Welcome back to the post lunch session on Day 1 in Manchester. Shan Masood 27* and Babar Azam 4* are at teh crease to resume Pakistan innings. Stuart Broad will start the proceedings for England in the second session. PAK 53/2
Lunch report, Day 1: Captain Azhar Ali was out for a duck as Pakistan limped to 53 for two under floodlights and heavy skies at lunch on Day one of the first Test against England in Manchester. Ali was trapped in front by Chris Woakes as the hosts kept a disciplined line and length after being asked to field first at Old Trafford. Opener Shan Masood (27*) and Babar Azam (4*) were at the crease, seeking to put some pressure back on the home bowlers, who beat the bat with regularity.Fast bowler Jofra Archer claimed the first scalp, bowling Abid Ali (16) with a superb delivery that nipped back at the opener, who pushed halfway forward. Earlier, England have named an unchanged side from the one that defeated West Indies by 269 runs last week, though key all-rounder Ben Stokes is unlikely to be used much with the ball due to a quad injury. Pakistan have gone in the match with three seam bowlers and a couple of spinners.

Lunch, Day 1!
End of 25th over:A brilliant session comes to an end with England slightly ahead of the visitors. Shan Masood (27*) and Babar Azam (4*) remain unbeaten on respectively. PAK 53/2
50 up for Pakistan!
Single off the last ball and Pakistan raise their fifty after 23 overs. They are at a precarious position with two wickets down after getting off to a solid start. Shan Masood is batting is batting on 27 alongside Babar Azam, who has just opened his scoring with that single. PAK 50/2
End of 22nd over: Maiden! Another tight over from Jofra Archer comes to an end. Both Babar Azam (0*) and Shan Masood (26*) looking to steady Pakistan’s wobbling ship. PAK 48/2

18.1 overs: OUT! Chris Woakes hits the front pad of Azhar Ali and the umpire has risen the finger. Ali goes for the review straightaway but it seems that he has got it wrong this time. Replays and ball-tracking confirm that there was not bat involved and the ball is hitting the stumps. Review gone wrong for Pakistan as Azhar departs for a 6-ball duck. PAK 43/2
That was quick!
A small rain break as the players are back on the field. Jofra Archer is back on his mark to finish the remaining two balls of his over. Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali will once again be up against him. PAK 36/1
Rain halts play in Manchester!
And, we have our forced break of the match just an hour after the start. The cover are coming on and the players are walking back. PAK 36/1after 15.4 overs

15.1 overs: OUT! And England have their first breakthrough as Jofra Archer castles Abid Ali. A peach of a delivery that just went through the defences of Ali. He takes a long walk back to the pavilion after scoring 16. A much-neede breakthrough finally arrives for England. PAK 36/1
End of 14th over: So, the first hour of play is done and dusted and both the Pakistan openers have played pretty well so far. Shan Masood and Abid Ali are looking solid as England have introduced all their four frontline seamers in the first half of the morning session. PAK 34/0
End of 13th over: Another tight over from Chris Woakes comes to an end. A maiden! And we have another bowling change as Jofra Archer comes in to replace Stuart Broad. PAK 32/0
End of 11th over: A probing start from Chris Woakes. Just a single from his first over. Both Abid Ali (13*) and Shan Masood (12*) looking strong and smart at the crease. Stuart Broad to continue from the other end. PAK 30/0
8.4 overs: FOUR! Outside off from James Anderson this time and Abid Ali goes after it. Gets a thick outside edge and the ball flies past the gully region for another boundary. Rory Burns went for it with a full-stretched dive to his right but fails to get a hand to it. PAK 27/0
8.3 overs: FOUR! On the pads from from James Anderson and Abid Ali comfortably pushes the ball in the square-leg region to collect his first boundary of the match. PAK 23/0

