Pakistan v England 1st Test Review: Bad light denies England historic win

Published - 17 Oct 2015, 20:24 IST | Updated - 17 Oct 2015, 20:24 IST

4 Min Read

The Pakistan v England 1st Test dramatically ended in a draw. (© Getty Images)

Pakistan v England 1^st Test Review: Bad light denies England historic win: The person who has the biggest smile on his face must be the curator. After the bashing he has taken, finally the Abu Dhabi Test took a drastic turn. Seemingly destined for a draw England spinners and Jimmy Anderson showed what thrill and drama the last day of a Test could have in store. What a riveting game of cricket we have had. Though it ended in a draw Pakistan’s weakness came to fore in no uncertain terms.

The day began with England sitting at a lead of 46 runs and the only team with an outside chance of forcing a victory. Imran Khan went through Adil Rashid’s defence early in the day. At 9 down England declared with a lead of 75 hoping for a Pakistan batting collapse which couldn’t be ruled out.

And as soon as Pakistan’s second innings began you knew this match still had life. James Anderson sent back both Shan Masood and Shoaib Malik to reduce Pakistan to 3/2. Malik, the double centurion from the 1^st innings didn’t even open his account and could only fend awkwardly at a short one form England’s pace ace.

Following the dismissals of two key men, Hafeez unfurled a flurry of positive drives to steady the Pakistani nerves. He survived a close appeal at the stroke of lunch when the replays were inconclusive to determine the edge. But that life wasn’t to last too long as Hafeez attempted a suicidal single and Stokes found him well short with a direct hit. Pakistan could have ill afforded that.

Sensing a wobble, Pakistan’s senior-pro Younis and Misbah, with over 15,000 runs between them, looked to shut shop in the second session even as Alastair Cook started rotating the bowlers.

Stuart Broad operating with a host of close in catchers had Misbah in trouble for a brief duration. Just before the Tea break a bit of controversy played out when the Pakistan skipper was given out caught at gully. Misbah then went up for the review which revealed that there was no inside edge. On the LBW front, the Hawk-Eye showed it was an umpire’s call. But as he was originally given out as caught, the decision was overturned.

Younis Khan gifted Adil Rashid his 1st Test wicket with a mighty slog which ended in a top edge caught at cover. Pakistan were just 40 ahead and England began putting in more slips for the new man Shafiq. It took 14 sessions but the spinners finally arrived in Abu Dhabi.

Shafiq was done in by the drift on the delivery by Rashid and the outside edge was snaffled by the keeper. Misbah-ul-Haq, who was largely untroubled in his innings of 51, then attempted a big shot against Moeen Ali only to be cleaned up. The tale was a no match against Jimmy and Rashid. An absolute brainfade was on display as Pakistan were eventually dismissed for 173.

When England began their pursuit of 99 to go 1-0, the light was fading and so were the Pakistan fortunes. But England’s ploy of sending hard-hitting Jos Buttler up the order backfired as Zulfiqar Babur trapped him right in front. The subsequent review only ate up into valuable time for England.

Moeen Ali also perished for the cause of the side, caught at deep mid wicket. The visitor’s hopes of forcing a thrilling victory took a serious beating as Ben Stokes was caught brilliantly by Hafeez. The game was surely throwing more twists than an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

A six over deep mid-wicket, a four down the ground and Jonathan Bairstow cut down the target to just 31 as Wahab Riaz conceded 17 runs in an expensive over. But Bairstow ran past a beautifully disguised one by Babar as England were 4 down now.

With England needing just 25 runs to win, the umpires called off the game due to bad light. You can’t really fault them from acting absolutely neutrally. The sheepish smile on Misbah’s face was a reflection of the fact that they just had a narrow escape after capitulating in typical fashion in the second innings.

The 2nd Test will most probably witness the return of Yasir Shah. Nobody, not even the ardent Pakistan supporters will make the mistake of taking the visitors lightly.

Overview of the day

A sure-shot draw of a match eventually ended in a draw. But not without the twists. The few English supporters who had made the trip were left bemused. England would have liked some more overs while Pakistan would not mind the result. When the day began only a spectacular collapse from Pakistan would have added spice to the contest and that was amply on display. Adil Rashid showed there is a lot to like about him. In the end weather had the final say.