Journalism of Courage
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq hit a century in his maiden test appearance at Lord's and spearheaded Pakistan to 282-6 against England on the opening day of the first Test on Thursday.
The 42-year-old Misbah overshadowed the return of fast bowler Mohammad Amir to international cricket after a five-year ban for spot-fixing on the same ground, by smashing 18 fours in his unbeaten 110 off 179 balls after he won the toss and opted to bat first. He did 10 push-ups after reaching the three-figure mark.
Asad Shafiq made a compact 73 with a dozen fours, and put on 148 runs with his skipper before falling to England's best of the four-pronged pace bowlers, Chris Woakes (4-45).
England bowlers got little support from their fielders, who grassed two chances, notably Joe Root's low miss in the slips when Misbah was on 16.
Misbah and Shafiq led Pakistan's recovery from 134-4 on a slow pitch before Woakes claimed two late wickets with the second new ball.
Misbah started off in his usual snail-paced style, but once he settled he made scoring look easy on a wicket which had little for the bowlers. He went after Moeen Ali's bowling by smashing the offspinner for four boundaries in one over, which included two reverse swept boundaries. Shafiq also matched Misbah with some exquisite cuts and drives before Woakes found the edge as Shafiq tried to take his bat away from a delivery outside the off stump.
Misbah brought up his ton off 154 balls. After he ran the single, becoming the third oldest man to achieve a century at Lord's, he saluted his teammates and did 10 pushups to show he was still young at heart. It was his 10th test century.
Woakes earlier provided the twin breakthrough when he removed opening batsmen Mohammad Hafeez (40), who was dropped on 11 by James Vince, and Shan Masood in the first session as Pakistan progressed to 76-2.
Azhar Ali, who hit two centuries in the preceding warmup matches, could score only 7 and was yorked leg before wicket by debutant Jake Ball, while Younis Khan (33) looked settled for a big knock before recklessly driving Stuart Broad to midwicket. But, thereafter, England struggled to get the breakthrough as Misbah and Shafiq batted resolutely and made the most of the favorable batting conditions.
