England, rain and bad light. The recurring theme once again played out on the 4th day of the 3rd Test against Pakistan as play was called-off pre-maturely due to bad light. That means James Anderson will have to wait for a few more hours before he becomes the first fast bowler and fourth overall in the history.
The day once again started with England fielders refusing to accept catches of the bowling of James Anderson. Anderson could have got Shan Masood for the 9th time in his career but for Jos Buttler, who dropped a regulation catch. And, the smile on the champion fast bowler’s face said it all.
Abid Ali and Shan Masood ensured that Pakistan did not lose a wicket in the morning session, as they went into Lunch at 0-41.
The Lunchbreak proved to be an extended one as torrential rains and its subsequent impact on the outfield ensured that the entire second session was washed out.
When they did come back for an extended post-Tea session, the players were greeted with glorious sunshine. England got an early breakthrough when Shan Masood, in what proved to be a fatal attempt left a Stuart Broad delivery, one that nipped in before hitting his back leg.
Abid Ali and Azhar Ali provide Pakistan solidarity before James Anderson once again proved to be the partnership breaker for England
But just as we thought that we were in for a slice of history with Anderson nearing the 600-wicket mark, bad light once again proved to be the villain as officials deemed that the light had deteriorated to such an extent that facing fast bowling was dangerous.
Ultimately, play was called off after a few overs of spin by Dom Bess and Joe Root.
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Here’s how Twitter reacted to the 4th day’s play between England and Pakistan-
🏴 STUMPS 🇵🇰
Pakistan have 8️⃣ wickets in hand with one day left to bat out 👀 #ENGvPAK SCORECARD ▶️ https://t.co/ZFClksEjKM pic.twitter.com/nBVE8of2Xe
— ICC (@ICC) August 24, 2020
5⃣9⃣9⃣!
England have got the ball reversing and it doesn't take long for Anderson to make use of it! Close again but Abid has to go, lbw for 42.
Pakistan 88-2, trail by 222.#ENGvPAK 🏴🇵🇰
📺 Watch live 👉 https://t.co/3V5xD5O02D
📱 Blog 👉 https://t.co/oUB1mQaiJm pic.twitter.com/EZNI59gm26— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 24, 2020
Brian Lara had a lot of options, but Azhar Ali made sure his TV remote remained untouched#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/TdKkGFaZkn
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) August 24, 2020
High praise for Azhar Ali from Brian Lara who says Azhar's 141 not out was one of the best captain's knock in modern cricket and that his TV remote remained untouched while watching the game. #EngvPak
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) August 24, 2020
Spoken a lot about how good Rizwan has been behind the stumps,England have dropped 11 catches this series & despite that they’re leading 1-0,shows how good their bowlers have been,taken the keeper and slips out of the equation! Stat courtesy @MazherArshad #ENGvPAK
— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) August 24, 2020
Petition for Winston Cam pls #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/gL4D4mIXiW
— Hannah (@hannah_itfc) August 24, 2020
Rain stops play
Le Pakistani fan:#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/oYsPUVURRD— Abdullah Athar (@AbdullahAliBG) August 24, 2020
James Anderson was getting better each year which is one of the most impossible jobs for fast bowlers after 32. pic.twitter.com/itxysDYSNC
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) August 24, 2020
James Anderson has had more drops off his bowling than 93% of Test cricketers have wickets https://t.co/1CM9S8TXVm
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) August 24, 2020
Come On!! 🙌
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/JVsNai1pz8#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/sX0CbZ77Yj
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 24, 2020
If not for the dropped catches, Anderson would have already had 605 wkts by now in this match. #ENGvPAK
— Udit (@udit_buch) August 24, 2020
https://twitter.com/falahtah/status/1297948320531394560?s=19
Did I imagine it? I thought they said they were going to start early to make up time? #ENGvPAK
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) August 24, 2020
Live action of play on day 4 at Southampton…#ENGvPAK #Cricket pic.twitter.com/X648KZ319C
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) August 24, 2020
“I couldn’t care less Jimmy if you’re on 599 mate, It’s Sausage, Egg, Chips and Beans tonight, I’m not missing that.” #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/OYiZDzR3c9
— Jamey Kemp (@jaykay1980) August 24, 2020
🚨 STAT ALERT 🚨
Only twice before has Azhar Ali hit more boundaries in an innings than his first innings in this match 💥
302* – 23 x 4️⃣, 2 x 6️⃣ v WI, 2016
226 – 20 x 4️⃣, 2 x 6️⃣ v Ban, 2015
141* – 21 x 4️⃣ v Eng, 2020#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/Wx4c2yy9D0— ICC (@ICC) August 24, 2020