Liam Livingstone’s allsorts could seal his England place

It was mostly about the spin. While there was some disappointment that the local lad Matt Parkinson was not given the opportunity to parade his leg-spinners once more after a fine performance in victory at Headingley on Sunday, England still had three spinners to turn to, if you’ll excuse the pun.

They had Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali and another player on his home ground, Liam Livingstone, with Pakistan having four on a pitch that offered all of them assistance from the beginning. Unlike on Sunday, Pakistan made the correct decision to bat first, because the dryness of the conditions told the story of, in cricket’s rhyming slang, a Bunsen burner, and it made for a thrilling match that England just about won.

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