After cleaning up the visitors for 327 with 9 of the wickets belonging to the
spinners, the hosts trailed by exactly 70 going into the critical 3rd innings
which could make or break the outcome of this Abu Dhabi test.
Andrew Strauss’s woes continued as a tentative prod against Mohammad Hafeez brought his
downfall as the ball ballooned up in the air for the simplest of catches for
Asad Shafiq under the helmet as the England captain departed. Cook and Trott got
together and piled on over 100 for 2nd wicket with an antirational approach at
the crease as they grinded and nudged the ball around and dug hard to provide
some direction and stability to the innings with an effective left right
combination. However, Trott was denied a 3 figure score as the slow left arm
spin of Rehman foxed him with a splendid delivery that castled Trott. Cook was
removed on 94 when he decided not to go upstairs for a DRS when Ajmal spun one
back into the pads for an LBW from a doosra delivered from over the wicket just
shortly after he had been whipped on the back foot through mid wicket and mid on
by Cook for a well timed boundary.
Ian Bell who was struggling to read Ajmal looked scratchy and was beaten regularly by sharp turn and bounce, but managed to stay to the end, but down the other end KP drove loosely to an off
break and got an inside edge which popped up from the boot to slip where Hafeez
held on. Eoin Morgan was in a tangle against Ajmal unsure of the spin imparted
outside the off stump as he looked to defend tentatively and was on his way back
to the pavilion in the final over of the day as a dismissed batsmen as Ajmal
struck in the final over of the day with an off break which found the edge as
Hafeez claimed yet another catch in the slip.
England went in to day 3 50 behind with 5 wickets left in the tank as Prior and Bell resumed proceedings.
Prior was dropped at deep square leg in the early phases of day 3 by Junaid Khan
who dropped a dolly, but soon perished as he pressed back to a sharp turning
Ajmal off break as he was dismissed in similar fashion to what happened in Dubai
last week as Ajmal got his 4th of the innings and 14th of the
series.
Broad came in and looked positive and dangerous immediately as he
got off the mark with a paddle sweep to the very first delivery he faced and
looked to take the bowlers on with selective and powerful hitting, unafraid to
go over the top. The Nottinghamshire bowling all rounder raced to a timely half
century at approximately a run a ball to take England well into the lead with an
attacking counter attack. However, Bell fell when Misbah finally decided to take
the 2nd new ball before that with one nipping back off the seam as Bell reviewed
unsuccessfully. Swann played some cracking strokes through the off side against
Junaid who was ineffective and unimpressive, but his stay was short lived as
Rehman got him with a straighter one which would have undoubtedly gone on to hit
to stumps as Swann was dismissed by spin for the 3rd time in the series. James
Anderson managed to survive until tea and played some surprisingly fine strokes
against the hard-to-pick Ajmal, allowing Broad to extend his counter attack even
further as Strauss’s men were 66 in front at lunch with 2 wickets left and Broad
looking in sublime touch still there as 112 were added in a productive and
critical session.
Nonetheless, Hafeez completed the job by dismissing the
two tail ended left handers from around the wicket to strengthen his formidable
tendency of getting left handers as the bulk of his scalps even more.
The pitch here in Abu Dhabi has surprised quite a few and provided appreciative turn
and purchase for the slower men which is expected to get progressively worst and
harder for batting. Some deliveries are kicking off and going square, literally.
It’s made an intriguing and fascinating contest from what was supposedly meant
to be an unresponsive track and the curator deserves to be applauded for
preparing a fine sporting wicket. Anything above 200 will be tricky and
examining to chase down in the 4th innings and 250-300 in front and the hosts
will certainly be favourites to go 2 up and subsequently seal the series.
