A third successive four-fer by Mohammad Abbas at Lord’s and a three-fer by Mohammad Ali led Pakistan’s improved performance on the opening day of the second Test in London on Thursday.

On a day affected by morning rain, which delayed the start of the match by nearly 90 minutes and brought an early closure because of fading late-afternoon light, England, put into bat, reached 248 for nine in 56 overs after going to lunch at 80 for four in 18 overs and then moving to 180 for five in 44 overs.

Abbas, who took two four-fers in the last Test between the two sides at Lord’s in 2018, which Pakistan won by nine wickets, finished with figures of 15-3-56-4. In the process, Abbas completed 900 wickets in first-class cricket and now sits on 903, a testament to his excellence, brilliance and artistry with the red cherry.

Mohammad Ali ended the day with 17-2-67-3 — figures that do not entirely do justice to his outstanding effort and hard work.

Salman Ali Agha, Pakistan’s captain at Headingley but dropped at Lord’s, produced one of the greatest catches at the home of cricket to dismiss Jordan Cox (55) off Khurram Shahzad as England slipped from 187 for five to 248 for nine before the early closure. Khurram finished the day with figures of 15-0-79-1, but more worryingly for fast bowling coach Umar Gul, he and Mohammad Ali bowled five no-balls apiece.

At the outset, Mohammad Rizwan took a blinder down the leg side off Mohammad Abbas to dismiss Emilio Gay (8). Shan Masood later compensated for dropping a straightforward catch at midwicket offered by Dan Lawrence (17) by athletically running out the same batter from the same fielding position off left-arm spinner Ali Usman.

In between the fielding brilliance, there were some ordinary performances as well. Imam-ul-Haq dropped Joe Root at second slip, which, fortunately, did not prove too costly for Pakistan as Abbas pinned the England captain in front of the wickets.

Rizwan, who preferred to stay far too back against the gentle medium-pacers, misjudged a regulation catch very early in Jamie Smith’s innings. Smith went on to top-score with 61 and, more importantly, added 67 runs for the sixth wicket with Cox and 35 for the seventh wicket with Gus Atkinson (34 not out).

Nonetheless, Pakistan, who were thrashed by an innings and 103 runs inside three days at Headingley, will leave Lord’s on Thursday evening much more content and satisfied than England.

While Pakistan’s overall performance significantly headed in the right direction, England’s performance moved in the opposite direction.

Had Cox and Smith not hit half-centuries, a number of England cricket commentators and pundits would have had to eat their words for mocking the Pakistan cricket team during and after the Headingley Test.

Although it was not a perfect day, Pakistan did most of the right things.

A returning Babar Azam won the toss and put England into bat. Pakistan resisted the temptation to make too many changes, with the only change being the replacement of the stand-in captain with the full-time captain.

On the team sheet, Azan Awais and Imam-ul-Haq were identified as the openers, followed by Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood, Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel. This meant preference was given to an in-form Abdullah, who will bat at his most recent favourite No. 3, with the other batters moving one place down.

Mohammad Abbas justified Babar Azam’s decision by picking up the first three wickets — Gay caught behind, and Ben Duckett (17) and Root trapped in front of the wickets. Abbas claimed his fourth wicket when he disturbed the symmetry of Jofra Archer’s wickets, who tried one shot too many against the old warhorse.

Mohammad Ali was also on song from the start but got his first success when he picked up the prized scalp of Harry Brook with a peach of a delivery that darted back and knocked back the off stump of the England batter.

Ali then collected two wickets in three balls, clean bowling Smith and Ollie Robinson with identical deliveries that came in sharply after pitching around the good-length spot.

Although England could have been restricted to a lower score, there is no doubt Pakistan will take the stumps having been given a great opportunity to build on the opening day’s performance and post a score that can help put the home side under pressure.

Scores in brief (day 1 of 5, Lord’s):

ENGLAND 248 for 9 in 56 overs (Jamie Smith 61, Jordan Cox 55, Gus Atkinson 34 not out; Mohammad Abbas 4-56, Mohammad Ali 3-67) vs PAKISTAN