England vs Pakistan – England collapse to 97 for five
Published:England started this morning 39/1, hoping for a decent start on the second day after the loss of Andrew Strauss in horrible conditions on Thursday.
That hope lasted three balls when Alastair Cook, who’s Test spot is seriously under threat, edged one to third slip off the bowling of Mohammad Amir.
Amir was described as “outstanding” by Michael Vaughan in the lunchtime commentary and it’s easy to see why after the 18-year-old took four wickets in the space of eight balls – dismissing Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan all for ducks.
Tough batting conditions were expected, but Amir has been the pick of the Pakistani bowlers and his antics have cut Pakistan’s odds for victory from 4/1 into 13/8.
The Lord’s crowd will be stunned by England’s demise from 39/1 to 47/5 in the space of 20 minutes, but the arrival of Matt Prior has shored up the England innings with help from Jonathan Trott.
Trott and Prior are fighting it out to be England’s top scorer of the series and Trott is looking comfortable on 41, whilst Prior, who was eight runs behind Trott coming into the Test, is on 21.
The afternoon session will prove crucial in England’s attempts to win the series and if Trott and Prior can steer England towards a 200 target then all hope will not be lost as they now look to salvage this match.
England have batted themselves into a predicament and are 6/4 for the victory. See the full England vs Pakistan fourth Test in-play betting market here.
