3rd test: Buttler scores century as England reach 373-4 at lunch
Southampton: Jos Buttler survived a scare on 99 before reaching his second test century as England strengthened its grip on the third and final test against Pakistan in a wicketless morning session interrupted by two rain breaks on Day 2 on Saturday.
England took lunch on 373-4, with Buttler on a career-best test score of 113 not out and opening-day century-maker Zak Crawley unbeaten on 186.
Needing one run to get to triple figures, Buttler was given out caught behind off Mohammad Abbas, with wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan up to the stumps taking a sharp catch. The England batsman immediately reviewed and replays showed no contact, with the noise being his bat hitting his pad.
Off the next ball, he stroked a back-foot drive into the off-side for three runs to bring up his first hundred as England's wicketkeeper. The other ton 106 against India two years ago was as a specialist batsman.
Buttler removed his helmet and saluted his teammates on the balcony after an important innings that further quietened the critics calling for him to be dropped because of wicketkeeping mistakes against the West Indies and Pakistan this season. At the start of this series, he acknowledged he was batting for his place in the team.
Crawley is close to a big milestone of his own after adding 15 runs to his overnight 171, also a personal-best in tests.
The fifth-wicket partnership between Crawley and Buttler grew to 246 runs, after coming together following lunch on Day 1 with England 127-4.
Brief showers took the teams off twice during the morning session, resulting in lunch being taken an hour later than scheduled.
England, which started Day 2 on 332-4, leads 1-0 and is looking to clinch a first series victory over Pakistan in 10 years, as well as a second of the summer after beating the West Indies 2-1.
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EAM Jaishankar to represent India at Donald Trump's swearing-in on January 20
New Delhi, Jan 12: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of US President-elect Donald Trump on January 20.
During his visit to Washington, Jaishankar will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming Trump administration, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday.
"On the invitation of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent the Government of India at the swearing-in ceremony of President-Elect Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America," it said.
"During the visit, the external affairs minister will also have meetings with representatives of the incoming administration, as also some other dignitaries visiting the US on that occasion," the MEA said in a statement.
