On Day 4 of the second Test against England, Abbas picked up his first five-wicket haul at Lord’s to put his name at iconic honours board. Abbas had come close before with a trio of four-wicket hauls, including his 4-73 in England’s first-innings 290 of this match. He finished the match with figures of 9/130, becoming the first Asian pacer to take nine wickets in a Test match at Lord’s. Overall, he has the second best bowling figures by an Asian bowler at Lord’s, after compatriot Yasir Shah, who took 10/141 in 2016.
After three narrow misses, Pakistan pacer Mohammad Abbas finally had his moment.
This was also Abbas’ second match haul of eight or more wickets at Lord’s (after 8/64 in 2018), becoming the first Asian bowler to achieve that feat twice at the venue. Cricketers who take at least five wickets in an innings or 10 in a match or score a century in a Test at Lord’s have their feats recorded on one of the honours boards in the home and away dressing rooms at the ‘Home of Cricket’.
Abbas, 36, had come close before with a trio of four-wicket hauls, including his 4-73 in England’s first-innings 290 of this match.
Overall, Abbas is only the fourth player who has taken eight or more wickets at Lord’s twice, joining the elite list consisting of Australia’s Glenn McGrath and the West Indian duo of Malcolm Marshall and Charles Turner. An elated Abbas was mobbed by his team-mates before kissing the turf in celebration.