However, they must bat with character in the 3rd innings and avoiding getting
blown away by the balanced and penetrative English attack and bat for at least
3.5 and preferably 4 sessions and reach the 130 over mark to get at least 300 on
the board. Even 10 or 15 over 200 will give them somewhat of a sniff. Ideally,
350 would be great with just around a day to bowl out England. A total of 400
will really send the chances of an England win out of the window and would be a
dream total. The likes of Younis and Azhar need to stand up and make an
impression like they did throughout 2011 as they are the only two batsmen who
are yet to score a half century in the series from the Pakistan top 6 and both
were expected to do well against England, Younis in particular. The inform
batsmen and captain Misbah ul Haq who has 3 successive test 50s will need to
continue his successful run in the middle order. The tail who all had 0s next to
their name from 8-11 will need to take a leaf out of England’s book and show
some resistance as their contributions can be vital with 15, 20s, 30s. They for
sure will need an improved display and not let England rattle them so easily.
The key for the batsmen will be all about being positive and precise in their
foot work and defence, using their bat as much as possible and picking up on the
subtleties from the finger spinners to avoid LBWs, taking on the bowlers every
now and against just to remind them that they are serious about winning so they
can break the shackles and occupy the crease easier and perhaps even push the
field back and judging the length well against the English seamers and not
getting enticed into those loose drives and understanding the bounce of the
surface properly. They will need to deal with the mental stress being implied
with bat pads who will be chirping away with plenty of noise.
spinners, the hosts trailed by exactly 70 going into the critical 3rd innings
which could make or break the outcome of this Abu Dhabi test.
Andrew Strauss’s woes continued as a tentative prod against Mohammad Hafeez brought his
downfall as the ball ballooned up in the air for the simplest of catches for
Asad Shafiq under the helmet as the England captain departed. Cook and Trott got
together and piled on over 100 for 2nd wicket with an antirational approach at
the crease as they grinded and nudged the ball around and dug hard to provide
some direction and stability to the innings with an effective left right
combination. However, Trott was denied a 3 figure score as the slow left arm
spin of Rehman foxed him with a splendid delivery that castled Trott. Cook was
removed on 94 when he decided not to go upstairs for a DRS when Ajmal spun one
back into the pads for an LBW from a doosra delivered from over the wicket just
shortly after he had been whipped on the back foot through mid wicket and mid on
by Cook for a well timed boundary.
Ian Bell who was struggling to read Ajmal looked scratchy and was beaten regularly by sharp turn and bounce, but managed to stay to the end, but down the other end KP drove loosely to an off
break and got an inside edge which popped up from the boot to slip where Hafeez
held on. Eoin Morgan was in a tangle against Ajmal unsure of the spin imparted
outside the off stump as he looked to defend tentatively and was on his way back
to the pavilion in the final over of the day as a dismissed batsmen as Ajmal
struck in the final over of the day with an off break which found the edge as
Hafeez claimed yet another catch in the slip.
England went in to day 3 50 behind with 5 wickets left in the tank as Prior and Bell resumed proceedings.
Prior was dropped at deep square leg in the early phases of day 3 by Junaid Khan
who dropped a dolly, but soon perished as he pressed back to a sharp turning
Ajmal off break as he was dismissed in similar fashion to what happened in Dubai
last week as Ajmal got his 4th of the innings and 14th of the
series.
Broad came in and looked positive and dangerous immediately as he
got off the mark with a paddle sweep to the very first delivery he faced and
looked to take the bowlers on with selective and powerful hitting, unafraid to
go over the top. The Nottinghamshire bowling all rounder raced to a timely half
century at approximately a run a ball to take England well into the lead with an
attacking counter attack. However, Bell fell when Misbah finally decided to take
the 2nd new ball before that with one nipping back off the seam as Bell reviewed
unsuccessfully. Swann played some cracking strokes through the off side against
Junaid who was ineffective and unimpressive, but his stay was short lived as
Rehman got him with a straighter one which would have undoubtedly gone on to hit
to stumps as Swann was dismissed by spin for the 3rd time in the series. James
Anderson managed to survive until tea and played some surprisingly fine strokes
against the hard-to-pick Ajmal, allowing Broad to extend his counter attack even
further as Strauss’s men were 66 in front at lunch with 2 wickets left and Broad
looking in sublime touch still there as 112 were added in a productive and
critical session.
