Centurions give England Control

England continued their strong start to the series by planting themselves firmly in the ascendancy against Pakistan, racking up a huge total before taking three early wickets to end the day with a lead of 462. Three players made hundreds, before some fiery bowling and one breathtaking piece of fielding put the tourist’s under severe pressure on day two at Lord’s.

Having delayed the taking of the new ball until the restart of play, Inzamam-ul-Haq was soon rewarded as Mohammad Sami removed Alastair Cook just five overs into the morning session, the left-hander bowled as he shuffled unconvincingly about the crease. The early loss of his partner for much of yesterday could have unsettled Paul Collingwood, also unbeaten overnight on a century, but he and Ian Bell consolidated and kept the Pakistani fielders frustrated for the remainder of the morning. Sami however was unlucky not to pick up another wicket, Simon Taufel failing to detect a faint edge through to the keeper when Collingwood had 131 to his name.

Despite the early loss of Cook, Collingwood and Bell were quick to punish some erratic Pakistan bowling, largely caused by Inzamam’s curious ploy of giving his seamers little protection on the leg-side. Also peculiar was the introduction of Shahid Afridi ahead of Danish Kaneria, who surely represented the largest threat to Bell before he had settled. Although he initially struggled against the new ball, Bell soon found his feet to move on to 43 at lunch, with Collingwood displaying nimble footwork and wristy strokes off the spinners to go into the interval unbeaten on 179.

After a slow start after lunch, legspinner Danish Kaneria finally made his mark on the match when he lured Collingwood down the wicket, outdoing the Durham right-hander with a skilful combination of flight and drift. Collingwood’s 186 lasted 327 balls and contained 23 fours before Kamran Akmal whipped off the bails to complete a neat stumping. The quality of his play off the back foot – namely the pull and cut shots – will stick in the minds of the England selectors when faced with the bouncier Australian tracks this winter.

Geraint Jones was under pressure to perform from the likes of Chris Read, plus the unforgiving ranks of the media, and initially appeared to be doing so. He planted Kaneria back over his head for four to get off the mark, thus becoming the holder for the record of most Test innings without making a duck (45). A flailing cut off Sami which cleared the ropes followed, but the downfall came when a slightly hot-headed sweep shot resulted Kaneria picking up his second wicket, leg before. Liam Plunkett continued his run of failures at Test level with a six-ball duck, as he pushed at a hard-spun Kaneria legbreak and Imran Farhat gratefully clutched the catch at slip, following his three drops the previous day.

Meanwhile, Ian Bell pushed his score past 50, although he lacked the punishing strokeplay that characterised Collingwood’s mammoth effort. After tea, Bell returned with renewed purpose, intent on making a third Test hundred, and duly made it, despite some nervy moments as Monty Panesar was forced to block for six balls from the Pakistani spinners. Strauss immediately declared the innings closed at 528 for nine, giving his bowlers just over an hour to make inroads into the tourists’ batting lineup. Danish Kaneria’s perseverance and accuracy in a marathon 52-over effort eventually returned the figures of 3 for 119.

Pakistan may claim to be the second best Test nation in the world, but their batting has for several years relied on the likes of Inzamam, Mohammad Yousuf and the injured Younis Khan. A youthful top order of Salman Butt, Imran Farhat and Faisal Iqbal would not concern most Test attacks, and certainly not England’s. Although Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison were slightly wayward, the pace and steep bounce of Harmison proved too much for the tourists once he had zeroed his sight. Butt drove unconvincingly to Strauss at slip at a lifting delivery for 10, but his dismissal was overshadowed by Paul Collingwood’s athletic brilliance two balls later. Iqbal could only fend a fearsome snorter from Harmison to third slip, where Collingwood flung himself up and backwards like the proverbial salmon, clutching the ball as it looped high above his head. To compound England’s dominance, Plunkett produced a jaffa in the penultimate over to bowl Farhat for 33. Mohammad Yousuf and nightwatchman Mohammad Sami saw Pakistan through to the close of play without further loss on 66 for three – 462 behind England’s colossal total.

England 528-9 declared (158.3 overs)
AN Cook 105, PD Collingwood 186, IR Bell 100 not out; Danish Kaneria 3-119

Pakistan 66-3 (19 overs)
Imran Farhat 33; SJ Harmison 2-15