Fourth Test, Lord's (day two, close): England 346-7 v Pakistan

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Match scorecard Trott and Broad came together with England in turmoil at 102-7

By Oliver Brett

BBC Sport at Lord's

Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad each hit unbeaten centuries as England made a stirring recovery in the final Test against Pakistan to finish day two at Lord's on 346-7. Broad's 125, his maiden first-class hundred, was the best score by an England number nine as he and Trott (149) produced 244 runs for the eighth wicket, easily a record against Pakistan and only two tantalising runs short of the England record against all teams. The partnership provided an extraordinary shift in momentum after Mohammad Amir had threatened to dismiss England for under 100 on his own as he became the youngest man to 50 Test wickets. Amir, 18, removed Alastair Cook with the third ball of the day, and by the time he had also dismissed Kevin Pietersen first ball, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan - all for ducks and for the remarkable figures of 4-0 off eight balls - England were in strife at 47-5. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. As conditions improved gradually, and Amir was rested throughout the second hour of the first session, Trott and Matt Prior took England to a slightly more digestible 97-5 at lunch. But a refreshed Amir quickly removed Prior and Graeme Swann to make it 102-7, leaving Trott and Broad to begin the second recovery mission, with only James Anderson and Steven Finn to come. What they achieved was way beyond any reasonable ambitions of England supporters, especially as the cloud returned by the time the second new ball was taken after tea. But by then, Pakistan's bowlers and fielders had run out of plans, and by allowing too many free singles with defensive fields they were unable to build pressure. OLIVER BRETT'S BLOG Pietersen is rarely out of the headlines. No player can command such a reputation that he becomes undroppable

The high point came when Broad punched a delivery off the innocuous Wahab Riaz down to the Grand Stand for three, leading to a sustained standing ovation from an almost full Lord's. Even though many members preferred to watch him salute his team-mates from behind the Pavilion windows, it was a rousing reception for a player who appears to have regained confidence in his batting following a battling 48 at The Oval. Not that his efforts put Trott in the shade. The Warwickshire right-hander has been a picture of patience and consistency in an otherwise chaotic top six, whose struggles are beginning to provide serious cause for concern ahead of the Ashes. The exploits of Trott and Broad, who both passed 1,000 Test runs during their innings, made it hard to believe that England had struggled so desperately with the bat earlier in the day. Resuming on 39-1 following Thursday's rain-dominated events, theirs was a procession of wickets as Amir produced unplayable late-swing to elicit outside edges from the left-handers Cook and Morgan. Amir destroyed England in the morning session with a devastating spell In between, he also took out the worryingly out-of-form Pietersen, who played a rash flat-footed drive to his first ball and nicked behind, and then Collingwood, lbw to one that straightened off the pitch to the third ball he faced. But Amir, playing his sixth Test in seven weeks, has been struggling with stiffness and has to be carefully managed by Pakistan. With Mohammad Asif not at his best and Riaz thoroughly disappointing, the off-spinner Saeed Ajmal had an important role to play, but England played him particularly well, with Trott using good footwork and Prior sweeping confidently. Amir got Pakistan back in business with his two wickets after lunch, Prior (22) nibbling at a delivery he could have left and Swann injudiciously swiping as Azhar Ali took an excellent gully catch. But then we were treated to the Trott and Broad show, with the quicker scoring coming from the new arrival. Broad played some fine drives off front and back foot off the seamers, while Trott just played in his usual unflustered manner, shrugging off a fortunate edge past a vacant third slip to scamper a quick single which brought up his half-century. The floodlights were on for the second half of the day but the batsmen were unperturbed, Trott coming down the wicket to negate Asif's swing, and Broad hooking Amir for six before tea was taken at 185-7. Trott clipped Asif for three boundaries in two overs to close on his century, and by the time he got there off 195 balls, Broad had reached fifty and promptly switched to full attack mode, hitting one thrilling on-drive for four off Riaz. Pakistan were counting on the second new ball to wrap up the England innings, but Amir and Asif were weary and could not get their lengths right as Broad was allowed to reach the century that will surely see him regain the number eight spot from Swann. Late in the day, Broad was dropped at slip and then successfully reviewed an lbw verdict after Tony Hill had ruled against him. Nothing went Pakistan's way and England, 2-1 up in the series, were in the driving seat at the close, with Trott and Broad poised to overtake Les Ames and Gubby Allen's 1931 record eighth-wicket stand of 246 on Friday.



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