England fall short of win over Pakistan in Abu Dhabi

Joy Chakravarty 20:40 17/10/2015
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  • Star man: Adil Rashid (c).

    You can trust the Pakistan cricket team to turn the most boring and drab match on its head.

    It really was travesty of justice when nature decided to intervene an engrossing battle that should have been gone England’s way yesterday. Needing 99 runs for their first-ever victory on the UAE soil, they fell short by 25 runs when umpires stopped play with eight overs still remaining to be bowled.

    The Sheikh Zayed stadium pitch did not grown horns overnight, but Pakistan batsmen managed to transform Dr Jekyll into Mr Hyde with a spate of rash decisions.

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    And not taking anything away from a spirited England side, they played excellent cricket and created chances as they came agonizingly close to a win that never seemed likely after Pakistan posted a massive total of 523 in the first innings.

    Earlier in the day, England declared their first innings at 598 for nine, taking a valuable 75-run lead and then made it count.

    James Anderson bowled a terrific second over – taking two wickets in the space of four balls, including that of Pakistan’s first-innings hero Shoaib Malik, who became the fifth player ever to score a double hundred and a duck in the same match.

    Masood played on to Anderson again, but unlike the first day when a slower bouncer hit him on the helmet before rolling on to the stumps, it was off the toe of his bat this time as he tried to defend.

    What followed four balls later was a stunning delivery from Anderson. A lovely bouncer reared up at Malik and kept climbing up to his face. All he could do was fend it off to Jonny Bairstow at short-leg.

    At 2-3, Pakistan were in trouble, and then came three mistakes by their most experienced players – Mohammed Hafeez, Younis Khan and captain Misbah-ul Haq – which were cardinal in nature given the context of the match.

    Hafeez (34) was run out in brilliant fashion by Ben Stokes, but there really was no run and the batsman made the call himself. Younis, after battling hard for his 45 runs, gifted Adil Rashid his maiden Test wicket, needlessly trying to loft a turning delivery and giving Stokes an easy catch at deep cover.

    The wicket perked up Rashid no end, and he was a completely different bowler after that. Obviously, there was a bit more purchase for him on a fifth day pitch, but he started zipping the ball and hitting the right angles.

    While all this was happening, Misbah (51) was a calming presence in the middle for his team.  The Pakistani fans call him ‘tuk tuk’. No, that is no reference to the three-wheeled auto-rickshaws in Thailand, but more to his style of batting. ‘Tuk tuk’ is the opposite of ‘slam bang’. And that’s exactly what was required.

    But with the score on 159, Misbah had a moment of madness that can match the ones displayed by the Thai tuk-tuk drivers all day in Bangkok traffic. He stepped out for a mighty heave against Moeen Ali, missed the ball completely, and was clean bowled.

    It was soon all over for Pakistan, with Rashid taking five for 64.

    Cook also displayed very proactive captaincy, constantly changing his field and bowlers and keeping the pressure on the batsmen all the time with a cordon of close-in fielders.

    At one stage of the match, with Anderson bowling to Younis, he had two leg-slips, one gully, short leg, short mid-wicket and a short and straight mid-on. No wonder Younis decided to hit his way out of trouble and paid the price.

    England were left with the task of making 99 runs in 19 overs, a mere formality in modern-day cricket. But Misbah was not giving up so easily. He opened the bowling with his spinners – Zulfiqar Babar and Malik – and the entire team started devising ingenuous ways of prolonging the overs.

    The fourth day was called off at 5:37pm, and play went on until 5:50 yesterday. But that was still not going to be enough as England could only reach 74-4 in 11 overs with Joe Root unbeaten on 33 and Ian Bell on five. Both Babar and Malik shared the spoils.

    Pakistan just about managed to keep their unbeaten record in Abu Dhabi intact, but the pressure will be on them when the two sides clash for the second Test at Dubai International Stadium starting October 22.

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