England put pressure on Pakistan
England claimed three key wickets to reduce Pakistan to 148 for 5 at tea in Sharjah on Sunday.
|||Sharjah – England claimed three key wickets in the second session to reduce Pakistan to 148 for five at tea on the opening day of the third and final test here on Sunday.
Stuart Broad maintained unrelenting pressure from one end – seven of his eight overs were maiden – and Pakistan’s top order did not show any application either, failing to convert the starts that most of them got.
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was batting on 26 at the break, with Sarfraz Ahmed on 19 at the other end.
Earlier, Misbah won his sixth successive toss in tests and, like in the last two matches, opted to bat on a flat track that offered significant turn for a opening day wicket.
Paceman James Anderson was rewarded for his immaculate line in the third over of the day when the scoreless Azhar Ali, one of the two changes in the Pakistan squad, perished caught behind.
Mohammad Hafeez (27) looked confident but the opener succumbed to a soft dismissal, top edging off-spinner Moeen Ali to Broad at backward square leg.
The bearded spinner also had Shoaib Malik, then on 22, trapped leg before but the Pakistani batsman reviewed the decision and got it overturned.
Broad tasted success after lunch when he had Malik caught behind for 38 and the lanky paceman sent down five maiden overs on the trot to stifle the batsmen.
It yielded immediate result too with Anderson, replacing Broad, trapping the dangerous Younus Khan (31) leg before with the first ball of his new spell.
Playing his first test since December 2012, left-arm spinner Samit Patel dismissed Asad Shafiq to further peg back Pakistan who lead the series 1-0 at their adopted home.
England’s spinners sent down 33 of the 60 overs bowled so far and even if they lacked control at times, the visitors conceded only 61 runs in the 30 overs since lunch to straitjacket their opponents. – Reuters