Pakistan reeling at 47-2 as England eye series leveling win

MANCHESTER: James Anderson struck twice on his Lancashire home ground as England eyed a series-levelling win in the second Test against Pakistan at Old Trafford on Monday.

Pakistan were 47 for two at lunch on the fourth day, needing a further 518 runs to reach their unlikely victory target of 565.

Anderson, England´s all-time leading wicket-taker, removed both Shan Masood (one) and Azhar Ali (eight) in a spell of two wickets for four runs in eight balls.
Mohammad Hafeez was 24 not out and Younis Khan 12 not out.

Left-handed opener Masood fell to Anderson for the sixth time in Tests when he edged the paceman straight to England captain Alastair Cook at first slip.

Anderson, returning to Test cricket after missing Pakistan´s 75-run win in the series opener at Lord´s with a shoulder injury, then had Azhar plumb lbw as the batsman aimed across the line to leave Pakistan 25 for two.

They should have been 32 for three when Younis, then on three, edged all-rounder Ben Stokes only for the normally reliable Cook to drop a seemingly routine two-handed slip chance.

Earlier, Cook (76 not out) and Joe Root (71 not out) took England to 173 for one in their second innings before the skipper declared.

England, already with a huge lead of 489 runs, resumed on 98 for one after Cook had decided against enforcing the follow-on on Sunday.

Cook, who scored 105 in England´s mammoth first innings 589 for eight declared, was 49 not out and vice-captain Root, whose Test-best 254 was the cornerstone of that total, 23 not out.

Left-handed opener Cook cover-drove Rahat Ali for the seventh boundary of his innings to complete a 55-ball fifty. It was his fastest in Tests, surpassing a 56-ball effort against India in Mohali in 2008.

Root struck three legside fours in four balls from left-arm quick Rahat before another boundary, a slog-sweep off leg-spinner Yasir Shah, took him to a 38-ball fifty.

Root´s 10th four, a reverse sweep off Azhar, saw England´s second-wicket duo complete a century partnership. The stand was worth 105 in 85 balls when Cook called a halt after he and Root had added 75 runs in just nine overs on Monday.

Shah, who took 10 wickets at Lord´s, finished with second-innings figures of none for 53 in nine overs following his first-innings return of one for 213 in 56 overs.
That gave him an expensive match haul of one for 266.

PPP Leadership Decided to Extend Special Powers to Rangers in Sindh

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership in a meeting held the other day in Dubai has decided to extend special policing powers of the paramilitary Rangers force.

Former president and PPP’s co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari chaired the meeting with Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and gave approval for the long overdue decision of extension of the Rangers’ stay in Sindh.

According to PPP officials, it was also decided in the meeting to provide special policing powers to Rangers as well.

Extending policing powers to Rangers has become a bone of contention between the provincial and federal governments.

Zardari directed the Sindh Government to approve a summary related to the extension of Rangers’ powers in Karachi immediately.

Rangers and the Sindh government are at crossroads over several cases including the arrest of former PPP minister Dr Asim Hussain who has been in the paramilitary custody for almost a year now.

However, the row deepened when Asad Kharal, an alleged ‘front man’ of the key party leaders was arrested by the paramilitary force near Hyderabad.

Muhammad Ali alias Asad Kharal was accused of corruption worth millions of rupees.

The move was followed by CM Sindh Shah expressing dissatisfaction in a meeting with Corps Commander Karachi Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar over the Rangers exceeding powers in Sindh.

Since 2013, forces leading an operation against criminals in Karachi under powers bestowed on the paramilitary force under Article-147, the Pakistan Rangers Sindh conducted multiple targeted operations in interior Sindh during which 533 suspects were arrested. Those detained were handed over to the Police and various law enforcement agencies.