Pakistan dig in to lose no further wickets as Babar Azam closes in on half-century to frustrate England at lunch at cloudy Ageas Bowl
- After rain delayed play, England took to adding to wicket total against Pakistan
- But led by Babar Azam, the visitors dug in and did well to avoid further exits
- Azam showed his professionalism, stayed in there and is close to a half-century
Babar Azam showed plenty of grit and determination as Pakistan frustrated England at the start of play on Friday to go into lunch without losing a further wicket at 155-5.
England took control of the match on Thursday with a blast of three for 18 and kicked off here with Chris Woakes and James Anderson licking their lips under cloudy skies.
But Azam, resuming on 25, and Mohammad Rizwan were the men standing in the way and the pair successfully saw out the first half-hour’s play for the addition of 16 runs.
Babar Azam was key to Pakistan’s first hour as they avoided losing any further wickets
James Anderson (right) looked to be aggressive in what were perfect bowling conditions
Babar produced a couple of reminders of his stroke-making abilities, clipping both seamers for four through midwicket as the score moved to 142 for five at 1pm, but mostly it was a case of hanging in and looking to avoid edges in the channel outside off.
More to follow.
Pakistan were clever when to run and went into lunch with a total of 155-5 under the clouds
Rain delayed play with the covers forced into use at an overcast Ageas Bowl on Friday morning