Cricket
Matt Roller 4y

Stuart Broad: England 'a little bit disappointed' not to have bowled Pakistan out

England v Pakistan 2020, ICC World Test Championship, Cricket

Stuart Broad has admitted his frustrations that England are yet to bowl Pakistan out, but thinks there is enough time left in the second Test to complete a win.

Pakistan added 97 runs for the loss of four wickets on a second day truncated by rain and bad light interruptions, with Mohammad Rizwan's battling half-century taking them past the 200 mark and towards a competitive total despite treacherous batting conditions.

And Broad said that if England had been less profligate in the field and more "ruthless" as a bowling attack, they could have wrapped things up by now, rather than having a final wicket to take tomorrow.

ALSO READ: Umpire Kettleborough spoken to by anti-corruption officials over smartwatch

"I feel like if we'd taken a couple more chances and been a bit more ruthless with the ball, we could have bowled Pakistan out a bit cheaper," Broad told the BBC. "We've controlled the rate really nicely, we just need to make sure we get this wicket early tomorrow to make sure we don't undo a lot of the hard work we've done.

"We're actually a little bit disappointed that we haven't bowled Pakistan out already - we've created enough chances, and the ball has certainly done enough, but we haven't managed to hold onto those chances or strike when we needed to as a bowling attack."

But Broad maintained that England are still in "a decent position", based on recent history at the Ageas Bowl which suggests that runs are easier to score in the second and third innings of a match rather than the first.

"It has been frustrating for us - it feels like we've been in the field for a long time," he said. "But after losing the toss and getting Pakistan 200-odd for 9, we're in a decent position. When we get the next wicket, it's important we focus, and try to go past Pakistan's score to put ourselves in a winning position.

"[The ball] has done a little bit too much. We've beaten the bat a lot more than catch the edge, and a couple of the edges have gone down as well. It'll be important for us to get first-innings runs, because the pitch has a bit of dryness to it, so it will continue to seam off that dryness and potentially spin later in the game.

"We need to get this wicket as soon as possible, and we need the weather to improve. It's probably a result pitch - there's enough time left in the game for a result, but for that result to go our way, we'll have to get big first-innings runs tomorrow."

England were frustrated on the second afternoon by Rizwan's 29-run stand for the ninth wicket with Mohammad Abbas, in which they seemed unsure whether to spread the field with Rizwan on strike or attempt to get him out. Broad admitted he was uncertain how best to approach that situation, with a set batsman shepherding a tailender, and said it would be vital to "really make use" of the balls they bowl to No. 11 Naseem Shah tomorrow.

"If you keep the field in with a batsman on 60 and with a licence, then you can leak 30 or 40 runs really quickly; if you put everyone out, it's very unlikely that a batsman on 60 will just chip it to a fielder on the boundary," Broad said. "It's a really tough tactical decision.

"It's a tricky one, but there was enough in that pitch to feel you'd want to keep two or three slips. You just need to really make use of your two or three balls at the No. 10 and 11, and make those count."

^ Back to Top ^