Nonetheless, Hafeez completed the job by dismissing the
two tail ended left handers from around the wicket to strengthen his formidable
tendency of getting left handers as the bulk of his scalps even more.
The pitch here in Abu Dhabi has surprised quite a few and provided appreciative turn
and purchase for the slower men which is expected to get progressively worst and
harder for batting. Some deliveries are kicking off and going square, literally.
It’s made an intriguing and fascinating contest from what was supposedly meant
to be an unresponsive track and the curator deserves to be applauded for
preparing a fine sporting wicket. Anything above 200 will be tricky and
examining to chase down in the 4th innings and 250-300 in front and the hosts
will certainly be favourites to go 2 up and subsequently seal the series.
However, they must bat with character in the 3rd innings and avoiding getting
blown away by the balanced and penetrative English attack and bat for at least
3.5 and preferably 4 sessions and reach the 130 over mark to get at least 300 on
the board. Even 10 or 15 over 200 will give them somewhat of a sniff. Ideally,
350 would be great with just around a day to bowl out England. A total of 400
will really send the chances of an England win out of the window and would be a
dream total. The likes of Younis and Azhar need to stand up and make an
impression like they did throughout 2011 as they are the only two batsmen who
are yet to score a half century in the series from the Pakistan top 6 and both
were expected to do well against England, Younis in particular. The inform
batsmen and captain Misbah ul Haq who has 3 successive test 50s will need to
continue his successful run in the middle order. The tail who all had 0s next to
their name from 8-11 will need to take a leaf out of England’s book and show
some resistance as their contributions can be vital with 15, 20s, 30s. They for
sure will need an improved display and not let England rattle them so easily.
The key for the batsmen will be all about being positive and precise in their
foot work and defence, using their bat as much as possible and picking up on the
subtleties from the finger spinners to avoid LBWs, taking on the bowlers every
now and against just to remind them that they are serious about winning so they
can break the shackles and occupy the crease easier and perhaps even push the
field back and judging the length well against the English seamers and not
getting enticed into those loose drives and understanding the bounce of the
surface properly. They will need to deal with the mental stress being implied
with bat pads who will be chirping away with plenty of noise.
Now it’s all about battling through that first half an hour
and then looking to make it count and not allow England to break through easily
once they are in. It’s a matter of mouse as Beefy said in close call situations
like this one. Rehman will need to take a leaf out of Broad’s book and hang
around. Azhar as always will fight to the end and refuse to give in lightly by
going through the repetitive processes, digging in long hard deep, playing the
waiting game, absorbing the pressure, hanging in there and toughing it out
others will need to support him and stick around for longer periods in an
attempt to get some partnerships flowing and frustrating England.
and then looking to make it count and not allow England to break through easily
once they are in. It’s a matter of mouse as Beefy said in close call situations
like this one. Rehman will need to take a leaf out of Broad’s book and hang
around. Azhar as always will fight to the end and refuse to give in lightly by
going through the repetitive processes, digging in long hard deep, playing the
waiting game, absorbing the pressure, hanging in there and toughing it out
others will need to support him and stick around for longer periods in an
attempt to get some partnerships flowing and frustrating England.
They will need to score in order to insert some pressure on
England with every run they have to chase down, but it requires a methodical
approach. They will be rooted in defence and survival against the spinners and
therefore prolong the overs the fast bowlers will send down and they will be
looking to selectively execute some shots against the pacers where it's been
easier to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Pakistan will want to take
inspiration from Multan 2005 where they bowled out England under 200 in the 4th
innings after losing the 1st innings in order to win the test match when
England went into the final day with the upper hand.
England with every run they have to chase down, but it requires a methodical
approach. They will be rooted in defence and survival against the spinners and
therefore prolong the overs the fast bowlers will send down and they will be
looking to selectively execute some shots against the pacers where it's been
easier to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Pakistan will want to take
inspiration from Multan 2005 where they bowled out England under 200 in the 4th
innings after losing the 1st innings in order to win the test match when
England went into the final day with the upper hand.
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