England make steady start after booking Pakistan for 171 in first Test

LEEDS: Newly-appointed captain Joe Root ensured England's steady start after the openers' dismissals as the home side moved closer to neutralising the first-innings deficit against Pakistan on the opening day of their first Test here at Headingley on Wednesday.

At the stumps on the opening day, the hosts were well-placed at 112/2 with Jordan Cox and captain Root unbeaten on 37 and 23, respectively, as England trail Pakistan by 59 runs with eight wickets in hand.

The home side made a spirited start to their innings as their opening pair of Ben Duckett (15) and Emilio Gay put together 36 runs until Pakistan's pace spearhead Mohammad Abbas trapped the former lbw in the 10th over.

Gay followed suit in the next over, falling victim to Mohammad Ali, and walked back after scoring a 31-ball 33, laced with seven boundaries.

Following the back-to-back dismissals, Root joined Cox in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly to put together an unbeaten 64-run partnership to round up a dominant day for England.

The duo will resume England's response on the second day as the Three Lions aim to secure a handy lead over Pakistan in the Test series opener.

For Pakistan, Abbas and Ali have thus far been able to take one wicket apiece in the first innings.

Earlier in the final session, Pakistan resumed their first innings from 150/7 after the break, but could add 21 more to their total for the remaining three wickets and were thus bowled out for a meagre 171 in 48.1 overs.

Josh Tongue gave the home side an ideal start to the final session as he trapped Pakistan's last recognised batter Mohammad Rizwan (12) in the second over after the break to expose their batting tail.

Following his departure, tailenders Khurram Shahzad (14) and Abbas added 12 runs for the 10th wicket until Ollie Robinson struck, dismissing the former to register his fifth five-wicket haul in the format.

He was joined by Tongue on the next delivery of the next over as the 28-year-old cleaned up Abbas (two) to register his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests.

The pulsating second session of the opening day got underway with Pakistan resuming their first innings from 23/2 through experienced opener Imam-ul-Haq and in-form Abdullah Shafique, who batted sensibly to raise an important 91-run partnership for the third wicket.

Right-arm pacer Tongue broke the threatening stand in the 29th over of Pakistan's innings by dismissing Imam, who fell short of a well-deserved half-century as he walked back after scoring 42 off 74 deliveries with the help of six fours.

Set-batter Shafique was then involved in a brief 20-run partnership for the third wicket with Saud Shakeel before Ollie Robinson dismissed both batters in his successive overs.

Shakeel could muster five off 25 deliveries, while Shafique remained the top-scorer for Pakistan with a valiant half-century, scoring 61 off 104 deliveries, laced with eight fours.

Following the back-to-back dismissals, the experienced duo of Rizwan and stand-in captain Salman Ali Agha (21) shared a 32-run partnership for the sixth wicket until the latter was cleaned up by Tongue in the final over of the session.

Tongue struck again on the next delivery, trapping Ali Usman (zero) lbw and reducing Pakistan further to 150/7.

Asked to bat first, Pakistan suffered an early setback when opener Azan Awais was dismissed by Ollie Robinson off the very first ball of the match after being given out lbw.

The visitors suffered another blow in the fifth over when former captain Shan Masood was dismissed by Robinson for five off 20 deliveries, leaving Pakistan struggling at 6-2.

Imam and Shafique then showed some resilience, putting together a brief partnership to take Pakistan's total to 23/2 before heavy rain brought play to a halt.