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England still reached stumps on 177-7 in their second innings — a huge overall lead of 357 runs — with Lawrence exactly 50 not out to follow his comeback 51 during England\u2019s innings and 103-run rout of Pakistan in last week\u2019s first of a three-Test series at Headingley.<\/p>\n
Lawrence won just three caps in four years under the old England regime of now sacked Test coach Brendon McCullum and retired captain Ben Stokes, struggling badly as a makeshift opener in 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I got wrapped up in a lot of things when I played for England before,\u201d said Lawrence, recalled as a middle-order batsman.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI\u2019m batting in a position that\u2019s a little bit closer to what I\u2019m used to and, thankfully, I contributed to the team.\u201d England may already have enough runs given Pakistan were dismissed for 171 and 135 in Leeds before collapsing to 110 all out in their first innings at Lord\u2019s, with England seamer Ollie Robinson taking a remarkable 4-11 in 13 overs.<\/p>\n
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 29: Dan Lawrence of England hits out for six runs during day three of the 2nd Rothesay Test Match between England and Pakistan at Lord’s Cricket Ground on August 29, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
– \u2018Miracles do happen\u2019 –<\/p>\n
Pakistan will have to set a record if they are to achieve an improbable victory, with the highest fourth-innings total to win a Test at Lord\u2019s the West Indies\u2019s 344-1 back in 1984.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Pakistan paceman Mohammad Ali insisted: \u201cMiracles do happen in cricket. We can only hope at this time and try to encourage the batting group.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be a difficult task but not impossible. Until the last ball is bowled in cricket, you can\u2019t make predictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Test still has a ways to run — 350-400 has been chased in the past, too. It\u2019s all about mindset and belief. Conditions are tough, but we\u2019ll have to face that challenge and find a way to get runs.\u201d Mohammad Abbas was again in the wickets for Pakistan on Saturday, with 3-48 following the veteran seamer\u2019s four-wicket haul in England\u2019s first-innings 290.<\/p>\n
England, after Saturday\u2019s morning session was washed out completely, resumed on 81-3 in gloomy conditions and on a still green-tinged pitch that promised to aid Pakistan\u2019s bowlers.<\/p>\n
Under-pressure opener Emilio Gay was 30 not out after a dogged 69-ball effort Friday, when he walked out to bat, averaging just 22.50 from his first eight Test innings.<\/p>\n
But the left-hander had added just one run when he was plumb lbw to an Abbas delivery that hardly bounced before hitting him on the back leg.<\/p>\n
Abbas might have had another wicket when a charging Lawrence edged a booming drive over the slips.<\/p>\n
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 29: Dan Lawrence of England reaches his 50 during day three of the 2nd Rothesay Test Match between England and Pakistan at Lord’s Cricket Ground on August 29, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Stu Forster\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Harry Brook, seven not out overnight, jumped down the pitch and whipped medium-pacer Khurram Shahzad through wide mid-on for four.<\/p>\n
Brook went down on one knee before edging a flamboyant drive off Shahzad that flew in the air through gully for another boundary.<\/p>\n
Brook fell for 34 to leave him still searching for a first Test century in over a year when well caught by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, standing up to the stumps, from an Abbas delivery that nipped off the pitch and bounced to graze the shoulder of the bat.<\/p>\n
An undaunted Lawrence then carved Mohammad Ali for four and next ball drilled him high over cover for six.<\/p>\n
Lawrence also slog-swept spinner Ali Usman for six on his way to a 64-ball fifty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dan Lawrence\u2019s unbeaten fifty on Saturday left Pakistan needing to rewrite the record books in their quest for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-873218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}