England vs Pakistan Live Score, 3rd Test, Day 1: Maiden Test ton for Zak Crawley

Drives the ball on the up for a single and with that, Zak Crawley brings up his maiden Test hundred for England. Gets there off 170 balls. There aren’t too many in the stadium but this is one sweet memory he will always cherish. What a moment for the 22-year-old.

England reach 184/4 (Zak Crawley 97*; Yasir Shah 2/60) at the tea interval on Day 1 against Pakistan. Crawley will be three shy of a maiden Test century when play resumes in approximately 20 minutes.

In between overs, there was a long conversation including the two on-field umpires, Yasir Shah and Pakistan captain Azhar Ali. The commentators mentioned that maybe Yasir had something to do with saliva but there’s been no evidence of it so far. Meanwhile, Zak Crawley has entered the 90s. With 10 minutes to go for tea, can he get there before the interval?

He’s been a little under the pump for his performances of late but today Jos Buttler is looking as confident as he did during last year’s World Cup final. He’s faced 30 balls for 20 runs - 16 of which have come in boundaries. He’s looking assured in his footwork against Yasir Shah. Could be and Crawley bring England back from this spot?

Teenage pacer Naseem Shah was on Friday included in Pakistan’s 17-member squad announced for the three T20Is against England beginning on August 28. The 17-year-old, who has played six Tests so far, is yet to make his white-ball debut for Pakistan. Besides Naseem, Pakistan also included 19-year-old batsman Haider Ali, who performed well in the U-19 side, first class cricket and Pakistan Super League.

WOW! What a delivery that is from the young Yasir Shah. Takes off out of nowhere and castles Ollie Pope’s stumps. Gets a little late to bring the bat down in time and TIMBER! England 127/4 and Pakistan have stormed back in this match post lunch.

OUT! Naseem Shah squares up Joe Root, who is out caught behind for 29. Pitches on good length and moves away. Root’s legs are rooted to the crease and he offers a healthy edge to Mohammad Rizwan behind the wicket. Good, timely strike for Pakistan. England dealt a blow early in the second session. They are 114/3.

England captain Joe Root has helped himself with a couple of quick boundaries post lunch. He placed Naseem Shah at the vacant third-man region before pouncing on to a short and wide ball from Yasir Shah. The 100 is up for England for the loss of two wickets.

And we’re back with the second session of the day. Still nothing to worry about as far as the weather is concerned. The sky is clear and we are set for the post-lunch session on the opening day. Mohammad Abbas to start proceedings and on strike will be England skipper Joe Root.

After being stranded on 49 for almost five overs, Crawley completed his half-century off the final ball of the session. A fuller ball from Afridi and Crawley drove it down the ground for four. England would close this session at 91/2 and would be happy with their progress. We’ll resume in approximately 40 minutes from now.

Out! Pakistan have struck with a timely blow here. The partnership between Sibley and Crawley had reached 71 when the dangerous-looking stand was broken. Sibley went down the wicket to charge Shah but missed the ball altogether as it rapped him on the pads. The batsman went upstairs but the review couldn’t save him. England 73/2

This has been excellent batting from Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley to bring up England’s fifty. Their partnership is beginning to look promising and even though Pakistan have introduced Naseem Shah in the attack, the pair has seen him off effectively. Eight boundaries already in the first hour of play

It hasn’t taken Pakistan long to bring on Yasir Shah. Just 10 overs bowled but England batsmen haven’t found it too tough to score runs. The first 10 overs brought 33 runs with Sibley and Crawley aiming to play themselves in.

Zak Crawley is off the mark with a first-ball boundary and added a second four two balls later off Shaheen Afridi. A few plays and misses as Afridi and Abbas try and mount pressure. Excellent content between bat and ball.

Edged and taken. Afridi strikes to remove Burns. There was an umpire review for a clean catch in the slip cordon where Masood took the catch. The soft signal was out and in the replay, it looked pretty clean. England 12/1.

England off the mark, just off the third ball of the innings as Rory Burns opens the face of the bat to glide the ball wide of third man boundary. First four of the innings and England are off the mark.

Joe Root: We are going to bat first. It looks a bit dry than thep previous wicket. It’s strange conditions, the winds are quite strong. Hopefully, we can knuckle down and get off to a good start. One change, Sam Curran misses out for Jofra Archer is in. We just want him (Archer) to bowl fast. We don’t know when our next game of Test cricket is going to be, so want to make the most of it here.

Azhar Ali: We would’ve loved to bat first, looks like a very good wicket. But toss is not in our control. We will try to pick up early wickets and utilize the conditions. We are playing with the same side. It’s the last Test and important one for us. We are fresh and we will look to give everything. Every batsman likes to score runs and I would want to finish off on a high. It’s difficult that we can’t go out, but we are happy to be playing cricket.

England (Playing XI): Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root(c), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, Dominic Bess, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

Pakistan (Playing XI): Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali(c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

Joe Root wins the toss and he’s opted to bat. Jofra Archer was seen warming up and he’s been included in the side in place of Sam Curran. This means England will bowl with Anderson, Broad and Archer. Pakistan batsmen better watch out.

The toss has been officially delayed due to the weather.

Toss is about to take place and there is some bad news. It has started raining at the Ageas Bowl. Azhar Ali and Joe Root are waiting for the umpires.

“Ben Stokes is a big name in cricket right now. He is one of the world’s best allrounders, and he’s performed several times for his country. Before the game, we watched videos and analysed how best to disrupt him. So we went round the wicket straightaway,” Abbas told Pakistan Cricket Board.

Stuart Broad has been given a framed silver stump for taking 500 Test wickets for England. Players from the home side will wear black armbands as a mark of respect for Dan Lawrence’s mother, who died earlier this month.

‘Following positive discussions with the England & Wales Cricket Board, (ECB) the International Cricket Council (ICC), led by Match Referee Chris Broad and various stakeholders including broadcast partners, the ECB and the ICC have agreed to revised start times ahead of the #raisethebat third Test starting on Friday at the Ageas Bowl. The flexible approach will enable the prospect of making up time for inclement weather during the morning session of subsequent days rather than at the end of the day,’ ECB said in a statement.

It looks like Jofra Archer has been drafted back into the squad. It is likely that pacer Mark Wood will miss out.

The pitch is dry and the weather is much better than the last Test. However, there is a lot of wind flowing around the stadium.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Day 1 of England vs Pakistan 3rd Test match at Rose Bowl Cricket Ground in Southampton.