England bounced back by securing an emphatic win over Pakistan in the 2nd test at Old Trafford. Throughout the Test match Pakistani batsman struggled to adapt on a pitch where there was some pace and swing for the bowlers.In contrast the English batsman looked quite comfortable in both the innings as they played some delightful strokes and negotiated the fearsome bowling of Pakistan.
After a superb 254 in the first innings Joe Root along with his skipper Alastair Cook were merciless and completely destroyed the rhythm of the deadly trio of Amir,Wahab and Rahat. They danced down the track and whacked Yasir Shah all over the place.While Root continued his good form,skipper Cook brought up his fifty in just 55 balls which is said to be his fastest.
Unlike the English batsman the Pakistanis found it hard to survive on a wicket where you have to apply yourselves.They clearly lacked the technique to tackle the swing of Jimmy Anderson and found it difficult to fend off Chris Woakes short deliveries. Shan Masood showed some patience at the beginning but he had no answers to an Anderson special who came around the stumps and delivered a outswinger which sent back Masood to the pavilion.
Azhar ali who had a terrible outing so far shuffled towards the off stump only to find him adjudged LBW from in swinging Anderson. Pakistan were in deep trouble.In came the most experienced campaigner Younus Khan. Hafeez in company with Younus showed some aggression and kept both Anderson and Woakes quite for some time. Moeen ali, however had other ideas.The move made by Cook turned out to be a rewarding one.Ali dismissed both the set batsman in a span of 6 overs.Pakistan were now looking at their skipper and most reliable batsman Misbah-ul-Haq to do something Miraculous.
Misbah was defiant against spin and swing but he was surprised by the lethal bouncer from Woakes followed by a full delivery which he inside edged onto his stumps.All hopes of the Pakistani fans were thrashed.Woakes continued his superb run by giving another breakthrough in the form of Sarfraz Khan the last recognised batsman.Asad Shafiq who showed some dogged resistance was undone by an incoming delivery from Anderson.Kumar Dharmasena’s job became quite easier as the ball hit his back leg which would go on to hit the middle stump.
Wahab’s decision to blindly to swing the bat turned out to be a horrific one.He was lucky as he edged on a couple of occasions off Anderson which triggered a heated verbal conversation between the two.Both Yasir and Wahab did not last long as they were troubled by some quality pace and swing bowling from Woakes and Anderson.Joe Root after having a superb outing with the bat came onto bowl as the stadium was covered by some dark clouds and the lighting became an issue.To everyone’s surprise he took the wicket of the wild slogging Wahab who misitimed a sweep shot straight into the hands of Cook.
The last pair of Amir and Rahat survived for another six overs before Woakes completed the formalities and secured a comprehensive 330 run victory.The series is now 1-1 with the next one being played at Birmingham on 3rd of August.