DUBAI // Alastair Cook struck a fighting hundred on Wednesday to prop up a struggling England batting display against a Pakistan Cricket Board XI in their second three-day tour match in the UAE.
The 27-year-old opening batsman hit an attractive 133 to lift England, sent into bat, to 269 for nine declared on the opening day of the match played at the Global Cricket Academy.
In reply the PCB XI were 23 without loss at close, with Nasir Jamshed on 12 and Afaq Raheem on 10.
Apart from Cook, Matt Prior (46) and Kevin Pietersen (38) were the only top-order England batsmen to get some runs as Andrew Strauss (3), Jonathan Trott (0), Ian Bell (0) and Eoin Morgan (11) flopped again.
That left England much to think about ahead of the first Test against Pakistan, starting here from Tuesday.
Cook, who made 76 and 24 in England's three-wicket win in the first tour match, held the innings together by adding 83 for the third wicket with Pietersen and had a fighting stand of 90 with Prior for the sixth.
He was finally dismissed, caught behind by Sarfraz Ahmed off Talha before England declared the innings.
Cook hit 10 boundaries during his 260-ball knock and looked untroubled throughout.
Talha finished with four for 43 but it was the leg-spinner Yasir Shah who rattled the middle-order to end the innings with figures of five for 75.
Talha, part of Pakistan's 16-man Test squad, dismissed Strauss and Trott in his first spell before Pietersen and Cook repaired the early damage.
Shah broke the partnership when he dismissed Pietersen soon after lunch and followed that with the wicket of Bell in his next over. He then got Morgan to leave England struggling at five for 121.
Prior, who hit seven boundaries during his fiery 57-ball knock, helped Cook take England past 200-mark.
Graham Gooch, the England batting coach, said he was not overly worried about batsmen not coming good.
"I don't have concerns. But everyone would like to spend time in the middle, and if they miss out they might feel they're a little bit short on confidence, but you've got to believe in yourself, think back to when you've done well," said Gooch, praising Cook.
"He's come up with some runs in a part of the world where it's a bit slow and you've got to get into the tempo of the play and work a bit harder for your runs."
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In Praise of Zayed
A thousand grains of Sand whirl in the sky
To mark the journey of one passer-by
If then a Cavalcade disturbs the scene,
Shall such grains sing before they start to fly?
What man of Honour, and to Honour bred
Will fear to go wherever Truth has led?
For though a Thousand urge him to retreat
He'll laugh, until such counsellors have fled.
Stands always One, defiant and alone
Against the Many, when all Hope has flown.
Then comes the Test; and only then the time
Of reckoning what each can call his own.
History will not forget: that one small Seed
Sufficed to tip the Scales in time of need.
More than a debt, the Emirates owe to Zayed
Their very Souls, from outside influence freed.
No praise from Roderic can increase his Fame.
Steadfastness was the Essence of his name.
The changing years grow Gardens in the Sand
And build new Roads to Sand which stays the same.
But Hearts are not rebuilt, nor Seed resown.
What was, remains, essentially Alone.
Until the Golden Messenger, all-wise,
Calls out: "Come now, my Friend!" - and All is known
- Roderic Fenwick Owen
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
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It's Monty Python's Crashing Rocket Circus
To the theme tune of the famous zany British comedy TV show, SpaceX has shown exactly what can go wrong when you try to land a rocket.
The two minute video posted on YouTube is a compilation of crashes and explosion as the company, created by billionaire Elon Musk, refined the technique of reusable space flight.
SpaceX is able to land its rockets on land once they have completed the first stage of their mission, and is able to resuse them multiple times - a first for space flight.
But as the video, How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster, demonstrates, it was a case if you fail, try and try again.
The alternatives
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• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
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• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Samaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
