Buttler, Woakes pepper boundaries to give England hope

Manchester, August 8

England lost a flurry of wickets as they chased 277 for victory over Pakistan on Day 4 of the first Test on Saturday, but Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes launched a counter-attack before tea to leave the game thrillingly poised.

The hosts slumped from 86-1 to 117-5 as some superb bowling gave Pakistan a stranglehold midway through the afternoon, but Buttler and Woakes then put on 50 in 49 balls to accelerate the score to 167-5.

England still require 110 runs to record the second-highest successful fourth innings chase ever at Old Trafford.

Pakistan began the day on 137-8 in their second innings but blazed another 32 runs to be all out for 169, setting England a tough target on a pitch offering pace, bounce and spin.

Mohammad Abbas trapped opener Rory Burns lbw for 10 early on, and England crept up to 55-1 at lunch before skipper Joe Root and Dom Sibley dug in to give England a solid platform.

Sibley showed great patience in reaching 36 but paid the price for a rash shot when he edged an attempted drive off leg spinner Yasir Shah and was taken by Asad Shafiq at slip.

Root swept to 42 but just when he looked set for a big score he fell to a superbly directed delivery from teenager Naseem Shah, the ball catching the splice of the bat and being held by Babar Azam at first slip.

It looked even better for Pakistan when Shah spun one out of the rough to have Ben Stokes caught behind the stumps by Mohammad Rizwan on review, after England's danger-man was initially given not out by the on-field umpire.

Ollie Pope could do nothing about his dismissal as Shaheen Afridi produced an unplayable ball that rose sharply off a length, caught his glove and looped up to Shadab Khan at gully.

England were in a hole, but Buttler and Woakes went into one-day mode and began to pepper the boundaries, setting up what could be a thrilling final session of the day.

While Pakistan remain the favourites, England still have a chance of the highest successful run chase at Old Trafford since they made 294 to beat New Zealand in 2008. Reuters

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