It was a day of missed opportunities for England, as Pakistan worked their way to 286-4 on day one of the first Test match. Tom Sizeland reports from Abu Dhabi.
The cooler season might be approaching in the UAE, but the heat was relentless as the English grew visibly frustrated as the day wore on.
The visitors found an early breakthrough as a Jimmy Anderson delivery jumped up on Shan Masood before the ball crashed on to the stumps. England and Anderson could have had a second scalp moments later as Mohammad Hafeez edged one in the slips, only for Ian Bell to put it down.
It was a fairly straightforward opportunity, and it appeared to immediately deflate the English as the pace bowlers landed too short to Hafeez and Shoaib Malik throughout the morning session.
While the pacemen struggled, the spinners didn’t have too much luck either, largely through their own doing. Debutant Adil Rashid bowled a mixed bag and Moeen Ali was too predictable.
The chances were there for the taking early in the second session. There was a missed run-out opportunity, before Stuart Broad thought he’d found the breakthrough. A leading edge off Hafeez’s bat was grasped, but replays showed Broad had stepped over the line for a no-ball.
Hafeez and Malik’s partnership grew to a comfortable 150, but just before tea, England finally got the second wicket. Ben Stokes trapped Hafeez lbw, two runs short of what would have been a deserved century.
Younis Khan strode out, needing 17 Test runs to surpass Inzamam ul-Haq, and a further two to surpass Javed Miandad. He wasted little time in doing so, to become Pakistan’s all-time Test run scorer.
Malik spent a fair amount of time in the 90s, but he did eventually bring up three figures, capping a fantastic return to Test cricket, having last played for Pakistan in the infamous spot-fixing series against England in 2010.
As the day started to cool down, so did Pakistan’s threat with the bat, as Khan departed for 38, before 41-year-old skipper Misbah ul-Haq departed for three, but in controversial circumstances. An appeal for caught behind fell on deaf ears, but Alastair Cook reviewed it, and to Misbah’s astonishment, without the aid of Snicko or Hot Spot, the third umpire gave it.
Malik (124*) was the star of the day, as he saw off the new ball with Asad Shafiq (11), but England could have grabbed a late wicket if it weren’t for another drop from Bell, this time even easier, as Anderson found Shafiq’s edge.
Picture: Getty
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