For weeks Pakistan teased England with talk of green pitches and seamer-friendly conditions, and then in the final hours before the opening game they peeled off the covers, shaved off anything betraying any evidence of chlorophyll, gave the heavy roller a final, deathly spin and, once the coin had fallen in their favour, told the tourists to do their best.
What followed was a bowling performance that, at least until they took three wickets for 95 in the final session, was as flat as the surface the bowlers were forced to toil on, and an opportunity for a Pakistan lineup that has struggled for form.
