Match drawn with England needing 25 runs with six wickets remaining
England and Pakistan have drawn, with light too low to continue. England raced to 74 runs in 11 overs, losing four wickets along the way, and fuelled by a 26-ball 30 from Joe Root, but it wasn’t quite enough to snatch a win from this suddenly exciting match in Abu Dhabi.
Zulfiqar Babar and Shoaib Malik each took a pair of wickets from he understandably aggressive English batsmen. Jonny Bairstow (15) and Moeen Ali (11) helped spur the chase.
England need 99 runs to win
England have bowled out Pakistan for a mere 173 in the third innings, giving them space to chase a victory in the final hour or so of this first Test in Abu Dhabi.
Adil Rashid redeemed his first-day horror show with figures of 5 for 64, including a crucially quick final two of Zulfiqar Babar and Imran Khan. James Anderson added 2 for 30 and Moeen Ali 2 for 28.
Pakistan would have been hoping Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan could play out the day in partnership, but the latter was caught out by Ben Stokes from a Rashid delivery for 45 on the fourth wicket and Misbah fell for 51 just more than 10 overs later, bowled by Moeen.
Tea: Pakistan lead by 27 runs with 7 wickets remaining (102/3)
The Abu Dhabi Test moved towards what has seemed to be its fate since it began, five long days ago. Pakistan lost Mohammad Hafeez needlessly soon after the afternoon session began but Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, as they have done for so long, stabilised Pakistan.
By taking them to 102 for three at tea, they have all but taken them to safety. They now have a lead of 27, though that is all but irrelevant.
England were the only side who could win this and bowled like it as well. Given his first innings horror, Adil Rashid put in an encouraging spell post lunch, much tighter in lines and more consistent with length.
It was during one of his overs that Hafeez fell. Hesitating over a single that was not needed, Ben Stokes picked up the ball, switched it to the other hand, spun around and hit the stumps at the non-striker’s, with Hafeez well short.
That brought Misbah to the crease and he soon got down to do what he does best. The run-rate dipped sharply and in between long scoreless spells, England tightened the screws.
Stuart Broad had a strong leg-before appeal turned down against Misbah. Later, Bruce Oxenford gave Misbah out, caught bat-pad off James Anderson. Misbah reviewed it and replays showed no inside edge; they did, however, show a credible LBW shout but under current protocols, because Oxenford had not given him out LBW, Misbah was reprieved.
Younis, a fifth-day specialist, was more comfortable, both in defence and on rarer occasions in attack. Anderson held him scoreless for a period before he broke the spell by cutting two boundaries in the session’s last over.
Lunch: Pakistan trail by 40 runs with 8 wickets remaining (35/2)
James Anderson brought a moribund match to life on the final morning of the opening Test at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Anderson took two wickets in an over as Pakistan went to lunch nervously, at 35 for 2. They still trail England by 40.
That little burst exploited the near-permanent nerves in any Pakistan batting line-up in such situations. The fun began in Anderson’s second over of the innings.
He had dismissed Shan Masood in the first innings with a bouncer that deflected onto the stumps after hitting his helmet. Wary of that bouncer, Masood stayed on the back foot this time round when he perhaps should have gone forward – the ball stayed low, hit his bat at the bottom and backspun on to the stumps.
In a match of such run-scoring, two cheap dismissals, even just a Test after scoring a hundred, is likely to hold implications for his place in the next.
Four balls later even more joy, as an Anderson bouncer had Shoaib Malik fending to short leg. The duck followed his monumental 245 in the first innings, raising the question of why England did not bowl bouncers at him in the first innings.
The period thereafter was tense for Pakistan. Though Mohammad Hafeez looked fluent enough, Younis Khan was jittery. Stuart Broad bowled a tight spell at him.
But once the opening pair were off, the tension dropped. Younis finally got off the mark, of his 17th delivery, with a single from Adil Rashid. A little scare for Hafeez in the last over apart, Pakistan went through to lunch unscathed – a lovely dancing six down the ground an emphatic punctuation to proceedings.
Earlier England had added 29 runs to their overnight total before declaring – Rashid was the only wicket to fall, bowled by Imran Khan. By the declaration England had increased their lead to 75.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
