Watch: England’s plan to Mohammad Rizwan worked to perfection on the third day of the Test match at Rawalpindi, as James Anderson enticed him into chipping the ball to the fielder on to give England’s veteran seamer his first ever wicket in Pakistan.
As the bowlers toiled on the flattest of pitches, England managed to make inroads towards the end of the day. Rizwan came in with his side 413-4, looking to attack in the final session before stumps.
Having blasted Will Jacks for four boundaries, Ben Stokes decided a different approach would be more profitable to the dangerous wicketkeeper-batter, and opted to bring back his premier seam bowler to try and make the breakthrough. Anderson opted to go round the wicket and draw Rizwan into playing into the on-side against the trajectory of the ball. Stokes positioned himself at mid-wicket to take the catch if Rizwan was unable to keep the ball on the ground.
The plan worked almost immediately, with Anderson in his second over in the spell. Bowling a full delivery from the angle wide of the crease, Rizwan looked to work through the mid-wicket region, attempting to beat the fielder and pick up a boundary.
He was unable to keep the ball along the floor, however, and ended up chipping to Stokes, who took a good catch low to the ground.
It was Anderson’s first Test wicket on Pakistan soil, having toured with England before international cricket’s hiatus from the country, but only playing ODI matches. It was also a reward for Anderson, who bowled 20 overs in the day economically, finally picking up a wicket for his efforts.
Pakistan lost a further wicket before the close of play to finish on 499-7, still 158-runs behind.
Watch Anderson outfox Rizwan below:
Test wickets for James Anderson in:
England – 429
Australia – 68
West Indies – 36
South Africa – 34
India – 34
New Zealand – 26
UAE – 22
Sri Lanka – 18
PAKISTAN – 1#PAKvENG pic.twitter.com/E6HXpDJ5fi— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 3, 2022
