Shadab comes into the attack, and his second delivery spins past Bess' outside edge. A ball later he tries to sweep the wrong 'un and misses it.

It should be noted that Bess has a reputation for being a better player of seam than spin. A maiden - and some positive signs for the leggie.

It's back-to-back boundaries, with Malan finding the fence with a slightly risking-looking drive off Abbas. Then, Malan drops the ball into the legside and scampers through for a single.

And a Bess drive - which is misfielded in the covers - draws England level with Pakistan, prompting a polite round of applause from the locals.

Ashraf finds his line, snaking the ball past Bess' outside edge on a couple of occasions, before he then finds the inside edge, with the ball cannoning into his pad.

To make matters worse for the tourists, Bess slashes the last ball of the over through the covers and to the boundary - lovely stroke. Again.

England are less than ten runs behind now, and Pakistan must be feeling slightly anxious.

Abbas overpitches with the third ball of the over, and Bess meets the delivery with a lovely on-drive, which rushes past the stumps and the fielder to the boundary.

Bess - who then pokes the ball down to third man for a single - has quite a unique pre-delivery trigger, but there's clearly some talent there.

 

Ashraf is like an old-fashioned, English-style seamer, looking to nibble the ball this way and that.

Here, he bowls a maiden but he's not posing the same type of threat as Amir for the time being. By the way, there are supposed to be 45 more overs left today - which seems very optimistic.

A single from Bess and then a leg bye off the thigh of Malan takes us through to drinks. Not sure they're necessary, mind, given how breezy and chilly it is. 

England will be pretty satisfied with where they're placed at the moment, and theoretically, there's still plenty of overs left in the day, weather permitting.

 

Ashraf is also introduced into the attack, and it's just a single from the over, with Bess calmly knocking the ball into a gap.

Bess may not have impressed with the ball at Lord's - he wasn't terrible, mind - but he certainly looks the part with the bat for such a young man.

Abbas comes into the attack, but he's not as accurate as Amir was earlier, and the third ball of the over heads down to the fine leg boundary, via a deflection off Malan's pad.

England are only a handful of runs behind Pakistan now, meaning the tourists need to take some wickets in clusters.

Bess starts the over with a splendid punch off the back foot for four, which is quickly becoming his signature.

And after the Somerset man nurdles a single down to third man, Malan leans into a gorgeous-looking cover drive. With Pakistan bowling these attacking lengths, there ought to be boundary opportunities.

Amir almost bags another wicket with the first ball of the over, but the outside edge from Bess falls just - and I mean just - short of the keeper.

Bess gets off strike with a single, and Malan keeps out the rest of the over. England will need to fight hard, and really apply themselves, in order to get through this spell.

 

Hasan sends down another testing over. England are under the pump for the time being, and they're having to battle through a tricky little spell.

Malan, let's not forget, is a man under pressure - he'll feel he needs a score.

Amir has bowled some beauties this afternoon, and he has some reward.

It was a lovely, teasing drive ball that got rid of Root, and he's already testing Malan's outside edge. The ball is talking under the low clouds, though Malan manages a couple with an edge along the carpet.

 

Amir has made the breakthrough, removing the skipper  Root for 45!

The left-armer sent one across the Yorkshreman, who got the slightest of edges to it. Are Pakistan back in the contest now?

The latest over from Hasan starts with Root neatly clipping three through mid-wicket, edging the skipper closer to another half-century.

Bess punches one through the covers off the back foot, and Root follows suit with another sharp single off the final ball of the over. England continue to make solid progress under the grey skies in Leeds.

Amir trying a bit of short stuff on Bess. His bouncer doesn't bounce much. Bess ducks into it, the ball striking his left shoulder.  Just the one off the over. 

That's it from me today. Rain curtailed much action on my watch but there you go. I'm handing over to Joshua Evans to take you through the rest of the day. 

Bess looking in fine form. He plays a high cut off a short and wide one from Hasan Ali. Four more! He wants to get after it today.  Five from the over. 

England trail by 42. 

Amir bowling quite nicely here, beating Root's outside edge again at the start of the over. Root then tries to sneak a quick single out on the off-side and he does...but poor backing up leads to overthrows, well an overthrow at least. 

