England Coach Chris Silverwood 'Frustrated' As Pakistan Ends Day 1 On High

England coach Chris Silverwood was frustrated with the bowling performance of his side in the first Test against Pakistan at the Old Trafford in Manchester. England headed into the dressing room at lunch with the scoreboard for Pakistan reading 53 for two. However, following a good start, England bowlers failed to pick up wickets as Shan Masood and Babar Azam dominated the day.

When the umpires called it a day, Pakistan were at 139/2 as they had ran all over the English bowlers in a rain-interrupted day. Silverwood feels that the morning session showed what England are capable of. However, after lunch England failed to maintain their standard as they weren’t as good.

“The morning session we bowled very well and showed what we are capable of,” Silverwood told reporters at the close. “The session after lunch we came out and weren’t as good as we should have been.

“We just weren’t on the money, the standards we set ourselves in the first session weren’t there to be brutally honest.

“The boys have talked about it, there were too many easy balls to hit. We will address that.”

Babar Azam and Shan Masood have stitched together an unbeaten partnership of 96 runs for the third wicket as they kept the Englishmen at bay. Azam, who paced up his innings perfectly, is unbeaten on 69 while Shan Masood (46 not out) is inching closer to his half-century.

It is the second Test series for England, after cricket returned following a 117-day hiatus due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

England got their campaign underway after a 2-1 triumph over the West Indies in the last Wisden Trophy. The hosts lost their series opener in Southampton after coming back strongly to beat the Jason Holder-led side in the last two Tests.