Eng vs Pak 1st Test, Day 4: Pakistan Fight Hard But Woakes-Buttler Heroics Help England Register Thrilling 3-Wicket Win, Take 1-0 Lead  

Post Tea break, the sixth-wicket partnership between Woakes & Buttler kept on hurting Pakistan. As Woakes followed Buttler with a half-century of his own, the duo soon stitched up a hundred run stand.

Photo: @ICC (Twitter)

The much-talked-about Pakistani bowling attack lived up to expectations as wickets tumbled in quick succession all through the day. But, chasing a target of 277, Jos Buttler (75 runs off 101 balls) and Chris Woakes ( 84 runs off 120 balls) spearheaded the chase brilliantly and staged a fightback to bring up a ballistic 139-run partnership to help England beat Pakistan by three wickets, take 1-0 lead on Day 4 of the first Eng vs Pak Test a Old Trafford.

At Lunch, Joe Root and Dom Sibley looked at peace as they managed to give England a decent start chasing 277 after losing opener Rory Burns for just 10 runs.

To get things underway post the Lunch-break, Joe Root started to show some class and prove his credentials by smashing Abbas for a boundary from the very first over of the second session.

Everything was going England's way as Dom Sibley and Joe Root looked solid and were playing a combination of both offensive and defensive shots against both pace and spin attack. England now needed under 200 runs with nine wickets in the bag.

However, Yasir Shah and Naseem Shah removed Sibley and captain Root, respectively, in quick succession to put Pakistan in the driver's seat.

First to depart was Sibley (36 runs off 114 balls) who couldn't resist a tossed up delivery from Yasir and decided to go for a big drive, but only edges it to Asad Shafiq at first slip.

Naseem Shah later dismissed England captain Root (42 runs off 84 balls) as the English batter edged his delivery to Babar Azam at 1st slip.

Huge wicket for the tourists.

Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/q1IXtTZFvR#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/NvqgD4f7gy — England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 8, 2020

England lost its two 'big batsmen'' in the chase and the next man to come at the crease was national hero Ben Stokes, who holds a reputation of winning matches for his team in such tense situations.

Stokes failed to deliver 'once again' and got dismissed by gloving a delivery off Yasir to the wicket-keeper. With Stokes gone for just 9, Pakistan seemed delighted and were now just four more wickets away from a historic win.

Ollie Pope showed some fightback but was dismissed soon by Shaheen Afridi for just 7 runs off 18 balls. With half of England's team back into the pavilion, Pakistan were completely dominating the hosts and looked to run through their tail.

There aren't too many ways to deal with a delivery like that, are they?#ENGvPAKpic.twitter.com/Bw1V9dAlxq

— ICC (@ICC) August 8, 2020

At Tea break, Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes helped their squad keep the fight on and bring the game back in balance by taking the attack back to Pakistan. The duo brought up the fifty partnership in quick time to keep England alive in the game.

At the end of the second session, the hosts (176/5) scored 112 runs but lost 4 wickets and needed another 101 runs to win.

Post Tea break, the sixth-wicket partnership between Woakes & Buttler kept on hurting Pakistan. Woakes notched up his fifth half-century in Tests just 2 balls before Jos Buttler's 17th fifty. As Woakes followed Buttler with a half-century of his own, the duo soon stitched up a hundred run stand to put the visiting team in a spot of bother.

Yes Woaksey ????

A brilliant knock from him! Live clips: https://t.co/L2JX7cVIZW pic.twitter.com/zkcnKyWiyU — England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 8, 2020

England were just 30 runs away from win with Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes shepherding the chase remarkably well. But, Yasir trapped Buttler (75 runs off 101 balls) for LBW to break the solid partnership.

Stuart Broad, the next man in, was promoted to No.8 to face lethal speedster Shaheen Afridi with the second new ball. Yasir dismissed Broad for 7 with hosts needing just four runs for victory. Chris Woakes (84*) smashed a boundary in the end to warp up the game and help England beat Pakistan by three wickets and take 1-0 lead.

Brief Scores: Pakistan: 326 and 169 vs England: 219 & 277/7 (Chris Woakes 84*, Jos Buttler 75; Yasir Shah 4/99)

ALSO WATCH | England vs Pakistan 1st Test, Day 3 HIGHLIGHTS

Did we give ourselves a chance with this bowling performance on Day 3? ????????????????????????????????

Full Highlights: https://t.co/wUidsGYtrn#ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/RlxC6WZnsa

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 8, 2020