England vs Pakistan: Home side in trouble as Mohammad Amir finally gets Alastair Cook

Mohammad Amir is grateful that second chances exist – but he would much rather his Pakistan team-mates hadn’t offered Alastair Cook one (and a third) during the second day of the first Test here at Lord’s.

At stumps England were wobbling on 253 for 7 in this tight Test match - with the captain having been the mainstay of the innings with 81, finally bowled by Amir after tea. Had he gone earlier, as he would have done if the Pakistani fielders hadn’t been doing their best England impression, and they would not just be wobbling but quite possibly flat on their backs. England still trail by 86 and they won’t want to chase too much in their fourth innings.

It would have been a different tale – and England would be sleeping even less easily - had Mohammad Hafeez or wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed gobbled up easy catches off the bowling of the returning Amir, playing his first Test since his readmission to the game following his ban for spot-fixing.

Amir’s return to the scene of his well-documented crime in 2010 was greeted with gentle applause and the odd boo but he was quickly into his stride. In is fourth over he tempted Cook, on 22, to nibble at a delivery and the captain nicked it only for Hafeez to grass the most straightforward of chances. True to cricket’s oldest traditions, the next ball went for four, Cook clipping off his pads.

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Later in the day, with Cook on 55, Amir returned to the attack, this time from the Nursery End, and the captain pushed at his first delivery only to get a thick edge through to the keeper. Sarfraz lost it – as happens at Lord’s (Jonny Bairstow dropped a clanger here against Sri Lanka this summer) - and it slapped into his wrists and up into his face.

Luckily for Pakistan, their little leg-spinner Yasir Shah was working his magic and picked up five wickets to keep the match in the balance. Shah did for England’s new No 3 Joe Root, inexplicably trying a slog-sweep over midwicket which he top-edged to Hafeez, James Vince and Gary Ballance, both for low scores, and Bairstow and Mo Ali after tea.

Root started the rot and his shot was baffling. He and Cook shared a hundred partnership – while Cook lived a charmed life, Root was batting beautifully – before his brain fade. He played one upper cut over gully off Wahab Riaz that was a delight. The ball before his fall he had swept Shah to the fine leg boundary and all seemed well.

Root’s dismissal saw England wobble from 118 for 1 to 147 for 4 when Shah also dismissed Vince and Ballance. Vince got off the mark with a signature driven four off Amir but he was pinned on the back foot by a flatter, quicker Shah delivery. It would have clipped leg England discovered during their failed review.

There was no need to review Ballance’s lbw. He pushed forward but the ball turned inside his bat and thudded into the pad in front of the stumps. Cook sent him on his way. England’s middle order is far from formidable.

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Cook finally fell to Amir after tea when he drove away from his body and a thick edge clattered into his stumps. He couldn’t say it hadn’t been coming. England were in trouble at 173 for 5.

Bairstow went on the counter-attack, as is his won’t, smacking Amir through the covers as he raced into the 20s. But he fell trying to cut a straighter one from Shah that cleaned him up for 29.

Ali played some lovely shots and looked at ease until he missed a sweep but was unlucky to be given out lbw. The review was umpires’ call on outside the line of off-stump and was only clipping leg. To lose a review for that seemed wholly unfair.

Broad, who, of course, made that amazing ton the last time Pakistan were in town, found life slightly harder as the light dipped. He was given a working over by Amir, hit on the gloves, played and missed but survived, along with the admirable Chris Woakes, to the end.

In the first hour, England made short work of the remainder of Pakistan’s batting line up taking the last four wickets for just 57 runs. Woakes was the star of the show adding two more wickets to finish with 6 for 70.

He removed the lively Sarfraz Ahmed, who had batted at a lick making 25 from 29 balls before he slapped a short wide one to Vince who took the catch. Two balls later Woakes added his sixth wicket when he bowled a ripper of an inswinger that knocked over Wahab Riaz’s poles.

It was Woakes’ first five-for in Tests, and gets his name etched on the Lord’s honour board. He feels he should already be up there - he threw his wicket away against Sri Lanka in the last Test here when on 66. He’s there now and it’s good for England that he can threaten with ball and bat.

Broad had bowled well without reward but joined the party when he took the key wicket of centurion Misbah-ul-Haq who had added only four. Broad nipped one back down the Lord’s slope and through the gate of Misbah, who was neither forward nor back, and had his stumps shattered.

Pakistan had lost three wickets for six runs in eight balls. The final pair of Amir and Shah slapped a few and shared a partnership of 23 before Broad encouraged Amir to follow one and he edged it to Root in the slips who took a sharp chance.

Amir was not to know it then but not all chances would be taken.