Pakistan and England are competing in the second Test of the three-match series at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. Pakistan would wish to win this match in order to keep the series alive as the hosts have already won the series opener.

Coming back to the match, the visitors have won the toss and opted to bat first. But they started really bad as England’s all-time great James Anderson drew the first blood in his second over. He trapped opener Shan Masood in front and sent him back to the pavilion for just 1 run.

The English bowlers kept things tight and didn’t give any opportunity to Pakistan batters to score runs freely. In fact, pacers did produce some magic to dismiss opener Abid Ali, but, the hosts’ slip cordon made blunders.

During the fourth over of Pakistan’s first innings, speedster Stuart Broad invited Abid for a drive and got a healthy edge. The ball flew to Dom Sibley’s left and then burst out of his fingers.

Later, in the 14th over, English all-rounder Chris Woakes bowled a back of a length delivery outside off stump. Abid tried to jab the ball, it carried a thick outside edge which went straight to second slip where Rory Burns dropped the catch.

Not only Abid, fortune also blessed Pakistan captain Azhar Ali. It all happened in the 12th over of the innings when Woakes bowled a nip-backer and Azhar played all round it. He got beaten on the inside edge and the ball struck on his back thigh. Seconds later, the ball rolled back and kissed the stumps, but the bails remained unmoved, and Azhar survived.

Here is the video:

SO CLOSE!

Woakes into the attack and he hits the stumps second ball – but the bails stay on!

Azhar Ali survives and Pakistan are 30-1. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇵🇰🏏

📺 Watch #ENGvPAK live 👉 http://t.co/D3EtetFIZ3
📱 Blog 👉 http://t.co/0W0vbKO04J pic.twitter.com/XF8hp0eBoq

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 13, 2020

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

England’s tour of Sri Lanka has been postponed with immediate effect in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.

The English cricket team was supposed to begin their Test series next week, but after World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 as a pandemic, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to fly their players and staff back to home.

The ECB stated in this regard and said, “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic worsening globally, and after discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket, we have today decided to return our players to the UK and postpone the forthcoming Test series between Sri Lanka and England.”

ECB said that their current focus is to make sure that their players are physically as well as mentally perfectly alright.

“At this time, the physical and mental wellbeing of our players and support teams is paramount. We will now look to bring them home to their families as soon as possible. These are completely unprecedented times, and decisions like this go beyond cricket,” the statement read.

“We would like to thank our colleagues at Sri Lanka Cricket for their outstanding support and assistance throughout this situation. We look forward to returning to Sri Lanka in the very near future to fulfill this important Test series,” ECB’s statement read further.

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

England captain Joe Root, recently announced that during their upcoming tour to Sri Lanka, the English players wouldn’t be shaking hands in a bid to avoid the coronavirus threat. Root said instead of shaking hands, players would greet each other with fist bumps �?a gesture of greeting or affirmation in which two people lightly tap each other’s clenched fist.

“We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we’ve been given in our immunity packs,” said Root.

However, England’s speedster Stuart Broad didn’t miss a chance to troll his skipper over his recent comments while being on the flight to Sri Lanka.

Broad posted a 2 seconds video on Twitter, in which he can be seen filming a news story, which was about Root’s instructions to the England team. After filming the story, Broad moved the camera towards Root, who was sitting behind him.

The Nottingham-born then hilariously offered Root his hands to shake, and the latter didn’t look impressed at all.

🤝 @root66 pic.twitter.com/ZlOm7OcGS1

— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) March 3, 2020

England’s tour to Sri Lanka begins from March 07, where they will first play two practice games, followed by the two-match Tests series, which will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.

England skipper Joe Root has clarified that his players will not be shaking hands on their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka in a bid to avoid the coronavirus threat.

The English player expressed instead of shaking hands, players will greet each other with fist bumps – a gesture of greeting or affirmation in which two people lightly tap each other’s clenched fist.

Recently, when England toured South Africa, their players were hit by a series of gastroenteritis and flu problems.

“After the illnesses that swept through the squad in South Africa, we are well aware of the importance of keeping contact to a minimum, and we’ve been given some really sound and sensible advice from our medical team to help prevent spreading germs and bacteria,” said Root as quoted by HT.

“We are not shaking hands with each other, using instead the well-established fist bump, and we are washing hands regularly and wiping down surfaces using the anti-bacterial wipes and gels we’ve been given in our immunity packs.”

On tour to Sri Lanka, which begins from March 07, England will first play two practice games, followed by the two-match Tests series, which will be a part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC).

Root claimed that due to these preparations with respect to avoiding viruses, the Sri Lanka tour wouldn’t be affected at all.

“There is no suggestion that the tour will be affected, but of course, it is an evolving situation, so we are in regular contact with the authorities and will proceed as advised, but at this stage we fully expect the tour to continue as planned.”

Last time England toured Sri Lanka in 2018 when the English team won the three-match Test series 3-0. However, Root is expecting a harder challenge this time.

“The conditions will be a bit different with the time of year we are going this time. The three games we played out there last time were all very close with less than 60 runs between the teams in the last two Tests. It was an exceptional performance last time, and I think we can take a lot of confidence from that in terms of how to play out there.”

Not only Root but also the former Indian captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is also concerned about the deadly disease. As per a BCCI source, Ganguly will not attend the upcoming Asian Cricket Council (ACC) meeting in Dubai, scheduled for March 3, due to the coronavirus threat.

According to media reports, in the last few days, around 730 cases of coronavirus were reported in the UAE, which created panic among travelers and locals.

For latest cricket news & updates, visit betvisa68.com.