England crush Pakistan to take series

England won their first ODI series in Asia after more than four years by trouncing Pakistan in a relatively one-sided affair at Dubai. Kevin Petersen returned to form with a bustling century, Alistair Cook continued his run-scoring spree with another 80 after Pakistan had put on a modest 222 runs on the board. England crossed the line with 76 deliveries and nine wickets to spare.

It was a repeat of the first two matches as Pakistan batsmen struggled to negotiate the English seamers, particularly Steven Finn and Stuart Broad, who claimed three wickets a piece. After Misbah opted to bat first, Pakistan needed a start from their openers for their middle order was without the experience of Younis Khan.

However, it took Finn only ten deliveries to entice Imran Farhat into a loose push outside off stump which he ended up edging to the keeper. Mohammad Hafez was lucky to be caught on a Stuart Broad no-ball and momentarily gave the impression that he would make England and Broad pay as he dispatched the bowler for three boundaries in the same over. At 49 for 1, things were pretty much in balance before Pakistan fell by the wayside.

Azhar Ali, one of the best batsmen on display from either side during the Test series, could hardly put bat to ball, his ordeal came to an end when another edge found Kieswetter’s gloves. Hafeez’s luck ran-out as Finn pinned him in front of the stumps with a brisk inswinger, Broad happiest to see him leave the field.

Even in conditions that didn’t seem particularly conducive for seam bowling, the English pacers made the new balls talk. At a decent velocity, they got the ball to move as well as bounce awkwardly thereby causing the technically slack Pakistan batsman a host of problems.

After the top-three had no answer to the questions asked by Finn and Broad, it was turn of Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to show some resistance but he too fell on a moving delivery. In a matter of 2.4 overs, Pakistan found themselves in a precarious position as they slipped to 50 for 4. The three quick wickets pushed Pakistan on the backfoot and they badly needed someone to steady the sinking ship. Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal steadied the innings with a 47-run stand before an alert Alistair Cook ran-out the former for 18.

This brought together two of the most explosive batsmen in the Pakistan team, Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi but the problem for them was that there were too many overs left in the innings. It was the 22nd over when the fifth wicket went down with the score yet to cross three figures. A situation least suited for their slam bang brand of batting. But, in a rare show of maturity, both of them put the team cause before their individual flamboyance.

It was uncharacteristic to see Umar Akmal score his fifty from 92 deliveries even as Afridi was very slow by his standards, his 51 utilized 55 deliveries. Nevertheless, the 79-run stand between the two was crucial for Pakistan. They not only ensures that the ‘hosts’ had something to defend but also prevented the innings from stalling.

They were about to cut loose in a late charge, taking the score to 176 for 5, but Samit Patel pulled off a stunner to send back Umar and Anderson slipped one through Afridi’s defenses to plunge Pakistan into trouble once again. Without Umar Gul’s run-a-ball Pakistan would have struggled even cross 200 as Adnan Akmal, included in the side as a specialist keeper, couldn’t get the ball off the square. Eventually, Pakistan reached a score that would have been happy with considering their mid-innings position but in the larger context it was way short of even par.

Pakistan’s biggest headache in the series, Alistair Cook, picked up from where had left after his two consecutive hundreds. During both the innings, Cook had excelled with his flawless shot selection while as opening partner; Kevin Pietersen had only looked a shadow of the batsman he used to be. But, if there ever was an opportunity for Pietersen to score big, it was today.

Knowing that his skipper was in the best of form, he could freely without bothering about other things. Unlike the Test series, when Pietersen had tied himself in knots with an overly defensive approach, he needed few deliveries to settle down before runs flowed from his big blade.

After Cook started fluently by cutting and pulling his way through the Pakistan seamers, Pietersen also hit his straps. As they say, it takes only one shot to get back into form- the straight loft off Afridi that sailed over the straight boundary was enough of an indication that the fluent and unstoppable Pietersen of old was back in business. With runs coming thick and fast, Pakistan shoulders dropped and it was no surprise when Azhar Ali spilled a simple chance of Pietersen on 45.

In due course, both the openers brought up their fifties and it was very much against the run of play when Cook was caught behind off Saeed Ajmal for 80. But, Pietersen was in no mood to relent and went on to score a century after a gap of three years. England romped home in the 38th over with Pietersen unbeaten on 111. Another out-of-form English batter, Eoin Morgan also got some confidence boosting runs under his belt as the completed the victory march emphatically- a neat drive threaded through the covers.