Misbah smashes century as Pakistan score 282 against England at Lord's

LONDON – A swashbuckling century from captain Misbahul Haq put Pakistan in a strong position in the first Test against England at Lord’s on Thursday. He celebrated his landmark by dropping to the turf and pushing out 10 press-ups, his team-mates applauding from the pavilion balcony as the rest of the ground rose to him. Pakistan will resume at 282-6 on Friday morning. Misbah has dedicated his century to his wife. “All of us have to perform as batting unit. Tomorrow’s two hours will be important. Our target is to score 400 runs,” he said. Earlier, Woakes struck with the first ball of his second over to dismiss Shan Masood on seven, after the left-hander sent a thick top edge into the gloves of Jonny Bairstow to leave Pakistan at 38-1. Masood's partner Mohammad Hafeez struck eight boundaries en route to 40, but skied a shortish length Woakes delivery in the 17th over to give Bairstow a comfortable catch after the wicketkeeper had run round to square leg. Hafeez was dropped by James Vince in the slips on 11 off a Stuart Broad delivery, while Test debutant Jake Ball, drafted into the side in place of the injured James Anderson, looked threatening in his first spell without picking up a wicket. The Pakistan pair of Azhar Ali and Younus Khan played with patience to ensure the visitors got to lunch without losing another wicket, with Younus looking the more dangerous. SCOREBOARD

Pakistan 1st innings        
M. Hafeez                        c Bairstow b Woakes       40  
S. Masood                        c Bairstow b Woakes       7   
Az. Ali                          lbw b Ball                7   
Y. Khan                          c Ali b Broad             33  
Misbah-ul-Haq                    not out                   110 
A. Shafiq                        c Bairstow b Woakes       73  
R. Ali                           b Woakes                  0   
Extras                           (lb-9 nb-1 w-2)           12  
Total                            (for 6 wickets, 87 overs) 282 
Fall of wickets: 1-38 S. Masood,2-51 M. Hafeez,3-77 Az. Ali,4-134 Y. Khan,5-282 A. Shafiq,6-282 R. Ali
To bat: W. Riaz, M. Amir, S. Ahmed, Y. Shah
Bowling                     
S. Broad                         21 - 9 - 44 - 1(w-1)          
J. Ball                          19 - 5 - 51 - 1(w-1)          
C. Woakes                        18 - 6 - 45 - 4               
S. Finn                          21 - 2 - 86 - 0               
M. Ali                           7 - 0 - 46 - 0(nb-1)          
J. Vince                         1 - 0 - 1 - 0                 
Referees                    
Umpire: Kumar Dharmasena                                       
Umpire: Joel Wilson                                            
TV umpire: Rod Tucker                                          
Match referee: Richie Richardson