Pakistan Under-19s close on England's total after Bertie Michael's Arundel century

England's only century of the match has been answered by a Pakistan innings built in pieces, and the first-innings lead at Arundel now hangs on fifty runs
Pakistan Under-19s reached 284 for 7 on the third day of the Youth Test against England Under-19s at Arundel Castle, leaving them 50 runs short of the first-innings lead with three wickets standing.
England, who chose to bat, were bowled out for 333 in 87.1 overs. The innings was held together by Bertie Michael, whose 131 came from 235 balls and contained 21 fours.
Pakistan have batted 77.3 overs for their reply, a slower rate than England managed, and have reached this position without a century of their own.

Michael's 131 the innings of the match
Michael's hundred is the only three-figure score of the match so far and the only innings on either side to have lasted beyond 150 balls. England resumed the second day on 264 for 5 and added 69 before being bowled out, which left Michael's contribution close to 40 per cent of the total.
The Pakistan attack shared the work rather than relying on one bowler. Rizwanullah was the most successful with 3 for 63, while Abdul Subhan, Mohammad Sayyam and Ahmed Hussain took two wickets each.

Qadir's counter-attack sets the reply going
Pakistan's most fluent contribution came from Abdul Qadir, who made 66 from 54 balls with 10 fours and two sixes. It was the fastest substantial innings of the match and it moved the reply along at a point where England's total still looked a long way off.
Around him the innings was assembled in smaller pieces. Ahmed Hussain made 35 from 66 balls, Hamza Zahoor 26 from 25, and the captain Farhan Yousaf 21. None of the four went on, which is how a side reaches 284 with seven down and only one batter past fifty.

A lower order that has kept the deficit small
Pakistan were 218 for 6 before Hasnain Abbas Dar and Mohammad Sayyam put on 39 without being separated by the close of the second day, taking them to 257 for 6 from 65 overs. Dar had 26 from 83 balls at that point, an innings of deliberate occupation rather than scoring.
The partnership was worth another 27 runs on the third morning before the seventh wicket fell, and it is that stand more than any single innings that has kept Pakistan within range of England's total.

England's best bowling from Lumsden
Manny Lumsden has been England's most effective bowler with 3 for 44, a return built on removing both Pakistan openers. Taking out the top of the order is what gave England the position from which Pakistan have had to rebuild.
England have not otherwise found a way through quickly. Pakistan's 77.3 overs for seven wickets represents a slow and largely controlled innings, and the bowling side have spent much of the third day waiting rather than attacking.

What the rest of the match turns on
Fifty runs is a small number in the abstract and a significant one with three wickets left. If Pakistan take the lead, they will do so with the bowlers batting, and any advantage is likely to be modest rather than decisive.
The match is scheduled to finish on 5 September, which leaves a day and a session for a result. On the evidence of the first three innings days, neither side has yet found the surface difficult enough to make a fourth-innings target awkward, so the first-innings lead may matter more here than it usually does in youth cricket.

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