Pakistan's predictability has been a stick to beat them with this tour, but as far as Mohammad Abbas is concerned, predictability is no bad thing. Twenty-five years ago, probably on a slab of stone somewhere in Sialkot, Abbas bowled a good ball. It hit the surface just outside the line of the lawn chair doubling as a wicket, before the unevenly taped ball cut back in.
It was such a good ball that Abbas decided to bowl the same one for the rest of his life. He bowled it in Jamaica on debut to great success. In the dustbowls of the UAE, where Pakistan played home Tests at the time, conditions that seemed designed to anaesthetise his brand of medium-fast seaming offerings, he bowled it so well he boasts a better record there than in any other nation. In Bangladesh, where Pakistan found themselves swept aside by an ascendant home side, that Abbas delivery was still working its magic, if magic could be redefined as unshowy pragmatism.
But it is in here in England where that Sialkot seam has really found its adopted home. When Babar Azam put England in at the toss, there were very few unknowns about this visiting side, and virtually none of the mercurial combustibility that has laced Pakistan sides across their history. It was not unknown that, despite protestations back home, Pakistan were a poor side, if you define poor as placing ninth in a table of nine. It was not unknown that they had a fragile top order, a regressing middle order, and a seam-bowling attack that lacked pace. And it was certainly not unknown that Abbas would bowl top of off and nip the ball either way.
And on a cloudy, wet afternoon (play didn't start until 12.20pm), Abbas ensured Pakistan were more predictable than at any point during the first Test in Leeds. Against Ben Duckett, whom he tormented before ultimately dismissing in the first Test, he took all bar one ball across the outside edge, as he is wont to do against left-handers. Duckett knew what was coming, Abbas knew what was coming, but if forewarned meant forearmed, Abbas might never have bowled a ball outside Sialkot.
This one landed too close to off stump from over the wicket to be the trap ball, surely. But reassuring a batter he poses no threat is a central tenet to Abbas's wiles. With little sideways movement in the air despite the clouds, the opener rocked back and moved across, looking to wrap his bat around a jab through cover. It was precisely how Abbas had done for Duckett - twice - in one innings in the first Test, and yet he allowed the opener to feel safe enough to fall into the same trap.
"Everyone has their own quality," Abbas shrugged later, with the nonchalance of someone who'd just brewed a particularly good cup of tea, rather than broken through an England opening pair at Lord's. "My quality is seam. England's batters are very good at reading the shape of the ball out of the hand. So I try to bowl according to my strengths, and assess what the batter's weaknesses are and target that according to a plan."
It would all sound slightly uninspiring if Abbas didn't do this every year, everywhere. Duckett's dismissal was Abbas's 900th in first-class cricket, and his 100th in the past year; no bowler has taken as many over the past 12 months. And he was only getting started.
Even England's greatest batter wasn't immune to Abbas' guile. He was given a warning off just his second delivery, which Abbas landed around fifth stump before jagging it back so wickedly it sneaked past the inside edge and struck him on the knee roll. But with Mohammad Rizwan standing back, Root had moved forward and across enough to be able to get away with it - outside the line of off stump.
But for Abbas, there is no perfect delivery: there is, in the best possible way, one delivery to be perfected. A delivery that he has always bowled, and can always bowl again. Rizwan could come up to the stumps, Pakistan could bring their field in. Other bowlers might try and back him up with, as we saw here, varying degrees of success. But Abbas could always bowl that ball again.
So he did. This time, Rizwan had Root pinned to the crease, and Abbas conjured enough movement to bypass the front pad and hit the back leg. It's barely a set-up if you can see the magician set down his contraptions on the table in front of you. More a performance you're witness to than a riddle you can solve.
As Abbas walked across for his media engagements, he was greeted by journalists he knew well, and waylaid by Pakistan supporters who have latched onto him as their one beacon of pride in a team that has all but turned a huge diaspora population in England away from the game. It resulted in a slight delay to the press conference, because Abbas stopped to interact with everyone, having warm chats rather than the cursory acknowledgements designed to starve any conversation of oxygen. It was an insight into his personality and worldview, one in which he treats media and supporters like he treats all opposition batters - with respect, but equally.
"Joe Root is a great batter," Abbas said of the dismissal when he did eventually get there. "But we had a plan against every batter."
For a man who has been playing county cricket for the better part of a decade, Abbas has played at Lord's surprisingly infrequently, largely because his time with Hampshire and Nottinghamshire largely coincided with Middlesex being in Division Two. His first appearance here came as part of a Pakistan side eight years ago, when he took eight wickets in a famous win and - he recalled with beaming pride - won his first Player of the Match in Test cricket. It didn't quite get him on the honours board, with the wickets split equally down the middle, but it gave him a taste for cricket in England that Abbas finds insatiable.
"I always love bowling at Lord's. It's famous all over the world. My first player of the match was here and we won that game. After that I came with Leicestershire and took four wickets. I will be more than happy either way. I have a chance to put my name on the board. If my partner gets wickets, it's not a problem."
It's a cold morning at the Home of Cricket with a nipping ball and a full crowd. If everyone gets to choose their heaven, you'd imagine this is what it looks like for Abbas.