On Day 2 of the ongoing first Test between England and Pakistan in Manchester, Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Abbas delighted cricket buffs around the globe when he cleaned bowled the English star, Ben Stokes, with a peach of a delivery.
It was the scrambled seam that did Stokes in. Abbas drew the southpaw forward and just beat his outside edge with some late away movement; the ball crashing into the off-stump. The ball seamed 1.8 degrees away from Stokes and swung 0.2 degrees in, calculated CricViz.
Abbas now has a record of two dismissals and zero runs in the 12 balls he has bowled to Stokes.
Here’s the video:
We have lost three early wickets against the new ball.
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/q1IXtTZFvR#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/LZX1S7k6KP
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 6, 2020
Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram, moments after the wicket, said: “What a story Abbas has! He was working in a tannery not long ago. In fact, he got to play his first season in Pakistan after he won a toss against another player. Then two seasons, he took 61 and 71 wickets, and then Misbah ul Haq picked him for Pakistan in 2017.”
Stokes’ dismissal came as a huge blow for the hosts as they were left reeling on 12-3 in 5.3 overs of their first innings, responding to Pakistan’s total of 326 runs. Captain Joe Root then combined with Ollie Pope to bail their team out of trouble with a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
However, Root too could not stay out in the middle for long as he was caught by Mohammad Rizwan off the bowling of Yasir Shah after scoring 14 runs off 58 balls.
Young Pope showed great character under pressure and continued to bat unfazed scoring unbeaten 46 off 67 balls to add another 30-run stand with Jos Buttler, who remained unbeaten on 15 as England finished with 92/4 on the board at stumps on Day 2.
