England v Pakistan

[Tongo]

An interesting opening day at the third test, again highlighting how this is a fairly even series. Pakistan will probably be slightly the happier of the two teams. Much will depend on whether England can get Misbah early tomorrow as the rest of the Pakistani batting line-up doesnt appear to be able to hang around for too long.

 

[Piece]

Watching the England bowling this morning...MAKE THE BATSMAN PLAY! It's doing a bit off the seam and swinging! Stick a sight screen instead of the wickets and Finn would still bowl wide of it

 

[Norrin Radd]

much better day for England ,Cook and Hales putting a ton on the board ,so tomorrow we start all level again .

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Good day for England but can't see us bowling them out tomorrow

 

[fundy]

England attack pretty badly exposed this morning, barely looked like taking a wicket. No swing and the pace attack looks very samey (surely Finns last game for a while) and Cook clearly doesnt trust Moeen as much as he needs to, reluctant to bowl him on a day 5 pitch and when he does its 10 mins before lunch, no catcher in front of the bat and a deep point to a side that need nearly 300 in 2 sessions

 

[fundy]

completely different England after lunch - got every chance of forcing a result now, could be a fun finish

 

[fundy]

Ball starts reversing and England look a different team, Finn may just have earned himself one last game too

Feel for Sami Aslam, he has been absolutely superb, expect we see a lot more of him over the years to come

 

[DCB]

Ready for a taste final session now ☺

 

[Junior]

Top effort to overturn a 100 run deficit. Crazy shot for the last wicket, but credit where it's due....proper team effort with lots of contributions. Good captaincy by Cook with regards to chopping and changing his bowlers and some good field platings. I hope the sky sports commentators pick this up as they are always quick to slam him.

 

[jusme]

Absolutely brilliant cricket from England - that match would normally end in a draw all day long. Great example how to dig in and pounce when the opportunity arises

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Great England performance aided by an England like collapse by Pakistan but ruthless none the less. Sets up the Oval nicely although Pakistan did win there last time the sides met

 

[Tongo]

Great performance from England. Having Woakes bowling well has made a big difference. Now England have 3 quality bowlers to keep the pressure on the Pakistani batsmen.

Shame this is not a 5 match series as its been a cracker so far with plenty of ebb and flow and shifts in momentum between two fairly evenly balanced teams. Plus there has been a good contest between bat and ball which is certainly not the case much of the time in the modern game.

 

[patricks148]

A very good win for England, but they struggled again to get rid of 10 and Jack.

 

[Oohmeoldbacksknackered]

Great performance from England. Having Woakes bowling well has made a big difference. Now England have 3 quality bowlers to keep the pressure on the Pakistani batsmen.

Shame this is not a 5 match series as its been a cracker so far with plenty of ebb and flow and shifts in momentum between two fairly evenly balanced teams. Plus there has been a good contest between bat and ball which is certainly not the case much of the time in the modern game.

Also this was the first time in years that Finn has looked like a proper fast bowler
Not putting too pressure on him after one performance but an on form Finn is definitely worth a place in the 13 for me. I don't think he's been anywhere near good enough recently and I've been moaning about giving someone else a chance
Nice to be proved wrong every now and then
😀

 

[Tongo]

Also this was the first time in years that Finn has looked like a proper fast bowler
Not putting too pressure on him after one performance but an on form Finn is definitely worth a place in the 13 for me. I don't think he's been anywhere near good enough recently and I've been moaning about giving someone else a chance
Nice to be proved wrong every now and then


I like Finn as a bowler; certainly provides something that the others don't. But I get the impression he is a confidence player and when he isn't confident and the form isn't there then he struggles. Would rather have him in and around the team than languishing in county cricket though.

 

[Oohmeoldbacksknackered]

Great England performance aided by an England like collapse by Pakistan but ruthless none the less. Sets up the Oval nicely although Pakistan did win there last time the sides met

If we bat properly we don't lose. All our nearly men - Hayes Ballance and Vince need to concentrate and play test cricket not one day cricket. They have the skill. But they all need to prove they have the patience and application.
The Oval is always a fair batting track so we SHOULD be alright.

 

[ColchesterFC]

Has Cook just announced to everyone how scared England are of facing spin late in test matches on wearing pitches? Seems a strange decision to bat first on a green pitch with overcast conditions. Definitely think we should have bowled first and planned to a skittle them in the first innings and then bat long enough in our first innings to only have to bat once or chase a very low total in our second innings.

 

[Tongo]

Has Cook just announced to everyone how scared England are of facing spin late in test matches on wearing pitches? Seems a strange decision to bat first on a green pitch with overcast conditions. Definitely think we should have bowled first and planned to a skittle them in the first innings and then bat long enough in our first innings to only have to bat once or chase a very low total in our second innings.

Collapse alert! Collapse alert!

(63/1 to 74/4 in next to no time!)

 

[richart]

Cracking days play. 300/350 first innings makes for a good test match.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Good fight back in the end and important to get a wicket tonight before stumps. Sets up an interesting day tomorrow.