Joe Root bats left-handed during England's first Test against Pakistan
Dec 04, 2022
Rawalpindi [Pakistan], December 4 : England batter Joe Root batted left-handed during the first Test against Pakistan on Sunday.
Making the most of the batting-friendly conditions in Rawalpindi, Root switched to a left-handed mode while batting against right-arm spinner Zahid Mahmood for the first two deliveries of his sixth over.
Root swept the ball one to square leg, but was dropped by Naseem Shah at mid-wicket on the next ball. The batter quickly ditched the idea and reverted to his right-handed batting stance but was dismissed for 73 by Mahmood after being caught by Imam-ul-Haq.
Coming to the match, Pakistan have been set a target of 343 runs to win. At the end of day 4, Pakistan is 80/2, with Imam-ul-Haq (43*) and Saud Shakeel (24*) at the crease.
England declared their innings at 264/7 in 35.5 overs in their second innings. Harry Brook scored 87 off 65 balls, with 11 fours and three sixes. Joe Root (73) and Zak Crawley (50) also scored in the fifties. With this, England gained a 342-run lead in the match, setting a target of 343 for the hosts.
Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali and Zahid Mahmood took two wickets. Agha Salman got a wicket each.
In their first innings, Pakistan was bundled out for 579, in reply to England's first innings score of 657. They were trailing by 78 runs in the match at that point.
Babar Azam (136) scored a brilliant ton, with openers Imam-ul-Haq (121) and Abdullah Shafique (114). Will Jacks (6/161) was fantastic for England with the ball. Jack Leach took two scalps while James Anderson and Ollie Robinson took a wicket each.
England posted 657 in their first innings. The visitors took full advantage of the batting-friendly conditions and Crawley (122), Ben Duckett (107), Ollie Pope (108) and Harry Brook (153) posted tons.
Zahid Mahmood (4/235) and Naseem Shah (3/140) were the picks of the bowlers for Pakistan. Ali took two while Haris Rauf also got a wicket.