Amir continues with his outside off line. Bess plays a superb cover drive off the front foot for four! Shot boy! A good probing line draws a false shot off the last ball. 

Hasan Ali returns for his ninth over. Bess plays a controlled edge down to third man and gets three. He's off the mark. Ali then spears one down the leg side for four byes. Sarfraz couldn't get near it. Another three on the off-side takes Root to 36. Before Ali beats Bess's outside edge. 

England making good progress early on. 

It's Mohammad Amir on for the first over of the day. He looks a little bit tight. Bowling at a tad under 80mph and trying to loosen himself up after the first few deliveries.  

Amir beats the outside edge of Root's bat on the third delivery as Root played forward. He soon settles into a nice line on and around the off stump, coming over the wicket. 

The same line draws a defensive stroke from Root on the back foot, who edges it down to third man for four off the last ball of the over. 

Play will end at 7pm but can go onto 7.30pm. The players are on the outfield and the last few notes of Jerusalem play out over the ground's PA. We're nearly ready...

England bowled out Pakistan for 174 on the first day - Broad, Woakes and Anderson taking three wickets each. Sam Curran took his first test wicket too. England managed to get to 106/2 at the close of the first day but the second day has seen no play but plenty of rain. 

Play restarts in five minutes with Root on 29* and nightwatchman Dominic Bess on 0*. 

That won't happen, but we should see a fair amount of cricket, barring any other weather interruptions. 

Cloud cover could be tricky for the English batsmen. 

Just over 23 minutes to go, then. The weather was forecast to be clearer later in the day so we may well see a decent amount of cricket. 

...inspection due shortly. 

 20 minutes, just under, until the next inspection. 

Right. Can't see there being much play before 3pm, then. Maybe 2.45pm if we're very lucky. The umpires will want a look at the outfield but it doesn't look too bad. The rain has not been especially heavy. 

It seems like good news. 

...is this interesting scene. I can't work out exactly what's going on but it looks a little like she's trying the Dilscoop with one of those things you bang together to make noise. A clapper, maybe? Three rows of three plastic pint glasses for the stumps. Obviously. A wicket-keeper a first slip and a leg slip look on in amusement. 

Bowled her! Leg stump out of the ground!  

 

 Let's hope the afternoon session involves some actual cricket. 

The rain has ceased to fall. The Umpires are out in the middle. Could we see some play before 2pm?

 Probably 2.2 of your five-a-day, there. 

England are in advanced talks with Ireland about playing a four-day Test match at Lord’s next July, prior to the Ashes series. The match would be England’s first ever Test against Ireland, and their first four-day Test since 1971. 

Read the full exclusive story by Tim Wigmore and Nick Hoult.  

Cons:no play.

Pros: England didn't lose a wicket. 

Play is scheduled to resume at 1.40pm. It probably won't. 

...which means it'll be taken imminently. It probably hasn't made any difference, to be fair. I will keep you updated about the pitch inspection and weather throughout. 

We've all been there, haven't we? Those cagoule/poncho things can get very sweaty, though. You can end up feeling like a hot sausage wrapped in cling film. 

Harrowing. What even are they? Do I want to know?

Absolutely nothing to be gained now by having lunch at the scheduled time. If it carries on raining we won't see play anyway - but if it does stop at some point soon then we can get back out as soon as possible. The forecast doesn't seem to suggest that the whole day will be rained off...but we will keep our fingers crossed for some action this afternoon. 

It could be an early lunch taken. It's almost certain we won't see any play in the scheduled morning session. 

...there's some action from England's fantastic victory in Karachi in 2000. Ashley Giles just bowled a snorter (pitching a foot outside off, in the rough, taking off stump) to dismiss Inzamam. Can England chase down the 176 needed for victory? Athers is batting well so far. Spoiler alert: yes. Yes they can. 

 

...unfortunately it's still raining so it's about making sure things aren't too sodden, rather than actually drying them. 

Stuart Broad said that he has ­“always got a point to prove” after he responded to criticism by taking three for 38 to help England to a dominant position on the opening day of the second NatWest Test at Headingley.

