Only 24.5 overs were possible at Lord’s, and England still went 357 ahead

Twenty-four and a half overs were bowled at Lord’s on Saturday. England lost four wickets in them and still walked off 357 runs ahead, which tells you most of what you need to know about the state of the second Test.

Rain kept everyone waiting until 2.20pm. England resumed on 81 for 3 and closed on 177 for 7, Dan Lawrence unbeaten on 50, Ollie Robinson with him on 2. The afternoon was never about whether England were winning this Test. It was about how much they wanted to take out of it first.

Lawrence picked the right day to counter-attack

Lawrence reached his fifty from 64 balls on a surface doing plenty. He hit Mohammad Ali over cover for six and then slog-swept the spinner Ali Usman into the stands, which is not the obvious way to bat when the ball is jagging around and the light is closing in. Harry Brook made 34 from 56 with five fours before he edged behind, and Emilio Gay ground out 31 from 74.

Mohammad Abbas was the reason England did not run away with the day entirely. He bowled 18 overs and took three for 48, working the up-and-down bounce as well as anyone has managed in this match. Mohammad Ali finished with two for 54 and Khurram Shahzad took the other two. Pakistan’s bowling has not been the problem in this series.

The match was decided on Friday

England were bowled out for 290 on the second morning. Pakistan then lasted 37.2 overs and made 110, a first-innings lead of 180.

Robinson bowled 13 overs and took four for 11, twice going upstairs to overturn lbw decisions the umpire had turned down. Jofra Archer took three for 26 and touched 94mph. Between them that was seven of the ten, and England went to stumps on Friday 261 in front.

What Pakistan are being asked to do

England will bat on Sunday morning, or declare, and Pakistan will be set something north of 360. No side has ever chased that at Lord’s. The ground record for a successful fourth-innings chase is West Indies’ 344 for 1 in 1984, and nothing since has come close to it. Pakistan’s own best fourth innings in England is 234.

They also arrived at Lord’s already 1-0 down, England having won at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs inside three days. A defeat here ends the series with a Test still to play at Edgbaston.

The light, again

Play was called off just after 6.30pm for bad light. The floodlights were on, the sun was breaking through on the horizon, and there was the best part of an hour still theoretically available on a day that had already lost most of its overs to rain. England, 357 in front, had no reason to argue. Pakistan had every reason not to.

Two days remain and the forecast is the only thing keeping Pakistan in this.

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