This archive report was first published on 5 August 2020.
On a challenging day at Old Trafford, Pakistan's Babar Azam proved his worth as one of the world's top batsmen, scoring an unbeaten 52 in the first Test against England.
The match was played behind closed doors due to health concerns, with Pakistan missing the usual vibrant support from their fans.
England's pace attack, featuring James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, and Chris Woakes, made life tough for the opening batsmen, but Babar and Shan Masood (45 not out) put on an unbroken 78 for the third wicket.
Earlier, captain Azhar Ali fell lbw to Chris Woakes for a duck, and Abid Ali was bowled by Jofra Archer for 16.
As the match began, there was a minute's silence to honor the victims of the coronavirus in both Pakistan and Britain.
England have not won a Test series against Pakistan since 2010, and they came into this match having lost the series opener in each of their past five campaigns against all opponents.
With leg-spinners Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan in Pakistan's side, captain Azhar Ali's decision to bat first after winning the toss seemed logical, as his slow bowlers were likely to be more effective on a wearing pitch.
However, the overcast skies and piercing floodlights made life tough for the opening batsmen, and Pakistan's preparations for the three-match series were limited to just two intra-squad warm-up games.
As captain Azhar Ali said before the match, Babar Azam is already among the top bracket of Test batsmen, and his performance on this day only reinforced that opinion.
