Narrator’s voice: “He was not, in fact, clutching at straws.”

Exciting, this.

Daisy is glued to test cricket.

I’m trying to find the right moment to put the kettle on. I won’t get through my 12:00 Zoom without a cuppa in my hand. (It won’t be Tipal Tea and I won’t brush my teeth with Sensodyne. Life’s too short for listening to advertising slogans.)

You’d have to say that Pakistan have more chance of victory, but it won’t be easy. I think the phrase is, “beautifully balanced.” Both sides have to choose between attack and defence, with the former bringing both increased chances of winning and increased chances of losing.

Given the awfulness of this pitch, that we have such a brilliant ending is remarkable. So I retract all my previous cynicism about England’s scoring rate, and will happily strangle the first person who says that the declaration was badly timed. Go cricket!

This one deserves a slow clap.

Or in other words, if you want to dominate the match batting first the important thing is not the score, it’s batting out the first two days.

The main effect of throwing a heavy metal thing further than other people is to keep your own hopes of winning a gold medal alive.

Discus.

We suggested to someone that 600 was a good score after two and a bit days but if you were getting bowled out in not much more than a day you probably wanted 700.

But one of the things we are told affects batsmen is scoreboard pressure, especially being asked to score plenty with no hope of a victory.

Also, field setting could be a lot different with less time in the match. Depending on the morning session, by lunch we might see all the fielders on the boundary and no hope of an England win.

I’m all in favour of it.

It stems from confidence – i.e. it makes no sense to do that unless you believe that you are the better side and that you will most likely prevail if the match ends with a result. As it happens, this approach makes for more entertaining cricket too.

Have I mentioned yet that I’m all in favour of it?

I think I’d have Pakistan as marginal favourites at this point, for sure. England seem to be banking on getting some reverse swing, which might change things a bit, but the Pakistan batters are familiar with these conditions and seem capable of pacing themselves to the required total without having to take huge risks.

England, having made 500 from 75 overs, arguably should be disappointed in their first innings total, but if scoring 650 isn’t enough to get a big first innings lead, then ‘questions have to be asked’ about whether the pitch is the sort of pitch you want to set a relatively low target on.