Daily Times

MANCHESTER: Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes put on a rearguard 139-run partnership for the sixth wicket to pull England out of trouble and give them a thrilling three-wicket victory in the first Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford here Saturday. Chasing 277 for victory on day four, England had slumped from 86-1 to 117-5 when Chris Woakes joined Jos Buttler. The duo launched a counter-attack to catch Pakistan by surprise, and eventually grab the game from jaws of defeat. Buttler made 75 while Woakes ended on 84 not out, hitting the winning runs. The tone was set when their 50 partnership took only 49 balls as both scored at more than a run a ball. England took tea at 167 for 5, leaving the game perfectly set for a classic finish.

However, Woakes and Buttler went about their business rather smoothly even after the break. The counter-attack gave way to a well-paced accumulation to frustrate Pakistan. Both went past their half-centuries, after which Buttler showed off his strokeplay with reverse sweeps and a backfoot smash over deep mid wicket off Yasir Shah. One such reverse sweep off Yasir cost him his wicket with England needing 21 runs. Pakistan got a sniff, but Woakes took them home even when Yasir had Broad with three runs pending. Earlier, Pakistan began the day on 137-8 in their second innings but blazed another 32 runs to be all out for 169, setting England a tough target on a pitch offering pace, bounce and spin.

Mohammad Abbas trapped opener Rory Burns lbw for 10 early on, and England crept up to 55-1 at lunch before skipper Joe Root and Dom Sibley dug in to give England a solid platform. Sibley showed great patience in reaching 36 but paid the price for a rash shot when he edged an attempted drive off leg spinner Yasir and was taken by Asad Shafiq at slip. Root swept to 42 but just when he looked set for a big score he fell to a superbly directed delivery from teenager Naseem Shah, the ball catching the splice of the bat and being held by Babar Azam at first slip. It looked even better for Pakistan when Shah spun one out of the rough to have Ben Stokes caught behind the stumps by Mohammad Rizwan on review, after England’s dangerman was initially given not out by the on-field umpire. Ollie Pope then got a snorter from Shaheen Afridi to leave England reeling at 117 for 5. Buttler and Woakes took it on from there to put England 1-0 up.