Naseem Shah's 88 mph bouncer thuds into Chris Woakes' helmet

The first Test of the three-match series between England and Pakistan is nicely poised. The visitors have a lead of 244 runs now with only two wickets in hand in the second innings. With two whole days of play left, a draw is out of the question in this Test now despite almost half of the first day being washed out. The third day, of all, was action-packed with as many as 14 wickets falling.

England resumed their day four wickets down, and the intriguing first hour saw Ollie Pope and Jos Buttler playing some cautious cricket. However, soon after drinks, Naseem Shah sent back Ollie Pope with a ripper of a delivery to bring Chris Woakes in the middle. The bowler’s tail was up as he dished out a couple of pacy deliveries, which the batsman jammed.

But it was the last ball of the over that shook Woakes. Naseem Shah ran in hard again and bowled a well-directed 88 mph bouncer at the batsman. Woakes tried to duck it and was hurried by pace. He took his eyes off the ball only to hit him on the side of his helmet. 

Here’s the video:

That's a Nasty from Naseem Shah 😯 , a Serious Pace 🇵🇰 #ENGvPAK pic.twitter.com/HTI3vUTmfl

— Mathan Writes (@Cric_writes7) August 7, 2020

Chris Woakes changed his helmet soon after the blow

According to the ICC rules, the physio quickly attended Chris Woakes to check for a concussion, and though he was fine, his helmet was changed. Interestingly, Ben Foakes came out with two big kit bags to select a favourable helmet, and there was a bit of a delay. Soon, the play resumed, but the bouncer stayed at the back of his mind as he faced Naseem Shah later in the innings.

Chris Woakes did well to hang around, scoring 19 runs off 48 deliveries before getting out to Yasir Shah. He was the eighth man to fall for England even as the hosts were bundled out for 219 runs conceding a crucial 107-run lead. Naseem Shah was impressive with his bowling picking the only wicket of Pope after sending down 16 overs. Pakistan ended the day on 137/8 in their second innings allowing the home side to sneak back into the game.