Smith.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2010.
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