England close on series-levelling win against Pakistan

FE Team | Published: June 03, 2018 21:30:45

Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq touching the crease on the third day of the second Test match against England at Headingley cricket ground at Leeds in northern England on Sunday — AFP

LEEDS, United Kingdom, June 03 (AFP): Jos Buttler struck a blistering 80 not out before James Anderson took two wickets as England closed on a series-levelling win against Pakistan in the second Test at Headingley on Sunday.
Pakistan were 48 for three in their second innings at lunch on the third day, still 141 runs behind England's first-innings 363.
Imam-ul-Haq was 16 not out and Test debutant Usman Salahuddin two not out after the tourists thrashed England by nine wickets in the first match of this two-Test contest at Lord's.
England resumed on 302 for seven, a lead of 128 runs, with Buttler 44 not out and Sam Curran, unbeaten on 16. Curran, however, was out for 20 on his 20th birthday when he was well caught low down at second slip by Shafiq off Mohammad Abbas.
At this stage, no batsman in the innings had scored a fifty, although Dominic Bess had made a commendable 49 in his role as nightwatchman.
Buttler, dropped on just four on Saturday when Hasan Ali failed to hold a straightforward chance at midwicket, soon altered that statistic.