Cricket
Melinda Farrell at Old Trafford 8y

Wahab roars and a Babar in arms

Cricket, Pakistan tour of England and Irela

The header
Pakistan's fielding has been the subject of some derision throughout the tour but no one could accuse Imad Wasim of failing to put his body - or, rather, his head - on the line. After the bowling the first over, Imad was fielding at cover when Alex Hales smashed a short ball from Sohail Tanvir to his left. After committing to the dive, Imad was foiled by an awkward bounce and copped a nasty blow to the side of his head. He soon left the field for treatment but, luckily for Pakistan, he recovered and returned to immediately claim the wicket of Jason Roy.

The thunderbolt
He may, at times, be inconsistent but when his dander is up Wahab Riaz is undoubtedly a bowler of great spells. With only 24 deliveries to send down he built up a head of steam and bowled with ferocity and blinding pace. Four times during the 14th over he topped 93mph, but he only needed the first one to produce a vital breakthrough. Jos Buttler did well to just connect with a short and wide delivery that was clocked at a whopping 96.4mph but, in doing so, sliced the ball straight to deep point and into the waiting grasp of substitute fielder, Amad Butt.

The carry
In the final over of England's innings, Moeen Ali attempted to hoick Wahab over cover. In turning to run back for the catch, Babar Azam appeared to twist his ankle and dropped to the ground in obvious pain as the ball plopped down safely. With only two deliveries remaining, Shoaib Malik took matters quite literally into his own hands. In an impressive show of strength, Malik scooped Babar up into his arms and carted him off the field with all the speed and eagerness of a groom ferrying his bride across the threshold, impatient to get the wedding night started. Who says romance is dead?

The ringer
T20 specialist Khalid Latif was flown in especially for this match and justified the airfare in the second over, in which he belted Chris Jordan - who, before the match, had said he felt confident opening the bowling - for four boundaries. Maybe Latif had decided to save his legs after the long haul flight but Sharjeel Khan was also keen to avoid any excess running. The pair hammered ten boundaries in the opening four overs and Pakistan's first 36 runs came without the batsmen leaving their crease, much to the deafening delight of the vuvuzela wielding crowd.

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