Pakistan on verge of emphatic victory
England 192 (Prior 70, Ajmal 4-55) and 160 (Trott 49, Gul 4-63) lead Pakistan 338 (Hafeez 88, Akmal 61, Swann 4-107) by 14 runs
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Pakistan emphasised the effectiveness of their revamped approach to cricket, which is resolute but unspectacular, by hurrying England, the No. 1 Test side, towards defeat inside three days in Dubai. After taking a strong lead due to Adnan Akmal's doughty half-century, Pakistan's bowlers dismissed England for a sub-200 total for the second time in the Test, leaving their batsmen with 15 runs to chase and secure a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
England's batsmen contributed to the inevitable outcome with poor shot-selection. Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook were caught strangled down the leg side, Kevin Pietersen pulled a short ball to deep midwicket, and Jonathan Trott edged a wide one to the wicketkeeper. Those indiscretions, however, were the results of suffocating lines and lengths from all of Pakistan's bowlers, whose discipline provided England with no avenues for releasing pressure.
Tea England 192 and 75 for 5 (Trott 42*, Prior 0*, Gul 3-20) trail Pakistan 338 (Hafeez 88, Akmal 61, Swann 4-107) by 71 runs
| |||
Related Links
Matches: Pakistan v England at Dubai (DSC)
Series/Tournaments: England tour of United Arab Emirates
| |||
England collapsed against Pakistan for the second time in the moneyed, moribund atmosphere of Dubai's international stadium - and this time their first-innings tormentor, Saeed Ajmal, only played a bit-part role. Three new-ball wickets for Umar Gul abruptly silenced suggestions that England could stage another great escape. By tea, bereft at 75 for 5, they were still 71 runs behind.
Ajmal could not be entirely kept out of the picture. Ian Bell, so elegant for the past year, has begun the series as Ajmal's bunny, twice utterly deceived by an excellent doosra. Ajmal bowled him first ball in the first innings and he was soon bamboozled a second time, so disorientated by his failure that he wasted a review in confirming the inevitable.
To freeze against Ajmal's blend of offspinners and doosras in the first innings could be partly explained away by England's characteristic hesitancy at the start of the series, but their capitulation second time around, as they faced a first-innings deficit of 146 runs, allowed no excuses as Gul prospered in a spell of 3 for 20 in nine overs. Andrew Strauss fell controversially; Alastair Cook, the third England batsman strangled down the leg side, continued a trend; and from Kevin Pietersen, out for nought, came a shot of abject folly.
England's mediocre record in Asia is well documented and little illustrates it better than the fact that they have won only two Tests in Asia after conceding a first-innings lead. Both came against Pakistan, 51 years ago in Lahore when the margin was only seven runs and again in Karachi in 2000 when the margin was again slim, 17 runs and England won in the dark.
Strauss came as close as he has to dissent during his imperturbable reign as England captain at his dismissal shortly before lunch. He was given out caught down the leg side against Gul, a decision by umpire Billy Bowden that was upheld by the DRS, and he walked from the outfield with a regal shake of the head. Actually, he allowed himself several regal shakes of the head. For a conservative sort like Strauss that was akin to rebellion.
There was definitely a woody sound as the ball curled past Strauss' bat and there was a brief delay before he called for the third umpire, although that was probably not as much a clue to guilt as proof of Strauss' determination that England should gather their thoughts before using the review system. Hotspot revealed nothing - but then Hotspot is not infallible. The third umpire, Steve Davis, as the guidelines state, saw "no conclusive evidence" to allow him to overturn Bowden's decision and he had no option but to follow such a course.
As for Strauss himself, he has now passed fifty only once in the last 12 innings. His leadership has been instrumental in carrying England to No. 1 in the world but he badly needs runs.
Pietersen was suckered. He has always been a liability on nought, a batsman on heat, desperate for his first run. Here it is, invited Gul, banging in a short ball. Here you are, responded Pietersen, hooking it to Abdur Rehman at deep backward square. The eerie calm of an empty stadium might undermine Pietersen more than most because he has an ego that feeds off big crowds. Somebody suggested on Twitter that they should tell him that all the spectators have come painted as empty seats. From 33 for 4, Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan briefly rallied but Morgan succumbed to Rehman's left-arm spin shortly before tea.
England had conceded another 50 runs on the third morning in removing Pakistan's last three batsmen. Adnan Akmal, one of three Pakistan brothers to play Test cricket, sought to carry the game out of England's reach, advancing his overnight 24 to 61 before he was last out, stumped by three yards against Graeme Swann as he sought a single to farm the strike.
If Mr and Mrs Akmal had brought 11 sons into the world instead of seven, they could have formed the most unpredictable cricket team in the world. Adnan played and missed more in the opening half hour than Pakistan had on the first two days as England's pace attack enticed more swing from a second new ball that began the day 23 overs old. But he continued on his carefree way, carving boundaries to third man and then treating Swann to several reverse sweeps as the lead mounted.
Saeed Ajmal, even more than Strauss had reason to rue his misfortune as Hotspot, as it tends to do, seemed to be taking a day off.
"Nobody claims the DRS is perfect," Haroon Lorgat, the ICC's chief executive, had reminded everybody in Dubai the previous day. DRS, according to Lorgat, had improved decision making to 99% accuracy. Saeed Ajmal got the 1% as the third umpire Davis this time put small print ahead of commonsense.
The umpire, Bowden, adjudged that Swann had dismissed Ajmal at short leg, the batsman called for a review, and TV replays showed no flick off the glove as the ball deflected off the pad to Cook at short leg.
According to Sky TV, Davis then told Bowden that because Hotspot was obscured he had "no conclusive evidence" to overrule his decision. It was so hard to believe on slow-motion replay that Bowden had got it right that Davis seemed to have conclusive evidence to overturn the decision irrespective of Hotspot. By tea, Pakistan did not much care anymore.
David Hopps is the UK editor of ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: David Hopps
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
No comments: