Pakistan vs England: James Anderson and Stuart Broad dominate as England bowl out Pakistan on entertaining first day

Pakistan 234 England 4-0

James Anderson celebrates with Joe Root after dismissing Misbah-ul-Haq (Getty Images)

So much for Cecil Rhodes. England lost the toss for the 500th time in Test matches yesterday. The incorrigible imperialist may not necessarily have had cricket in mind when he delivered his dictum that to be born an Englishman is to win first prize in the lottery of life.

Much, too much, is made of making the right call in the little ceremony which begins all cricket matches but if ever Alastair Cook needed the coin to roll, or perhaps turn given the nature of the surface, the right way and give thanks to Cec, it was at the start of the third Test against Pakistan.

Instead, he called incorrectly for the third time in this series and the number of Test toss wins by England remained resolutely at 468 – well behind in lottery of life terms. The importance of that may not be fully realised for another four days – or until today if England’s batting founders – but it had an instantly significant air of doom as Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq patted Cook consolingly on the arm.

Before the hour was out the ball was ripping off the surface and the notion of having to bat in a fourth innings seemed less welcome than running out of water in the desert. Yet by the close, a determined, persistent England had achieved some kind of parity by bowling out their opponents for 234 and surviving intact for the two overs remaining.

It is still a dangerous total, to which Pakistan were expertly marshalled by Misbah, who, as if pre-ordained, made his fourth score above 50 in his five innings of the series so far. England, however, had every right to be delighted with their efforts.

They picked three spinners – the classic blend of one each of leg break, off break and slow left arm. Neither is the finished article since Moeen Ali remains a part-timer with aspirations, albeit with an enviable strike rate, Adil Rashid is playing only his third Test and Samit Patel his sixth, his first in three years.

Moeen Ali celebrates with his England team-mates after taking the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez (Getty Images)

All did a quota of work, with a lot more presumably to come, and Patel, as the third-choice spinner, perhaps surprisingly did the bulk of it. He approached it with an old hand’s wiliness until Misbah decided to take him on in what proved to be his last over.

But the real bowling of the day, which fuelled England’s ambitions to level a series in which they have competed ferociously, was done by the familiar partnership of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.

This was the 56th time in which they shared the new ball in a Test match, out on their own now as the most durable opening pair from any country, and they were both stupendous.

Between them, on a turning pitch, they bowled 28.1 overs for 30 runs and took six wickets, four for Anderson, two for Broad. At one time Broad had bowled eight overs for one run, which came off his eighth ball, a short one that in the context of everything else was woefully straight and was turned imperiously off his hips by Mohammad Hafeez.

Ben Stokes goes off the field with a shoulder injury (Getty Images)

The pair of them were simply grand. Their support act, Ben Stokes, was not half bad either, concentrating furiously until the worrying injury to his shoulder in the evening.

Anderson, one of the best swing bowlers of all time, was trying cutters and spinners and reverse swingers from various angles over and round the wicket. Broad changed his pace quite marvellously and adhered to a rigid line outside off stump. The batsmen did not dare try anything for fear of being made to look fools.

“It’s a patience game,” said Broad. “When the ball is not particularly seaming or swinging your job as a seamer is to create pressure. The three of us talked before we went out about the more maidens we could bowl and get two wickets quickly – bang, bang we call it – you’re really in the game. That was our aim.

“It’s hard work as a seam bowler here but it’s rewarding because you get wickets using different skills.

“Generally, in England you can stand the seam up straight, hit a good area and cause some trouble whereas here there’s a bit of reverse swing, leg cutters and so on.,” Broad added.

“You need experience, different skills. It’s always a good test for cricketers to come and play in different conditions – but I prefer bowling at Trent Bridge.”

England had the start they needed when Anderson produced a pearler to the recalled Azhar Ali in his second over, making use of the hard ball while he could.

It moved away a mere fraction and Azhar edged it to bring quickly into the game Jonny Bairstow, keeping wicket in a Test for the first time since the ill-fated match at Sydney almost two years. The constant probing of England yielded regular, unexpected dividends. Perhaps it needed to as the ball turned from the start.

Before lunch, Pakistan lost Hafeez, daftly slogging Moeen to cow corner. Immediately after it, Shoaib Malik, double centurion of the first match, momentarily lost his patience against Broad and edged behind.

It was up to the old hands, Misbah and Younis Khan. But just as they looked as they might pull Pakistan to security, Younis was lbw to a low reverse swinging full toss, the first ball of a new spell from Anderson. Perhaps the five consecutive maidens from Broad that preceded it wore down the batsman.

For a worrying while after Patel took his first wicket, a beauty which Asad Shafiq edged, Pakistan counter-attacked. Sarfraz Ahmed, their jaunty wicketkeeper invariably gives it a clout but his demise with Pakistan on 196 provoked the end.

It also prompted the thought that Pakistan’s weak tail may yet prove costly in this match. No lottery here, but much work for England to do to draw level.