'He's a classy player' - Stuart Broad delighted after dismissing Babar Azam in Southampton

England’s pace sensation Stuart Broad has expressed his extreme happiness over taking Pakistan’s batsman Babar Azam wicket during the second Test match in Southampton.The bowler has also spoken few words in appreciation for the 25-year-old. The batsman, who was on crease for almost two-and-a half hours, was rooted with a fine delivery from Broad.

Pakistan was caught up in a tight spot and was about to get wrapped under 200 before the heroics of Mohammad Rizwan pushed the team to respectable zone. The wicket-keeper batsman played an unbeaten knock of 60 runs, and was supported by Mohammad Abbas who fell in hands of Broad.

Speaking to BBC, Broad stated, “Babar Azam is a really classy player which you can see by some of the shots he played….we knew he would be a big wicket and I was pleased to get him out.”

We took fine control of bowling: Stuart Broad

“I feel like if we’d taken a couple more chances and been a bit more ruthless with the ball, we could have bowled Pakistan out a bit cheaper, We’ve controlled the rate really nicely, we just need to make sure we get this wicket early tomorrow to make sure we don’t undo a lot of the hard work we’ve done.”

“We’re actually a little bit disappointed that we haven’t bowled Pakistan out already – we’ve created enough chances, and the ball has certainly done enough, but we haven’t managed to hold onto those chances or strike when we needed to as a bowling attack,” he added.

In the ongoing match at the Rose Bowl, the visitors closed on 223/9 at the end of second day. Rizwan was the unexpected bright spot in Pakistan’s batting line up, and James Anderson along with Broad dominated proceedings from England. However, rain and bad light played evil for the players during first two days as only 86 were possible

The hosts are leading the series 1-0 at the moment, having won the Manchester Test by three wickets. After finishing another Test after this one, the two teams are set to lock horn at T20 series scheduled at the end of this month.