Broad and Anderson topple Pakistan but England's batsmen struggle again
Stuart Broad and James Anderson hustled Pakistan out for 99, yet England could take only a minor advantage on a hectic first day of the final Test at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Anderson (three for 35) struck in the first over, and there was no let-up from him and Broad (four for 36) after Misbah-ul-Haq had chosen to bat first.
But Pakistan, bowled out in mid-afternoon, hit back to have the tourists 104 for six at stumps – despite Andrew Strauss' dogged defiance in a 120-ball 41 not out.
Four-for: Stuart Broad was at his hostile best for England
Only No 6 Asad Shafiq had managed
significant resistance as England, in danger of a 3-0 whitewash after
back-to-back defeats, unleashed Broad and Anderson to devastating effect
with the new ball.
There was nonetheless an inevitable
hollow note for the world No 1s, who waved goodbye to this series with
their own hapless collapse to 72 all out in Abu Dhabi last week.
Anderson began here with the wicket of Taufeeq Umar, for a duck, in the
first over with a delivery which straightened off the seam for lbw.
Broad had to wait until his third
over when more movement took a faint inside edge to account for Azhar
Ali after a fine catch by Matt Prior and a DRS review which overturned
Simon Taufel's initial not-out verdict.
King of swing: James Anderson struck in the first over
Younus Khan then fenced at some extra
bounce from Broad and also went caught-behind thanks to Prior, in the
wicketkeeper's 50th Test.
England could do precious little
wrong, and called another successful DRS to have Mohammad Hafeez lbw to
Broad even though the batsman appeared to think he had got bat on ball.
When Misbah himself went lbw at the
other end – DRS proved no help to Pakistan against Anderson's
full-length swing – Pakistan's scorecard already bore a remarkable
resemblance to the ones England contrived in the first two Tests.
All over: Umar Gul's leg stump is dislodged by Anderson
There were to be two more wickets before lunch for good measure.
Adnan Akmal would have been run out
after a push to cover for an unwise single, had Eoin Morgan managed a
direct hit. But the same batsman was soon deceived by Broad, in his
second spell, lbw pushing forward.
Graeme Swann broke the run of wickets
falling to pace when Abdur Rehman had a swing at the off-spinner and
managed only to hoist a gentle skier to Kevin Pietersen at mid-off.
Star of the show: Broad is mobbed after taking the wicket of Younus Khan
Shafiq kept England at bay for 78
balls, and contributed almost half his team's runs. But he was the
second of two more lbw departures, trying to cut a Monty Panesar arm
ball, before Pakistan fell just short of three figures.
Immediate impressions were that
England had bowled well and Pakistan batted especially poorly on a
perfectly feasible pitch of decent pace, with just occasional seam
movement.
But that premise looked ropy as the reply stumbled to seven for two before tea.
On his way: But had Trott reviewed he would have been given not out
Alastair Cook chased a wide ball, to
be well-caught behind off Umar Gul by a diving Akmal, and then Jonathan
Trott fell to the same bowler – lbw to a full-length delivery, and
ignoring a DRS option only for Hawkeye to suggest the ball would have
gone on to miss leg-stump.
Strauss and Pietersen convinced as
England batsmen so rarely have, over the past two weeks, in a
third-wicket stand of 57 in which the latter appeared in notably good
form.
But Pietersen was to become the eighth lbw victim of the day, and world-record 34th for any three-match series.
Not happy: Pietersen was frustrated by the decision to give him out
He was perhaps unfortunate too to see
Taufel's decision confirmed by DRS, even though technology indicated
the delivery from Rehman (three for 23) – Pietersen's slow left-arm jinx
again – would have barely shaved leg-stump.
There was to be an element of bad
luck about England's next dismissal too – Ian Bell undone by a Saeed
Ajmal doosra, over-balancing only momentarily yet just long enough for
the ball to ricochet straight back off the wicketkeeper's gloves just
before his foot had slid back behind the crease.
Digging in: Strauss offered some resistance for England
There was still time too before the close of an uncanny day for Morgan to go lbw and Prior bowled to Rehman's orthodox spin.
Meanwhile, England hope Tim Bresnan
may be able to fly back to the United Arab Emirates soon, in time for
the limited-overs leg of this tour, having had to return home before the
first Test because of post-operative elbow pain.
But the seamer's travel plans and
availability for one-day international and Twenty20 squads, due to be
named after this Test, are still dependent on ongoing fitness checks in
Yorkshire.
Just ahead: England hold a narrow advantage going into day two
