Listless England concede series

Final Score: England: 327 - 72 / 10 in 36.1 overs RR: 1.99, Pakistan: 257 - 214 in 99.2 overs RR: 2.15

Listless England concede series

It was a pity that this day would be remembered for two batting collapses, albeit in different parts of the world. Zimbabwe were bowled out twice on the same day at Napier and England were rolled over for 72 at Abu Dhabi. The only difference being that Zimbabwe are at the bottom of the rankings and England are the number one side.

Set a target of 145 for a series leveling win, the English batsmen were like deers among headlights. Against the spin of Rehman and Ajmal, they were clueless. They lasted only 36.1 overs and were all-out at the half-way stage of the chase. Courtesy this win, Pakistan claimed their second successive series win in UAE 2-0.

The day had lot of excrement in prospect as Pakistan mainly due to the Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq crawled to 214. Monty Panesar starred for England with a six wicket haul. His accurate left armers dried up runs for Pakistan and with wickets falling at regular intervals, the target for England was restricted below 150, definitely achievable as the pitch was by no stretch of imagination was a snake pit.

In the chase, spinners were going to play a vital role. And, it proved so as they spun a web around the English batsmen. All the ten wickets to fall were picked up by the three slow men with Rehman emerging the hero. His six for 25 knocked the stuffing out of England as their batsmen fell like a pack of cards. Barring Strauss and Prior, the score card gave a dismal reading as only those two could enter double figures.

Summary: Day One

Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq ensured that the honours after the first day’s play at Abu Dhabi were more or less shared as his unbeaten 83 helped Pakistan to a decent 256 for 7. He shared a vital century stand with Asad Shafiq but English bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets regularly to keep the batsmen in check.

After Misbah elected to bat on a dry surface, run scoring proved to be difficult from the start. While Stuart Broad and James Anderson couldn’t extract any lavish movement with the new ball but introduction of spin produced results. And, England had enough options in that department as they fielded two spinners after a gap of two years. Monty Panesar, in the side for injured Chris Tremlett, bowling in tandem with offie Graeme Swann would be a rare sight in England but the ‘horses for courses’ theory forced Andrew Strauss to deviate from a proven formula of three-man pace battery .

Pakistan openers got their side to a good start with a 51-run stand before the spin or the lack of it caused their demise. Both Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez were dismissed when they tried to cover the turn but ended up playing down the wrong line. In his second spell, Broad got the ball to bend in a shade and two lazy shots from Younis Khan and Azhar Ali provided England an opportunity to have a crack at the fragile Pakistan lower-order. But, one end was still occupied by the unmovable and sometimes unpredictable Misbah.

With Pakistan in some strife at 103 for 4, the skipper found a willing ally in the form of Asad Shafiq as they slowly but gradually put Pakistan back on track. There were times during the partnership when the score board just froze as the England spin duo bowled with lot of frugality.

Misbah went after Panesar twice, every time lofting the left armer for brace of sixes. The first time was when he had just come in and surprisingly, the last two hoicks came in the last over of play. In between those momentum injecting shots, Misbah was sedate, hardly looking for runs. Shafiq played his part with his 58-run knock but threw away his wicket at a crucial juncture. England made further inroads by removing Adnan Akmal and Abdur Rehman.

Day Two

Late strikes from Saeed Ajmal lent parity to the proceedings after a 139-run stand between Jonathan Trott and Alistair Cook had nearly pushed Pakistan to the brink. The second day started with England in command as Pakistan lost their remaining three wickets for the addition of a single run. In reply, England were cruising towards a big lead at 166 for one but Ajmal wrested the initiate with quick strikes in the closing moments as England ended at 207 for 5.

When play started, Pakistan still had Misbah and the prospects of them going past 300 were bright but England needed only 16 deliveries before their openers strode out in the middle. The hurried end meant Misbah had little less than to play with than he would have expected. But, if his spinners clicked, the 257-run score could be tough to overhaul. The first wicket to fall was that of Andrew Strauss and no prizes for guessing, Mohammad Hafeez had him caught at short-leg.

The excitement generated by the early breakthrough soon fizzed out as Cook and Trott set about rebuilding the innings with a mix of caution, aggression and lot of fortune. They not only kept the spinners at bay but scored runs at a pace to worry even the usually ‘ice-cool’ Pakistan skipper. Frustration in the Pakistan camp was evident when they wasted both their reviews on Trott he was comfortably not-out.

Finally, Abdur Rehman found a way through Trott’s defenses when he was on 74 and end a partnership that was threatening to take the game away from them. With a new man in, Pakistan bowlers found an extra gear and the persistence paid off when Cook was trapped leg-before by Ajmal six short from what would have been a high-class century. Then, there was replay of England’s first Test capitulation as Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan fell in quick succession.

Day Three

After a hard-fought third day, England slightly had their noses in front as Pakistan lost four wickets for 125 after the visitors had earned a handsome 70-run lead. Stuart Broad hit a gritty but swift 58 to take his side to 327. In reply, Pakistan lost four wickets in a hurry but Shafiq and Azhar Ali steadied the ship with an unbroken 71-run stand to set stage for an exciting climax.England started with fifty in arrears and half their side intact but the damage was done by Broad who scored his runs from just 62 deliveries. With Ian Bell, he added 41 invaluable runs that took England into lead and strung together useful partnerships with the tail to stretch the lead to 70.

Pakistan knew that they had to score big, first the sizeable deficit had to be erased and then they had to set a decent total. But, they didn’t get an ideal start as both the openers were dismissed on 29. The situation worsened when Younis Khan and Misbah too fell and they were behind by 16 runs when Shafiq and Azhar came together.

The two youngsters showed exemplary determination and application to push their side out of crisis. Although, they scored at a snail’s pace but the situation demanded wickets be protected at any cost. While the England spinners made life difficult but the maturity with which they handled them was laudable. They took Pakistan to 125 for 4, still a long way away from safety; however, a collapse had been averted.