England strike early blows

Stuart Broad
12 April 2012

Pakistan mustered only 12 runs and lost both openers in the first hour of the second npower Test at Edgbaston.

Salman Butt found scoring opportunities very hard to come by - and Imran Farhat did not manage to spot one at all - as England's pace attack relished the invitation to bowl first under heavy cloud cover.

Pakistan, who did not after all select veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf following his last-minute arrival from Lahore on Thursday, went 49 balls without a run off the bat at one stage until their captain leg-glanced a single off James Anderson.

Pakistan need a determined performance here to battle back in the four-match series after last week's landslide defeat at Trent Bridge, and there was perhaps some bravado in Butt's decision to bat first in such awkward conditions.

There was an obvious signal of intent too as Butt and Farhat ran to the crease ahead of England's fielders and the umpires.

Once in occupation, though, the two left-handers were largely strokeless as Stuart Broad and Anderson both bowled testing lines and found movement through the air and occasional life in the pitch.

Farhat's reward for his ultra-defensive approach was a 24-ball duck, after Broad angled one across him and had him edging behind off the back foot.

Butt stayed put until he ventured a push-drive in Steven Finn's second over from the city end and edged to second slip.

The scorecard therefore had an ominous look already for Pakistan, who were bowled out for just 80 in their last attempt against England six days ago in Nottingham.

The only good news for them, before Shoaib Malik drove Finn for three runs off his first ball to at last put them in double-figures, was England had already used up one of their two DRS options when Anderson thought he had Farhat in the first over but discovered the ball was clearing leg-stump.

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