Pakistan grabbed two early wickets to hit England hard in their chase of a 284-run target as the third and final Test heads for an intriguing finish after Day Four in Sharjah on Wednesday.
Pakistan grabbed two early wickets to hit England hard in their chase of a 284-run target as the third and final Test heads for an intriguing finish after Day Four in Sharjah on Wednesday. England were 46/2 with Alastair Cook (17) and Joe Root (six) fighting hard against Pakistan’s spinners, led by Shoaib Malik who claimed both the wickets on a weary Sharjah Stadium pitch. England will need another 238 runs on the fifth and final day on Thursday for a series-levelling win while Pakistan will fancy a 2-0 victory.
Pakistan won the second Test by 178 runs in Dubai while the first ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi. It was Malik, due to quit Test cricket after this match, who provided Pakistan early breakthroughs, trapping Moeen Ali (22) leg-before and then bowled Ian Bell (nought) in successive overs.
Cook and Root survived confident leg-before appeals off Zulfiqar Babar in the dying moments, much to the relief of the England camp.
Scoreboard Pakistan (1st innings): 234 England (1st innings): 306 Pakistan (2nd innings): Mohammad Hafeez c Bell b Ali 151, Azhar Ali run out 34, Shoaib Malik lbw b Anderson 0, Younis Khan lbw b Broad 14, Rahat Ali b Anderson 0, Misbah-ul-Haq lbw b Broad 38, Asad Shafiq b Broad 46, Sarfraz Ahmed b Patel 36, Yasir Shah c Broad b Rashid 4, Wahab Riaz run out 21, Zulfiqar Babar (not out) 0. Extras: (b6, lb5) 11. Total: (in 118.2 overs) 355. FoW: 1-101, 2-105, 3-146, 4-152, 5-245, 6-257, 7-312, 8-319, 9-354. Bowling: Anderson 26-8-52-2, Broad 23-6-44-3, Patel 19-1-79-1, Ali 21.2-1-72-1, Rashid 29-3-97-1. England (2nd innings): Moeen Ali lbw b Malik 22, A. Cook (batting) 17, I. Bell b Malik 0, J. Root (batting) 6. Extras: (nb1) 1. Total: (for 2 wkts, in 22 overs) 46. FoW: 1-34, 2-34. Bowling: Rahat 2-0-13-0, Riaz 2-0-10-0, Babar 9-2-11-0, Malik 7-3-8-2, Shah 2-0-4-0.
