Pakistan v England 2nd Test day 1 review: Misbah's century makes it Pakistan's day

Pakistan v England 2nd Test day 1 review: Misbah’s century makes it Pakistan’s day: All the drama of Abu Dhabi was put in the background as Pakistan and England started afresh to take a lead in the Test series. What was at display was traditional Test match cricket. A sedate day at best. England did manage to keep things under check but the spinners lacked venom on a flat looking first day deck in Dubai.

Pakistan, courtesy valuable knocks from their top order batsmen Misbah ul Haq (102*), Younis Khan (56) and Shaan Masood (54) have ended the day in a commanding position at 282 for 4. This can be termed quite a comeback after England had managed to take 3 wickets even before the team hundred was raised.

Pakistan were relieved with Yasir Shah coming back into the team. Misbah decided to bat on a pitch which he thought had lot of assistance for the spinners. Cook sounded confident of his seamers delivering on the track and went with an unchanged eleven. Jimmy Anderson did extract some extra bounce initially, but the pitch was in pristine condition to assist the batsmen. He beat Hafeez’s bat with that characteristic wobbly seam delivery but Pakistan’s openers were largely comfortable.

Cook brought on off-spinner Moeen Ali as early as the 7th over. Hafeez meanwhile, got behind deliveries solidly and Pakistan kept the scoring rate at nearly 4 runs per over. After the opening hour England responded in style with the wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to even things up. Moeen Ali gave the opening breakthrough after Pakistan’s openers had added 51 as he got one to spin in to Hafeez and the catch was snarled by the short leg fielder.

But the big wicket was that of the double centurion from the last game Malik who was caught by Bairstow after a slight wobble. Pakistan were under pressure now.

Masood though, recovered admirably after the horror-show in Abu Dhabi. He was troubled by the odd-short ball but when England’s bowlers bowled in his range, he showed no hesitation in dispatching them away. Just when he was looking good he departed off the first ball of the post-lunch session as James Anderson got his man for the third time in three innings.

The onus was once again on Pakistan’s experienced duo Younis and Misbah to rescue Pakistan from the precarious position. Mark Wood adopted a short ball strategy against Misbah and even pinged him on the helmet a couple of times. Younis had no such problems and kept himself busy at the crease.

In what was a fairly drab second hour in the afternoon session the senior pros buckled down and took the fizz off the English spirits. The visitors tried hard but to no avail. Adil Rashid was not able to land it on the good length consistently.

Pakistan made a slow start to the final session with Misbah and Younis adding no runs in the first 3 overs. England once again struck immediately after the break. Younis fell for 56 in an unlucky manner caught down the leg side before Misbah completed his half-century. Younis’ wicket broke a crucial partnership which threatened to take the game away from the tourists.

But that was also the last joy for England in the day. Shafiq continued his terrific run and complimented Misbah well as they started milking the bowling. The Pakistani skipper completed a majestic 9^th Test century with a reverse sweep after hitting two sixes off Moeen Ali in the final over of the day.

Just when everybody was expecting for him to play for stumps he just broke free. With these blows he also became the 2^nd captain to hit 50 sixes in Test cricket. Against the pacers Misbah was largely circumspect, happy to take the singles but was severe on the tweakers. Pakistan eventually ended the day on 282 for 4 with Shafiq approaching a well deserved fifty.

The hosts will be very happy with their day’s work and are now in a formidable position. England on the other hand will be hoping to break the stand early and get into Pakistan’s tail.

Overview of the day

The day finally sprung into life as Misbah decided not to wait till tomorrow for his hundred. There was more action in last over than the rest of the day combined. Other than that nothing changed really from the first Test. Credit to Shafiq too for displaying tight technique. England toiled away on the field and didn’t do much wrong but weren’t helped by a pretty morbid surface.

Brief Scores

Day 1:

England 1^st innings – 282/4 (Misbah 102*, Younis 56;  Wood 1-26)