Tezzbuzz Desk – In the Test match being played between England and Pakistan at Headingley ground in Leeds, the host team maintained its dominance on the second day as well. After bowling out Pakistan for just 171 runs on the first day, England batted brilliantly in their first innings and by the end of the second day's play had scored 366 runs for 8 wickets. England has got a huge lead of 195 runs over Pakistan. Vice-captain Harry Brook's stormy innings had an important contribution in this increase, although once again he missed completing a century on his home ground. When Harry Brook came to the crease, England's innings needed to accelerate. After the breakdown of the partnership between Joe Root and Jordan Cox, Brook batted cautiously in the beginning. After this, he adopted an aggressive stance in his own style and took great notice of the Pakistani bowlers. Brook completed his half-century in just 55 balls and even after this, runs continued to flow from his bat.
Seeing Brook's batting, it seemed that he would fulfill his dream of scoring a Test century for the first time at his home ground Headingley. He played a brilliant inning of 91 runs facing 93 balls. However, being just 9 runs away from the century, fast bowler Usman Ali bowled him out. In this way, Brook once again missed out on a Test century at home. Interestingly, something similar had happened to Brook against India at Headingley last year. In that match, he was out on the score of 99 runs. That is, despite coming very close to scoring a Test century on his home ground, Brook could not achieve it for the second consecutive time. This time also he was out between 90 and 100.
However, Brook's record against Pakistan is excellent. Even after this inning, he could not complete his fifth Test century against Pakistan, but his inning of 91 runs definitely put England in a strong position. Apart from Brook, Joe Root also batted brilliantly for England and scored 66 runs. Jordan Cox, playing his second Test match, played an excellent inning of 73 runs and scored the first half-century of his Test career. Dan Lawrence, who returned to the England Test team after almost two years, also played a useful inning of 51 runs.
On the other hand, Usman Ali bowled brilliantly for Pakistan. For the first time, he took five wickets in an innings of Test cricket and tried to stop the England batsmen. However, England's batting has put Pakistan in big trouble. By the end of the second day's play, England had scored 366 runs and had a lead of 195 runs. Now Pakistan will have the challenge of defeating England as quickly as possible on the third day. At the same time, England will be eyeing to increase this lead further.