Manchester on August 26 : England pace bowler James Anderson appreciated opening batter Zak Crawley’s steadfast, in his unbeaten innings of 17 where he took on the formidable South African pace attack to make a half-century team with Jonny Bairstow in the second Test at Old Trafford on Thursday.England after losing an innings in the first Test at Lord’s defeated South Africa for 151 on Day 1 of the second Test at Old Trafford, but were themselves struggling with 43/3 in the post-tea period.
Their batting was in danger again, before Bairstow pulled the ball back in the company of Crawley who played 77 deliveries to complete his 17 unbeaten runs.The unbeaten stand of 68 runs was made from 88 balls, and also helped England reduce their deficit to 40 by stumps.At the end, England were 111/3.
“I believe that Zak was a great player for someone whose performance hasn’t been as impressive as he’d like it to be,” said Anderson.”He understood the situation and played exactly the way we wanted to perform,” Anderson was quoted in the Daily Mail.Daily Mail.
Crawley has been in an extended slump of form at the top of the table, with the 24-year old opener scoring only 9 and 13 against Proteas in the first Test at Lord’s in the match that England lost by 12 runs and an innings in just three days.Crawley has yet to hit the half-century he has scored for his country in the summer, despite playing 10 innings.
“It was very difficult against the ball that was brand new.It started to reverse after around 15 overs, and the manner he (Crawley) did his job permitted Jonny (Bairstow) to play the way he normally does.I thought it was a fantastically clever innings from him.” Anderson said.Anderson.
In the previous round, Anderson took 3/32 on his home ground and became the first cricketer in the history of cricket to take part in 100 Tests in his country.
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