Why Yorkshire CCC's Harry Brook believes England can still win first Test against Pakistan

HARRY BROOK remains confident England have the skills to take 20 wickets, despite Pakistan reaching 181-0 at the end of day two on a very docile Rawalpindi pitch.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Dec 2022, 22:54 BST

Openers Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique both moved towards centuries in looking comfortable on 90 and 89, respectively, as the tourists toiled in the afternoon and evening sessions after being bowled out before lunch for 657.

Captain Ben Stokes constantly tinkered with the field, keeping several players close to the bat, but they did not create many chances on the flat deck.

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Ollie Pope had two half-chances while standing in as wicketkeeper for Ben Foakes, missing a tough chance which appeared to catch the edge of Imam’s bat, and shortly afterwards failing to take the ball cleanly to miss a stumping chance off Will Jacks.

ON A ROLL: Yorkshire's Harry Brook plays a reverse sweep shot during his memorable innings of 153 for England on the second day of the first Test cricket match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi AP Photo/Anjum NaveedON A ROLL: Yorkshire's Harry Brook plays a reverse sweep shot during his memorable innings of 153 for England on the second day of the first Test cricket match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi AP Photo/Anjum Naveed
ON A ROLL: Yorkshire's Harry Brook plays a reverse sweep shot during his memorable innings of 153 for England on the second day of the first Test cricket match against Pakistan in Rawalpindi AP Photo/Anjum Naveed

“It’s a pretty nice wicket to bat on, as you can tell by our score,” Brook said. “It’s gonna be tough to get 20 wickets but we’ll give it a crack and hopefully it can go in our favour.

“We went through a few (bowling) plans there, (we will) probably stick to bowling straight. It’s going to start getting lower I think and it’s going to start going underground.

“If we start there, hopefully, we can get a few lbs which keep low and, obviously, we tried the bouncers; it’s just about striking at the right time and going bang, bang really.”

Related topics:EnglandPakistanYorkshire CCCBen Stokes