Broad thinking positive
Opener Hafeez feels Pakistan are still in a strong position
Last Updated: January 18, 2012 2:47pm
Stuart Broad felt England reaped the benefits of a positive attitude after bowling themselves back into contention against Pakistan.
Having been dismissed for a paltry 192 on the opening day, the tourists knew they could not afford to let their opponents gain a huge first-innings lead.
Although Pakistan did end up with a healthy 96-run advantage on 288-7, two wickets in the closing overs gave England renewed hope that they can still turn the match around.
They found themselves in a similar situation in the first Ashes Test last winter but battled back to get a draw in Brisbane, giving Broad, who took two wickets himself, belief that they can do the same again.
"We set a target today of going under three an over and didn't worry too much about the wickets because we knew if we built the pressure that way, they would come," he told Sky Sports.
"I think we really earned those wickets late on in the day today.
"Last night I think there were a few batters feeling a bit negative in their room but it is important today that we came to the ground with a positive attitude and knowing that we've been in positions like this before.
"We can look back to Brisbane and Trent Bridge, when we were behind the eight-ball a little bit but bowled really nicely in our first innings then scored big in our second innings batting.
"So that's what we've got to do here, but more importantly on Thursday morning we've got to come out and finish the tail off."
Strong position
Despite the late losses of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, who made 52, and Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Hafeez feels Pakistan are still in a strong position.
The opener certainly did his bit with the bat, top-scoring with 88 before being trapped lbw by off-spinner Graeme Swann.
"Overall we are very happy," Hafeez said. "We're happy with the effort of the batsmen because England's seamers really bowled well.
"We're in a good position because the conditions at the moment have a little bit of turn, as we saw when Swann got some, so I think we're in a good position and can dominate a bit from here.
"The conditions are really tough to score runs in because the outfield is not very fast."
