Harry Brook punished Pakistan for dropping him at the start of his innings Thursday with a quickfire 91 that strengthened England’s grip on the first Test at Headingley. England were 366-8 at stumps of a rain-marred second day, 195 runs ahead of Pakistan’s meagre first-innings 171. The only sadness for the crowd was that neither of their local Yorkshire heroes were able to post a century, with skipper Joe Root out for 66 before Brook fell late in the day. Dan Lawrence, recalled after the international retirement of former captain Ben Stokes, made 51 and put on 120 with Brook in England’s first Test of the post-Bazball era.
Harry Brook punished Pakistan for dropping him at the start of his innings Thursday with a quickfire 91 that strengthened England’s grip on the first Test at Headingley.
Cox, appearing in just his second Test, told reporters after stumps: “Probably one of us could have kicked on and instead of making just a hundred, make it 150, 160, 170 and that puts us in a better position definitely. Usman, who said he didn’t think he had bowled that well, was the pick of an otherwise largely ineffective all-pace attack with 5-92 in 23 overs, his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket coming in just his third match. Root, at the start of his second stint as full-time England captain, was 37 not out with number three Cox — replacing the injured Jacob Bethell — unbeaten on 23.
“I think I let myself down a tiny bit but at the end of the day you take 70, don’t you?” said Cox. Brook, however, should then have been out for one when he edged Khurram Shahzad only for diving Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, leading the side in place of the injured Babar Azam, to drop the chance at second slip.
