Eng VS Pak: Azhar Ali scores a fighting century in the series-decider at Southampton

Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali made it matter in the series-deciding third and final Test match at the Ageas Rose Bowl in Southampton as he notched up an important hundred just when it looked like the visitors would be bowled out cheaply in their first innings. What made this knock more precious is that Ali had only scored 38 runs in three innings heading into this contest. 

'A true captain's knock!': 

The Pak Test skipper had come out to bat after having lost the wicket of opener Shan Masood early on and held on to one end tightly as wickets continued to fall at the other end. He tackled the English pacers with a lot of grit and determination especially veteran pacer James Anderson who had rattled all the top-order batsmen. 

Ali batted extremely well on a wicket where his frontline batsmen miserably failed to apply themselves as Jimmy Anderson made the ball do the talking after he got a lot of swing and lateral seam movement and when Pakistan lost half their side for just 75 runs on the board, Ali and, wicket-keeper batsmen took matters into their own hands and added 213 runs for the sixth-wicket stand.

The number three batsman brought up his 17th Test ton that included 15 boundaries. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) came forward and lauded their captain for his fighting knock and called it 'A true captain's knock!'.

Even the fans came forward to hail Ali. Here are a few of the reactions.