Pakistan were denied an early chance to take the wicket of Zak Crawley due to a DRS malfunction, being unable to review a close lbw shout early on the opening day of the first Pakistan-England Test.
England won the toss and elected to bat first for the first time in the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era, and raced off to a fast start on a batting-friendly pitch. However, they perhaps had a little luck early on, with Crawley saved from a nervous wait during a review by a technological glitch.
Crawley was the instigator of England’s rapid beginning, shaking off a summer of struggle by notching 14 runs off his first five balls, the most England have scored in the first over of a Test innings this century. He hit three boundaries and a two in four balls off Naseem Shah, but it was the same bowler who almost had his wicket.
In the third over of the contest, Naseem managed to beat a Crawley push on the inside-edge, striking him on the pads not far from the stumps. A vociferous appeal followed, but the umpire was unmoved, and captain Babar Azam looked nonplussed, clearly aware that DRS was down and that he would be unable to go upstairs.
“DRS has got the virus as well,” quipped David Gower, referring to the bug which has swept through the England camp, threatening the opening day of the Test match.
On the topic of whether the decision would have been overturned, there was debate in the commentary box. Waqar Younis felt it was “close”, but Nasser Hussain thought “height” would be the issue. “Probably at best a bail trimmer,” was his conclusion.
It is not yet known why DRS was unavailable, but it was finally reinstated by the 20th over of England’s innings.
