Dean Jones urges Pak fans to give priority to winning rather than focusing on Babar Azam

Dean Jones has said that Pakistani fans should give more priority to winning rather than focusing too much on their batting sensation Babar Azam. Babar on the other hand had both a memorable as well as a forgettable experience in the first Test match against England at the Old Trafford, Manchester. He played a stellar knock of 69 in the first innings and helped Pakistan stage a comeback after they had lost a couple of early wickets. Azam and opener Shan Masood rebuilt the innings with a 96-run stand for the third wicket in overcast conditions where they hit star English bowlers James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and, Jofra Archer to all parts of the ground.

However, he was sent back to the pavilion with just five runs to his name in the second innings. 

'Winning is priority': Dean Jones

Taking to the micro-blogging site, the 1987 World Cup winner mentioned that he had a message for the Pakistani fans and then wrote it is always great when Babar Azam scores runs but the Pakistani limited-overs skipper himself will say that 'winning is priority'.

England snatch victory from jaws of defeat

The hosts seemed to be down and out at one stage after they were bundled out for 219 in their first innings in reply to Pakistan's total of 326 riding on an outstanding ton from opener Shan Masood as the visitors got a huge first-innings lead of 107. Nonetheless, Azhar Ali & Co. failed to capitalise in their second innings as Masood got out without troubling the scorers and even Babar Azam departed for five. Skipper Ali's poor form continued as he was plumb in front of the wicket for just eight. 

Pakistan had resumed Day 4 at 137/9. However, it did not take the English pacers too long to run past their tail-enders and bundle them out for 169 as the hosts were set a stiff target of 277 runs to draw first blood in the three-match series. It was always going to be a challenge for England as they had to see of the new ball which provides a lot of assistance to the seamers upfront in those overcast conditions which they did to some extent.

Nonetheless, the English side kept on losing wickets at regular intervals even though a few of the batsmen were keeping the scoreboard ticking. At 117/5, it seemed that it was all over for the English side but Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes had other ideas as they made a stellar contribution lower down the order. The duo added 139 runs for the sixth-wicket stand and brought England on the verge of a famous win.

Unfortunately, Buttler was trapped plumb in front of the wicket for an outstanding 75 that included seven boundaries and a maximum. Even though the home side lost the wicket of Stuart Broad as well, Woakes ensured that there were no further hiccups and helped England cross the finish line by three wickets.

READ: Inzamam-ul-Haq Confident Of Pakistan Winning The Series Despite Losing The 1st Test