England vs Pakistan 3rd Test Day 3 at Rose Bowl, SouthamptonEngland vs Pakistan (ENG vs PAK) 3rd Test Day 3 Highlights: Pakistan, following on in the 3rd Test vs England, will begin their second innings on Day 4, trailing by 310 runs. Azhar Ali, who has scored an unbeaten 141, led the resistance in the first innings, which ended at 273, with James Anderson picking up five wickets. At the start of the second innings, Pakistan trailed England by a further 310 runs, before Stumps were drawn due to insufficient light.
Azhar Ali found an ally in Mohammad Rizwan, and the two put on a 138-run partnership. James Anderson picked four Pakistan wickets to fall, closing in on 600 Test scalps. Dom Bess cleaned up Fawad Alam for 21 after that. Azhar Ali led Pakistan’s resistance on Day 3, scoring his first 50 outside Asia since 2018. With Rizwan, Azhar took the visitors to Tea at 158/5. Chris Woakes got Rizwan’s wicket after a 138-run partnership. Stuart Broad then struck twice with the second new ball.
The players come out for the second innings. Azhar Ali set to open with Shan Masood. But the umpires bring proceedings to an end for Day 3 due to bad light. England captain Joe Root does not look impressed but that is that for Day 3. Pakistan, yet to start their second innings following on, are trailing England by 310 runs.
Joe Root has enforced the follow on. The Pakistan second innings to resume for what will be a very short spell of play till stumps.
A scrappy period of play for England as they look to finish off the job. Azhar Ali farms the strike, not letting naseem Shah take strike at all. Anderson gets one over at him and leaves him poking and proding for dear life. And gets him out off the last ball. Pakistan's first innings ends. Azhar Ali remains not out on 141. Pakistan all out for 273.
Pakistan's 9th wicket falls after a frantic sequence of events. Abbas is run out. Stuart Broad drops another catch off James Anderson, who can't believe it, but Broad ends up hitting the stumps with his throw. Azhar Ali only has Naseem Shah for company now, with pakistan staring at the eventuality of being asked to follow on. PAK 261/9 after 89.2
Azhar Ali gives an edge off Anderson but Burns drops the catch at second slip. The ball runs down to four and Pakistan cross 250. And later in the over, another edge is dropped at fourth slip by Crawley. Anderson has his head in his hands. Two dropped catches in the over. PAK 252/8 after 87 overs
A super catch from Buttler again as Pakistan lose their 8th. A one-handed take from the under-fire keeper, diving to his right. Shaheen falls. Broad gets a decond wicket with this new ball. Azhar Ali continues losing partners. PAK 247/8
Pakistan's fight now has evolved into a fight to stave off the follow-on. Still a long way away from that mark. Azhar Ali looks to hog strike. Shaheen Afridi does well to negotiate with Anderson as well, but there are big appeals for lbw against him. PAK 247/8 after 85
Seventh wicket. Stuart Broad gets the 7th Pakistan wicket. Yasir Shah edges and Joe Root takes the catch at first slip. And Pakistan will now be stretched to avoid the follow-on. Shaheen Afridi walks out at 9 with Broad and Anderson getting the new ball to talk. Shaheen sees out the rest of the Broad over, who has now picked up his first wicket of the Test. PAK 243/7 after 82.
Azhar Ali gets rolling again, flashes a Woakes full delivery for four past point. England go for the second new ball as soon as it is available. James Anderson, chasing a 5-wicket haul and 600 Test wickets, bowls with the new ball. PAK 241/6 after 81
Yasir Shah joins Azhar Ali, with Pakistan having lost a wicket against the run of play, just as they were looking like they were getting into a comfortable position. Yasir, the new batsman, is the one who hits the first boundary in a long time, but it is via fortunate means, via an edge that runs through the slip cordon. PAK 229/6 after 79
Woakes bowls a maiden. A drinks break is taken in the third sesion. England continue with spin from one end. And then Woakes gets the breakthrough. Rizwan falls for 53. Caught by a diving Buttler on the leg side. A 138-run partnership comes to an end. PAK 213/6 after 75.1
Azhar Ali moves to 99 with a pull against Woakes. Woakes gets it just past his bat to end an over. Nervous 99 times for Azhar. Rizwan quickly hands over the strike to his skipper. And he gets there with a four off Bess! 100 for Azhar Ali.
England stick with Archer for now, even though the slips are pushed back to the outfield now. Archer keeps bowling bouncers. Rizwan shoulders arms to him. Azhar Ali, in his 90s now, looks to consolidate just a bit. There is a drop in his scoring rate. Rizwan, at the other end, steps out to Bess and clobbers him over long off for six. 200 comes up with that. PAK 200/5 after 71
More runs against Archer. Rizwan gets a four with an upper cut as Archer continues bowling fast and short. No protection for the upper cut and Archer is proving to be expensive. Strauss says on air it might be best to take him off for now and bring him back on when a new batsman comes in. PAK 185/5 after 67
Azhar Ali gets a boundary off Archer too. Brings the 100 runs for this partnership up with that four. Uses his pace and bounce to ramp him over the slip cordon. Archer's fire not being very effective against this dogged pair. Broad keeps firing balls into pads. PAK 176/5 after 65
Rizwan gets two boundaries in the Archer over, as Archer partners Broad with the ball to start off the session. Cut through point for the first down and driven down the ground for the second. Broad, bowling on a middle stump line and a full length, more economical. PAK 170/5 after 63
With the weather forecast not very good for the next two days, England will be wanting to take as many wickets as they can in this final session. They would want to get Pakistan to bat again today, if they have their way. We can have play extended in this final session. Stuart Broad starts off for them under bright sunlight, with Rizwan and Azhar Ali continuing their 83-run stand. This could be a long session for one of the two teams. Here we go!
Dom Bess bowls the last over before Tea. Pakistan have a reasonably good time in the session. Azhar Ali, on 82, and Rizwan take them to the break. This partnership has been worth 83 so far. A partnership between a Number 3 batsman and a wicketkeeper batsman has already had a big say in this match, can this pair also do the same for Pakistan? At Tea, Pakistan are 158/5 after 60 overs, trailing by 425 runs.
Azhar Ali keeps the runs flowing without seeming to take any undue risks. Sweeps hard against Bess for a four. Woakes defended for five balls and then as the bowler strays too full, Azhar opens the face of his bat and steers the ball to third man for four. The last few minutes of the second session coming up. PAK 158/5 after 59
Woakes gets a big shout for LBW with the one that comes back into Azhar Ali's pads. Michael Gough says No. England do not have any Reviews remaining, of course, having splurged on them in the morning. Would be bit of a bad call to question umpire Gough on his calls now though. Has been the only umpire in the last 2 years to have a DRS accuracy rate over 90%. Bess brought back into the attack as well. PAK 143/5 after 56
Weather Update: The dark clouds of the morning have cleared. Bright sunshine and blue skies the order of the day, though some dark clouds are hovering on the periphery.