Pakistan beat England in nail-biting finish

By Matt Smith

DUBAI (Reuters) – Pakistan overcame belligerent resistance from England’s tail-enders to win the second test by 178 runs on Monday after bowling out Alastair Cook’s men for 312 with just 6.3 overs remaining.

Victory put Pakistan 1-0 up in the three-game series and maintains their record of never having lost a series in their adopted home of the United Arab Emirates.

Starting the final day on 130 for three and chasing an unlikely 491 for victory, England slumped to 193 for seven after lunch.

Adil Rashid (61) and Stuart Broad (30) then added 60 in 90 balls before the latter was bowled by an inswinging Wahab Riaz yorker.

Undeterred, Rashid and Mark Wood (29) were adroit in defence as Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq switched between pace and spin to try to end their resistance.

His team’s appeals grew more desperate as the overs ticked by and the game entered the final hour with two wickets remaining.

Seven fielders crowded the batsmen and the pressure told when Wood edged Zulfiqar Babar’s turning ball to Mohammad Hafeez in the gully.

Five overs later Rashid was last man out, caught attempting a drive through the covers off Yasir Shah.

WAHAB THREAT

Earlier, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow extended their overnight partnership, repelling the threat of paceman Wahab who had engineered England’s match-defining collapse in the first innings.

However, the England pair proved less able to deal with the spin of Zulfiqar (3-53) and Yasir (4-87).

Root (71) was first to fall after edging Zulfiqar to Younus Khan. The slip snaffled the ball a fraction above the turf to reduce England to 157 for four.

Misbah turned up the heat by positioning helmet-clad fielders at silly point and short-leg to accompany two slips.

Bairstow initially read the spin well, lurching forward to pad the ball away and getting on his heels to defend, before he was clean bowled for 22 by a Yasir googly.

Jos Buttler continued his poor form, edging Yasir to Younus at slip on seven, and Ben Stokes was removed for 13 when his wayward drive off paceman Imran Khan went to Misbah at slip.

That brought Rashid and Broad together and they scored freely.

Rashid brought up his maiden test half-century with a scrambled single but ultimately it proved in vain.

Sharjah will host the final test from Nov. 1.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)