Rain delay frustrates England in second Test against Pakistan

Rain delays play on the second day of the second Test cricket match between England and Pakistan at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds northern England on Saturday Lindsey PARNABY AFPRain delayed the scheduled 1100am local time 1000 GMT start of the second days play in the second Test between England and Pakistan at Headingley on Saturday Persistent early morning drizzle saw the pitch and surrounding square remain fully covered with the rain that was falling steadily from grey skies above Leeds not showing much sign of stopping anytime soonEngland looking to bounce back from their ninewicket thrashing in the first Test at Lords and end the twomatch series all square at 11 ended the opening day just 68 runs behind Pakistans lowly firstinnings 174 Joe Root the England captain was 29 not out on his Yorkshire home ground with nightwatchman Dominic Bess unbeaten on noughtPakistan only need to avoid defeat at Headingley to seal a first series win in England for 22 years So any rain delays which would reduce the amount of time available to England to win the game were likely to be a boost to the tourists Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and decided to bat on a good pitch but humid and overcast conditions created an environment that assisted swing and seam bowlingEngland bowling a fuller length than at Lords with pacemen Stuart Broad James Anderson and the recalled Chris Woakes all taking three wickets apiece in an innings where Pakistan were indebted to teenager Shadab Khans 56 the 19yearolds third fifty in as many TestsEngland were without Ben Stokes after the allrounder suffered a hamstring tear that threatens to keep him on the sidelines for at least a month Keaton Jennings who replaced the dropped Mark Stoneman in one of three changes to Englands XI shared an opening stand of 53 with Alastair Cook before he was caught behind off Faheem AshrafCook appearing in a recordbreaking 154th consecutive Test as he went past the mark he had previously shared with Australia great Allan Border made 46 Englands alltime leading Test runscorer did not look in any trouble until shortly before Fridays close he gloved a hook off fast bowler Hasan Ali to wicketkeeper SarfrazDefeat for England would see them slip to an 18year low of seventh in the International Cricket Councils Test rankingsEngland have not been so far down the standings since being ranked seventh in October 1999 They started that year fourth but a team led by Nasser Hussain won just one of eight Tests during the next 12 months before the appointment of former Zimbabwe allrounder Duncan Fletcher as coach led to an upturn in Englands fortunesNow England who have lost six of their last eight Tests are battling to avoid a third straight series loss following recent reverses in Australia and New Zealand Defeat in Leeds and a 20 series result would see England drop 93 ranking points In that case the would be overtaken by Pakistan who will rise to 95 as well as Sri Lanka 94Also Read England Claim All 10 Wickets To Restrict Pakistan For 174Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever