Broad saves England

Stuart Broad's maiden Test century and a Jonathan Trott ton rescued England from a top-order collapse to reach 346-7 at the end of day two of the fourth Test against Pakistan at Lord's.

Reeling at 102-7, the pair put on an unbeaten 244 runs for the eighth wicket with Broad finishing the day on 149 not out, and the paceman unbeaten on 125 - the highest score by an English No.9.

The partnership is just three runs off breaking another record - England's highest eighth-wicket partnership in Tests.

England resumed on 39-1 after a frustrating first day interrupted by rain, and on Friday the home side's batting line-up was demoralised by 18-year-old paceman Mohammad Amir.

The day began in the worst possible fashion for the hosts as Amir claimed his 50th Test wicket as he ripped through England's batsmen to leave them in deep trouble at 47-5.

Amir became the youngest player to reach 50 wickets, picking up four wickets in the morning session, before nabbing another two after the lunch break in a dazzling display of swing bowling before a stunned London crowd.

It was not the only record Amir brought about; it was also the first time in a Test match that England's No.4 (Kevin Pietersen), No.5 (Paul Collingwood) and No.6 (Eoin Morgan) had departed scoreless in the country's history.

His first scalp was that of Alistair Cook, caught behind by Kamran Akmal to finish his over, and on the first ball of his next, he nabbed Pietersen for a first-ball duck in the same fashion, putting him on a hat-trick.

While he missed that feat, two balls later Amir sent Collingwood back to the pavilion trapping him lbw.

Irish-born Morgan was not spared the Amir slaughter, as the first ball of his next over saw him caught by Yasir Hameed, and England were in strife at 47-5.

Wicketkeeper Matt Prior stemmed the flow with a defiant 22 off 72 balls, but Amir had him caught behind before Graeme Swann followed two balls later.

That brought Broad to the crease. His previous best effort with the bat in a Test match was 76 against South Africa in 2008, and with an average of 24.39, he held no great threat to the rampaging Amir.

But Broad somehow managed to not only keep his wicket, but pile runs on the board to bring life to the Lord's crowd.