Jofra Archer New Zealand
Jofra Archer. Credit: Getty Images

England and Pakistan got the month-long series underway with the first Test at the Old Trafford in Manchester. Opting to bat, Pakistan lost Abid Ali and captain Azhar Ali in the first session of play to Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes respectively. However, from their on Shan Masood and Babar Azam held the fort to help Pakistan reach 121/2 before rain interrupted the play.

Abid Ali was the first wicket to fall in the day. He was batting on 16 off 37 deliveries when Jofra Archer stunned him with a jaffa, angling into the stumps. The right-handed batsman failed to pick up his length correctly after it hit the deck and went on to hit the stumps. The England Cricket board well documented the video of the dismissal and shared it on their twitter account, with a caption, saying, “An absolute beauty from @JofraArcher”.

Ali had found the boundary twice in his 37-ball innings. Meanwhile, at the time of writing, play resumed after a short interruption with Babar Azam batting on 52 and Sgan Masood (45) nearing his half-century.

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England have been on song since cricket returned to international stage following the hiatus due to the epidemic. They beat the West Indies in the Test series and then sealed the ODIs against Ireland. This is their third series at home and the trot and the hosts will be eager to maintain a clean slate.