“It did anger me a little bit as I thought it was unfair and a bit targeted,” Broad said. “I felt like the criticism this week was unjustified. It did put me under a bit more pressure going into this game but part and parcel of our job is being able to deliver under pressure.”

Read Tim Wigmore's piece on Stuart Broad phoning Michael Vaughan following the latter's calls for him to be dropped for the second Test.  

No update on the state of play. No news on umpiring inspections, either. 

England are back on track in home conditions. In dismissing Pakistan for 174 and finishing only 68 behind with eight wickets left, Joe Root and his players have given England supporters enough evidence to believe that their performance in the first Test at Lord’s was a one-off fiasco.

To reverse the tide of a Test series - as England did here - is normally the work of a batsman in a defiant innings, or a bowler with an inspiring spell. This time it was the sun (rather than the moon) that turned the tide. It disappeared behind cloud soon after Pakistan had decided to bat, and enabled England’s bowlers to swing the ball lavishly, whereupon it reappeared at tea-time to smile upon England’s batsmen.

Read Scyld Berry's match report from day one.  

...but edges of another kind were abundant. 

AN Cook c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Hasan Ali 46 

KK Jennings c †Sarfraz Ahmed b Faheem Ashraf 29 

JE Root (c) not out 29 

DM Bess not out 0 

A promising start for England, Cook and Jennings putting on 50 for the first wicket. Something that has been lacking in recent months and indeed years. Jennings looked comfortable before his dismissal. Cook will - and should - be gutted at getting out just before stumps, four short of his 50. 

Unpromising. 

JM Anderson 15-6-43-3 

SCJ Broad 15-6-38-3 

CR Woakes 11-1-55-3 

SM Curran 7.1-0-33-1

The seam attack did the damage yesterday, particularly Broad and Anderson. Dom Bess didn't get a bowl. Broad was back to his best, hitting back at criticism from the press and pundits, as he saw it. Woakes hadn't played much (any) First Class cricket this year so will be pleased with 3-55. There was a first test wicket for debutant Sam Curran, too. 

A harsh contrast from yesterday's glorious weather. It looks pretty dark out there but the rain doesn't seem too heavy. It's the fine rain that soaks you right through, as they say. It is forecast to brighten up a little bit later in the day, though. Here's what the Met Office are telling us. 

 So, hopefully we'll see some play in the morning session. We will, of course, be keeping you updated. 

England dominated Day 1 of its must-win second and final Test against Pakistan on Friday, bundling out the tourists for 174 before closing on 106-2 in a role reversal to the start of the first match last week.

Pakistan didn't capitalise on winning the toss at Headingley, with its batsmen failing to handle a swinging and seaming ball as England's pace attack reaped the rewards for bowling a fuller length than they did in a nine-wicket loss at Lord's.

Led by the old guard of Stuart Broad (3-38) and James Anderson (3-43), the hosts reduced Pakistan to 79-7 and then 113-8. Only a 43-run stand for the ninth wicket between Shadab Khan (56) and Hasan Ali (24) helped Pakistan to a respectable total.

England was much more assertive in its reply and finally got a decent start from its troublesome opening partnership.

Keaton Jennings, recalled in place of Mark Stoneman, fell for 29 with the score on 53-1, but captain Joe Root joined veteran Alastair Cook at the crease and England made inroads into the deficit.

 

However, less than 10 minutes before stumps, Pakistan made a crucial breakthrough as Cook misjudged a pull shot off Hasan and the ball feathered the batsman's glove to be caught behind for 46.

It was a disappointing way for Cook to depart on the day he set a record by playing in a 154th straight Test - surpassing a milestone he shared with former Australia captain Allan Border.

Root was 29 not out at the close, alongside nightwatchman Dom Bess (0), and England trailed by 68 runs heading into Day 2.

England, without star allrounder Ben Stokes because of a hamstring injury sustained in training on Wednesday, needs a victory to avoid a third straight series loss.

At Lord's, England was always playing catch-up, after getting bowled out for 184 on the opening day and then trailing by 179 runs on first innings.

Now, it's Pakistan's turn to do the chasing. 

AP