Pakistan defeated England with a blowout 10-wicket victory inside three days on Thursday. Pakistan stubbornly extended its first innings in the morning to 338 for a lead of 146, then began before lunch dismantling England in its second innings for 160 inside 58 overs. Umar Gul s aggressive bowling for 4-63, coupled with some shocking shot selection by the Englishmen, left Pakistan with only 15 runs to win the opening test of the three-match series, and opener Mohammad Hafeez hit three boundaries in collecting them all. It was top-ranked England s first defeat since losing to Australia in the Ashes test at Perth in 2010. England had won seven of nine since then. Pakistan extended its unbeaten run in tests to eight since May, including six victories. Offspinner Saeed Ajmal, who grabbed a career-best 7-55 in England s first innings score of 192, added three more wickets to be named man of the match. It was second career match haul of 10 wickets. Abdur Rehman showed England why they should have included left-arm spinner Monty Panesar with 3-37, and narrowly missed a hat trick. After Adnan Akmal s gutsy half-century stretched Pakistan s first-innings lead to 146, Gul had England on the mat by tea at 75-5, claiming three wickets. Gul had reduced England to 16-1 at lunch when captain Andrew Strauss was adjudged caught behind off a leg-side delivery after TV umpire Steve Davis upheld onfield umpire Billy Bowden s decision. Opener Alastair Cook (5) and Kevin Pietersen (0) departed from attempting shocking pull shots against Gul. In his second spell, Gul found a thick outside edge of topscorer Jonathan Trott, who attempted an expansive cover drive to try and to reach a half century. Trott was out for 49 off 111 balls. Ajmal undid Ian Bell for 4 with his doosra. The batsman halfheartedly called for a review but started walking back after watching the replay on the big screen at Dubai International Cricket Stadium with the ball striking his back leg in front of the stumps. Rehman struck just before tea when Eoin Morgan on 14 got a faint edge to the wicketkeeper, and was on a hat trick when he dismissed Stuart Broad (17) and Chris Tremlett (0) off successive deliveries with England still 11 runs shy of making Pakistan bat again. Graeme Swann (39) and James Anderson (15) ensured England did not lose by an innings with a 25-run last wicket stand before Ajmal wrapped up the innings by finding the leading edge of Swann s bat and Asad Shafiq making a low catch and roll at short cover. Pakistan resumed overnight at 288-7 and thanks to the diminutive Akmal hitting 61 with eight fours, frustrated England for an hour and a quarter. Akmal lost Gul for a duck when he hit Broad in only the second over of the day to Morgan at point. Akmal gathered a precious 30 runs with Ajmal before Swann had the latter caught close to the wicket for 12. The last-wicket stand of 19 all made by Akmal added to England s frustration as the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman kept the strike from No. 11 Aizaz Cheema for four overs. Akmal played some extravagant strokes that included two reverse swept boundaries off Swann. He brought up his second test half-century with a similar stroke for two runs and pumped his fist in joy while raising his bat toward his teammates in the dressing room. Swann finally closed Pakistan s first innings when Akmal went out of the crease but missed the line and was stumped by Prior down the legside. Swann ended with 4-107 while Broad claimed 3-84. The second test begins at Abu Dhabi on Jan. 25, and the teams return to Dubai for the last test from Feb. 3.
Popular Posts
-
Maicon The Brazilian Who Is A Inter Milan Defender Has Been Targeted By Chelsea And Real Madrid But Possibility Of Real Madrid Signing ...
-
Ryan Lochte of the United States wins gold. Ryan Lochte of the United States reacts after winning the Final of the Men's 400m Indivi...
-
Jacque Kallis celebrated his 150th test match with one of the most complete all-round performances of his long career as he inspired So...
-
Wayne Rooney scored twice and Manchester United held off a dramatic fightback from 10-man Manchester City to win a pulsating FA Cup de...
-
Manchester United's reward for beating Manchester City in the FA Cup was a Fourth Round trip to Anfield to take on Liverpool. T...
-
Manchester City lost its top spot in the Premier League to rival Manchester United after a shock 1-0 defeat at Swansea on Sunday. Luke ...
-
France overhauled the United States in the closing stages to claim the 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay title in thrilling fashion at the Aquat...
-
POS LP CLUB P W D L GF GA GD PTS 1 (1) Manchester City 37 27 5 5 90 27 63 86 2 (2) Manchester United 37 27 5 5 88 33 55 86 3 (3) Arsen...
-
Set a daunting 324-run target, England were bowled out for 252 with paceman Umar Gul taking 4-61 and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (4-67) to ...
-
Australia beat India by 65 runs in the first tri one-day series international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. In a match red...
