LONDON, July 18: England skipper Alastair Cook blamed his team�s batsmen for their 75-run defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the first cricket Test at Lord�s.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah took 10-141 to help bowl England out for 272 and then 207 � in pursuit of 283 � at Lord�s.
Left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir, on his return to Test cricket after a spot-fixing ban, took the final wicket on the fourth evening.
�Chasing 280, you need someone to play out of their skin, get a hundred and for people to bat around him. We allowed Yasir to get six wickets when he wasn�t turning the ball. It cost us,� Cook was quoted as saying by BBC on Sunday.
Yasir�s figures were the best by a Pakistan bowler at Lord�s, although at times on Sunday England looked capable of pulling off what would have been their second-highest successful run chase at this venue.
Rahat Ali removed Alastair Cook, Alex Hales and Joe Root to reduce England to 47-3, but James Vince (42), Gary Ballance (43) and Jonny Bairstow (48) maintained the hosts� hopes before the last four wickets fell for 12 runs.
�It was a great day�s cricket. It�s been a really good Test. It ebbed and flowed; neither side grabbed the initiative. Pakistan always had their noses ahead,� he said.
�As always when you lose, you look at things to improve. What we�ve seen shows it�ll be an exciting series,� the skipper added.
England have won only one of their past six Tests at Lord�s � against New Zealand in May last year � with two draws and three defeats.
Defeats include a 405-run hammering by Australia in the 2015 Ashes, head coach Trevor Bayliss� first series in charge, which England went on to win 3-2.
SCORECARD
Pakistan 1st Innings 339
England 1st Innings 272
Pakistan 2nd Innings (overnight: 214-8): M Hafeez c Root b Broad 0, S Masood c Cook b Woakes 24, A Ali lbw b Woakes 23, Y Khan b Ali 25, Misbah c Hales b Ali 0, A Shafiq b Woakes 49, S Ahmed c Bairstow b Woakes 45, Y Shah c Bairstow b Broad 30, W Riaz c Bairstow b Woakes 0, M Amir c Bairstow b Broad 1, R Ali not out 0. Extras: (b-6, lb-11, nb-1) 18. Total: (all out, 79.1 overs) 215. Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-44, 3-59, 4-60, 5-129, 6-168, 7-208, 8-214, 9-214. Bowling: Broad 19.1-7-38-3, Ball 16-7-37-0, Finn 13-4-42-0, Woakes 18-6-32-5, Ali 13-3-49-2.
England 2nd Innings: A Cook c Sarfraz Ahmed b Rahat Ali 8, A Hales c Hafeex b Rahat Ali 16, J Root c Yasir Shah b Rahat Ali 9, J Vince c Younis Khan b Wahab Riaz 42, G Ballance b Yasir Shah 43, J Bairstow b Yasir Shah 48, M Ali b Yasir Shah 2, C Woakes c Younis Khan b Yasir Shah 23, S Broad b Mohammad Amir 1, S Finn not out 4, J Ball b Mohammad Amir 3. Extras: (b-1, lb-5, w-1, nb-1) 8. Total: (all out, 75.5 overs) 207. Fall of wickets: 1-19, 2-32,3-47, 4-96, 5-135, 6-139, 7-195, 8-196, 9-204. Bowling: Amir 17.5-4-39-2, Rahat 14-0-47-3, Shah 31-9-69-4; Riaz 13-1-46-1. � AFP
