England stretched their lead to 342 at tea on the rain-affected third day of the second Test against Pakistan at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Saturday.
At the conclusion of the second session of the pulsating day, the home side were 162-6, with Lawrence and Gus Atkinson unbeaten on 37 and seven, respectively.
After the opening session was completely washed out due to persistent rain here, England resumed their second innings from 81-3 through Emilio Gay and Harry Brook, with a 261-run advantage in their favour.
The hosts, however, got off to an unwanted start to the third day’s play as Mohammad Abbas bamboozled Gay in the second over off a delivery that did not bounce much. The left-handed opener walked back in agony after scoring 31 off 74 deliveries.
Following Gay’s dismissal, Brook was joined by Lawrence in the middle, and the duo batted valiantly in bowling-friendly conditions to put together a 45-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
The budding partnership was ultimately broken when Abbas got Brook caught behind, with Mohammad Rizwan keeping the wickets up close. The top-ranked batter made a brisk 34 off 56 deliveries, hitting five fours.
Lawrence then shared a brief 21-run partnership with wicketkeeper batter Jamie Smith, who could muster seven before falling victim to Abbas, with his dismissal bringing England’s total down to 149/6.
The middle-order batter was then joined by Atkinson in the middle, and they only managed to put together 13 runs before another rain interruption prompted the on-field umpires to conclude the session five minutes prior to the scheduled time.
Abbas has been the standout bowler for Pakistan in the second innings, having picked up three wickets for 48 runs in his 18 overs, followed by Khurram Shahzad with two, while Mohammad Ali has claimed one.