ENGLAND will still probably lose this First Test but at least Jos Buttler and Dominic Bess have salvaged a veneer of respectability.
They produced a priceless and highly competent seventh-wicket partnership of 125 that erased the prospect of England being thrashed by an innings inside three days.
After the miserable way England played for most of the first three days of this international summer, we should be grateful for small mercies.
The recalled Buttler and the debutant Bess came together at 110-6 after England’s top-order crumbled ineptly against Pakistan’s superb attack. They have more than doubled the score.
Buttler displayed prudence without sacrificing the aggression for which he was chosen for his Test appearance since 2016. Bess made a maiden Test fifty in his first-ever match at Lord’s.
Bess even cover drove the final ball of the third day from Mohammad Amir to the boundary.
England now lead by 56 so it is conceivable they could force a remarkable victory – especially as Pakistan batsman Babar Azam has a broken arm.
Until their liaison, England’s supposed new era was on the brink of crumbling into a pile of rubbish and ruin. Joe Root’s team were appalling while Pakistan had been absolutely brilliant.
With the sun out, it was meant to be a batting day. But Pakistan swept aside England’s top-order with some tremendous and varied bowling.
To lose away is one thing – and, my word, England did it in spades with five defeats in seven Tests during the winter – but to lose at home would mean crisis time.
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Pakistan were meant to be an ill-disciplined bunch of novices who had no chance against the experienced might of England in home conditions.
Well, they have outplayed England in this match. And their strategy and thinking has been better, too.
From the moment Joe Root attempted to make some sort of statement on Thursday by choosing to bat on a bowler-friendly track, most things have gone wrong.
On day three, faced with a first innings deficit of 179 runs, Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan failed once more and there are serious queries over their Test futures, especially that of Stoneman.
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The question will continue to ring out – why have England become so poor at Test cricket? Is it skewed selection, uninspired coaching, the impact of Twenty20 or just a lack of international-standard players?
There was much for new chief selector Ed Smith to ponder as he looked down from an executive box.
Alastair Cook was lbw for one to Mohammad Abbas, a skilled seamer with the ability to nip the new ball both ways, and then the hapless Stoneman went back to one from leggie Shadab Khan that kept low and was bowled.
For Stoneman, nicknamed Rocky, it was another Rocky Horror Show. He has failed to reach 30 in nine innings this season for Surrey or England.
He will almost certainly get another chance in the Second Test at Headingley on Friday but he is discovering that Test cricket is a tough gig. Whether it is the pace of Australia or the swing and seam of New Zealand and Pakistan, Stoneman has never faced such relentlessly good bowling in county cricket.
Malan was struck so hard on the head by a Hasan Ali bouncer than the stem guard of his helmet fell only inches away from the stumps.
The Middlesex left-hander then fell to a fine, diving catch behind and, two balls later, Amir produced a screamer that moved up the slope and ripped through Jonny Bairstow’s defence.
Then Ben Stokes pulled a long hop from Shadab to mid-wicket.
Root played well enough and dominated the scoring until he was leg before to Abbas. The captain has not turned any of his last ten Test half-centuries into three figures.
England had lost four wickets for 19 and were staring at utter humiliation.
But Bess joined Buttler and quickly batting looked more comfortable. Buttler’s power and timing means he scores freely even when he bats in first gear and he played some juicy cover drives.
Bess was a revelation. Aged just 20, and playing only because his Somerset mate Jack Leach broke his thumb earlier this month, he appeared to relish England’s chronic predicament.
His upbeat and perky pre-match interviews suggested a confident fella and he looked remarkably composed against this high-quality Pakistan attack.
But England need Buttler, Bess and the rest to find another 150 runs from somewhere today.
SHOT OF THE DAY A fine extra cover drive for four by Dominic Bess off Hasan Ali took England into the lead and avoided an innings defeat.
BALL OF THE DAY Mohammad Amir castled Jonny Bairstow with a ripper than nipped up the slope and through the batsman’s gate.
CATCH OF THE DAY Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed dived to his left and held onto a low edge offered by Dawid Malan off Amir.
TWEET OF THE DAY “Maybe Pakistan should have asked Ireland for a 3 Match series !!!!” Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan before the Buttler/Bess stand.
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