[themaclad]

Stokes gone back to New Zealand family issues series over

[themaclad]

England's bowlers grabbed the upper hand in the second Test against Pakistan on a rain-affected first day at the Ageas Bowl.

James Anderson claimed two wickets and Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran one each as Pakistan closed on 126-5 with only 45.4 overs possible.

Abid Ali was dropped twice on the way to 60, with Pakistan looking well placed on 78-1.

But after a lengthy rain break, the hosts capitalised on humid conditions suited to seam bowling by taking 3-18 during an hour-long session.

Rain forced the players off again at 17:00 BST and bad light prevented them from returning.

More stormy weather is forecast for the remainder of the match but if conditions stay the same both sides will be confident of winning.

Pakistan have a bowling attack that could easily utilise conditions as England have done, while they will look to star batsman Babar Azam to extend their score on day two. He ended unbeaten on 25.

After last week's superb victory at Emirates Old Trafford, victory in Southampton would give England a first series win over Pakistan in 10 years.

[themaclad]

Pakistan 223-9 truncated day

[themaclad]

Second Test, Ageas Bowl, Southampton (day four of five)
Pakistan 223-9: Rizwan 72, Abid 60, Broad 4-56, Anderson 3-48
England 7-1: Shaheen 1-5

The second Test between England and Pakistan is set to end in a draw after more rain meant there was only an hour's play on day four at the Ageas Bowl.

Just 96.2 overs have been bowled in the match from a possible 360 because of rain and bad light.

Play resumed at 11:00 BST on Sunday and England finally bowled Pakistan out for 236 when Mohammad Rizwan fell to Stuart Broad for 72.

Rory Burns was dismissed by the fourth ball of England's reply but rain stopped play with the hosts 7-1.

[Lord Snooty]

The sun came out just after play was called off.

[Lord Snooty]

Is there any point of carrying on with this match? It's almost lunch on day five and we're still only starting the second innings of the game. Unless they're going to forfeit some innings, what's the point? The spectators aren't going to demand their money back!

[themaclad]

Second Test, Ageas Bowl, Southampton (day five of five)
Pakistan 226: Rizwan 72, Abid 60, Broad 4-56
England 110-4 dec: Crawley 53, Abbas 2-28
Match drawn; England lead 1-0 in series
Scorecard
England and Pakistan played out a draw in the second Test at the Ageas Bowl.

The result was already all but confirmed with bad weather decimating the Test.

More rain prevented play starting until 15:20 BST, after which England reached 110-4 in reply to Pakistan's 236 before the captains agreed to a draw at 18:05.

Zak Crawley made 53 and Dom Sibley 32 before falling in consecutive Mohammad Abbas overs. Ollie Pope was out for nine 15 minutes before the close.

England v Pakistan - clips, radio & text
Only 135.3 overs - a day and a half's play - were possible in the match, the shortest Test in England since 1987.

England will take a 1-0 lead into the third and final Test, which begins on Friday at the same ground.

The low-key final day's play was played in perfect, sunny conditions that were a far cry from the previous four.

Frustrations have been voiced that there has not been more play - the players left the field on the first two days for bad light when it did not feel overly dangerous, and when the entire third day was lost there was a two-hour period when it felt like there could have been action.

The Test ends with a strong feeling that cricket must do more. That said, this was only the third draw in the past 43 Tests in the UK.

[themaclad]

England 332-4

Crawley 171
Buttler 87

200 plus unbroken partnership by the two

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Third Test, Ageas Bowl (day one of five)
England 332-4 (90 overs): Crawley 171*, Buttler 87*, Yasir 2-107
Pakistan: Yet to bat
Scorecard
Zak Crawley's sparkling maiden Test century put England in command of the third and final Test against Pakistan on day one at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.

The 22-year-old, playing in his eighth Test, oozed elegance for his 171 not out.

He shared an unbroken partnership of 205 with Jos Buttler, who continued his resurgence with the bat by making an unbeaten 87.

That guided England from the difficulty of 127-4 to 332-4, a position from which they are primed to win the series.

On a blustery day at the Ageas Bowl, Pakistan had to battle a fiercely strong wind that whistled down the ground for the entire day.

At the end of it, they were left facing a huge battle to avoid their first series defeat by England since 2010.

[themaclad]

Third Test, Ageas Bowl (day two of five)
England 583-8 dec (154.4 overs): Crawley 267, Buttler 152
Pakistan 24-3 (10.5 overs): Anderson 3-13

Zak Crawley's superlative 267 and 152 from Jos Buttler led an England run-fest on the second day of the final Test against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl.

Crawley, 22, became the third-youngest England player to make a double century and posted their 10th highest score in history.

Buttler overturned being given out on 99 to complete his second Test ton and their fifth-wicket stand of 359 is England's best of all time as well as their joint-sixth best for any wicket.

Chris Woakes, Dom Bess and Stuart Broad had some fun to lift England to 583-8 declared, their highest total in four years.

They gave Pakistan just under an hour to bat, in which time James Anderson bowled beautifully to remove Shan Masood, Abid Ali and Babar Azam.

Pakistan closed on 24-3, while Anderson is only four short of becoming the first pace bowler to reach 600 Test wickets.

Even if Pakistan can rouse themselves to save this match, England - already leading 1-0 - are set to win the series.

[themaclad]

Third Test, Ageas Bowl, Southampton (day three of five)
England 583-8 dec (154.4 overs): Crawley 267, Buttler 152
Pakistan 273 all out (93 overs): Azhar 141*, Anderson 5-56
Scorecard
England forced Pakistan to follow on on day three of the final Test at the Ageas Bowl despite a defiant century by visiting captain Azhar Ali.

Azhar's controlled 141 not out dragged his side from 75-5 and the point of implosion in reply to England 583-8 declared.

He shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 138 with wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, who battled to 53.

After Rizwan was removed by Chris Woakes, England could have run through the tail had it not been for an incredible passage of play that saw three catches dropped in the space of 10 James Anderson deliveries.

Anderson eventually had last man Naseem Shah caught at third slip to complete figures of 5-56 and move to 598 Test wickets.

With Pakistan 273 all out, 310 behind, they were given half an hour to bat again in the evening gloom, and Azhar returned to open the batting.

However, just as the players got to the middle for the start of the Pakistan second innings, the umpires decided the light was not good enough to resume.

With rain forecast for Tuesday, there may be added pressure on England to wrap up victory on day four in order to seal a 2-0 series win.