End of 8th over: Maiden! Another tidy over from Stuart Broad comes to an end. Both Shan Masood and Abid Ali very carefully negotiating the crucial first hour at the crease. Both batting at 10 and 3 respectively. PAK 18/0
5.5 overs: FOUR! Outside off from Stuart Broad and Shan Masood after initially looking to leave the ball, eventually edges it. The ball runs down the gully region to the fence. PAK 13/0
End of 5th over: So, Pakistan are off to a watchful start under a cloudy Manchester skies. Both James Anderson and Stuart Broad have been pretty neat with the bowling but Shan Masood (2*) and Abid Ali (2*) too have been up to the mark. PAK 9/0
2.2 overs: FOUR! And the first boundary of the series comes in the form of leg byes. Short of a length delivery from James Anderson on the leg side. The ball hits the pads of Shan Masood and runs past the wicketkeeper Jos Buttler for a boundary. PAK 6/0
End of 2nd over: Two runs from Stuart Broad’s first over. Both the Pakistani batsmen Abid Ali and Shan Masood are off the mark now after the second over of the innings. James Anderson to continue from the other end. PAK 2/0
1.1 over: First run of the series comes from the bat of Abid Ali. Pushes a Stuart Broad delivery towards the cover region for a comfortable single. Ali gets off the mark first ball. PAK 1/0
End of 1st over: A probing start from James Anderson. A maiden first up! A cracking first over that saw movement in the air and off the pitch. Shan Masood off to a watchful start. Stuart Broad will share the new ball with Anderson from the other end.
Its cool and overcast in Manchester and James Anderson has the new cherry in hand for England. Shan Masood and Abid Ali are out in the middle for Pakistan. Three slips and a gully in place for Shan. Here we go!
Playing XI for both teams
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali(c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah

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

Toss news: Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali wins the toss and has opted to bat first in Manchester.

The Pakistan squad is all set!

Just some final touches for the Pakistan players ahead of the start of first Test at the Old Trafford in Manchester.

Hello and welcome back for the start of another Test series in a ‘bio-secure’ bubble, after England successfully hosted West Indies to mark the return of cricket from the pandemic-hit break.
Joe Root’s men won that three-match series 2-1. Up from today, is the Test assignment against Pakistan, who will get their first taste of the conditions while playing in the world that is still under the grip of coronavirus.
The hosts are sweating over the fitness of their hero against West Indies, Ben Stokes, whose bowling fitness is under the scanner; but England will definitely explore the possibility of playing the all-rounder as a specialist batsman before ruling him out.
Here’s the Match Preview:
England know another sluggish start to a Test campaign could prove costly as they go in search of a first series win over Pakistan in a decade.
Wednesday sees a three-match contest get underway with the first Test at Old Trafford. And while England can point to recent series victories over most of their rivals, their last such success against Pakistan was back in 2010.
That campaign, however, was overshadowed by a ‘spot-fixing’ scandal at Lord’s which led to bans and jail terms for then Pakistan captain Salman Butt as well as pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
England have lost the first Test in eight of their last 10 series — including during last month’s 2-1 win over the West Indies that marked international cricket’s return from the coronavirus lockdown.
It is a statistic they are all well aware of, with in-form England pacemen Chris Woakes admitting: “I’d love to be able to put my finger on it and I’m sure the management and the team would as well.
“It’s not coincidence but it’s almost, it is just a coincidence that we can keep losing that first Test match.
“But we want to put that right,” he added, with the eyes of the global cricket community set to turn to Manchester in the absence of any other major international fixtures outside of England amid the pandemic.
Both of Pakistan’s past two series in England — 2016 and 2018 — ended in draws, which should encourage the tourists this time even though they go into the first Test on the back of just a couple of intra-squad warm-up fixtures compared to their ‘match-hardened’ hosts.
“We’ve had good preparations and team bonding,” said Pakistan coach Misbah-ul-Haq on Monday.
“Still we feel there is always a slight nervousness when you just play Test cricket after a long, long time (away),” he added ahead of his side’s first Test in six months.
Misbah accepted that how his batsmen coped with James Anderson and Stuart Broad — who now both have more than 500 Test wickets each after Broad reached the landmark against the West Indies — would go a long way to determining the outcome of the series.
But the former Pakistan captain was also excited by a pace attack that includes the youthful promise of teenage rising star Naseem Shah as well as the accurate Mohammad Abbas,and towering left-armer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Naseem has impressed Pakistan fast-bowling great turned bowling Waqar Younis and Misbah so much when they saw him in action in Lahore, the coach said they had no qualms about fast-tracking a “complete bowler” into Pakistan’s side in Australia last year.
Naseem became the youngest bowler to take a Test hat-trick against Bangladesh in February and he showed a liking for English conditions with 10 wickets in the two practice matches at Derby.
“He is one who could win a Test match on his own,” said Misbah of Naseem.
Pakistan, however, could still deploy two spinners at Old Trafford in Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan.
The West Indies failed to post a single individual century in their recent series. Pakistan will hope the likes of Abid Ali, the first man to score a hundred on both Test and one-day international debut, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Babar Asam and Asad Shafiq can provide the runs they need.
Meanwhile England must decide whether to stick with four quicks in their XI after Ben Stokes couldn’t bowl in the West Indies decider because of a quad injury.
The star all-rounder was, however, reported to have bowled with good pace in the nets on Monday.