Crawley's 171 puts England in charge of 3rd Test vs Pakistan
Southampton: Zak Crawley hit an unbeaten, career-best 171 and Jos Buttler was approaching his second Test century as England dominated the opening day of the third and final match of the series against Pakistan on Friday.
England closed on 332-4, with the fifth-wicket stand between Crawley and Buttler (87) worth 205 and Pakistan's bowlers looking demoralised in the isolated environment of the Rose Bowl.
Crawley struck 19 fours in a composed 269-ball inning that saw him more than double his previous best score of 76, achieved last month on the same ground in Southampton.
The 22-year-old batsman is only playing in his eighth Test match because Ben Stokes is missing while he attends a family matter back in New Zealand, and now looks undroppable on this form.
It was the first Test century by a No. 3 batsman for England since November 2018, and a first on home in four years. The position has been a problem area, but perhaps no more.
"Best feeling I've had on a cricket field by quite a long way," Crawley said after being applauded off the middle by Pakistan's players then the waiting England players and officials.
Buttler, meanwhile, produced another beautiful innings that will further quieten the critics of a wicketkeeper-batsman who has had a disappointing summer behind the stumps. He smashed leg-spinner Yasir Shah for two sixes down the ground, while his array of impressive shot-making included an exquisite back-foot drive through the covers.
It was Buttler's highest test knock in nearly two years.
England 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.
Pakistan faces a tough task getting back into a match that looked like going its way on Day 1 when England was reduced to 127-4 following the dismissals of Joe Root (29) and Ollie Pope (5) after lunch.
The tourists then lost control amid the shot-making of Crawley and Buttler, with even the reliable Yasir losing his way and getting hit for 107 off 28 overs.
Crawley played for all but 4.3 overs of a day when 90 overs were bowled at a venue that was hit by rain and bad light in the drawn second test last week.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
