New ball wickets help England's cause

Lunch Pakistan 257 and 198 for 7 (Ajmal 11*, Rehman 10*) lead England 327 by 128 runs

Monty Panesar got England's first breakthrough of the day.
England pressed strongly for victory in the second Test on a cool and misty morning in Abu Dhabi. It was more akin to Manchester in October and, although such climatic conditions are not universally hailed as salubrious, they perked up England's bowlers as they took three Pakistan wickets in the first session.


Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq had enhanced their reputation as two batsmen who can be entrusted with Pakistan's future as they put up painstaking resistance the previous evening but both departed by lunch as England sensed a victory that would level the series with one Test to play.

It was damp enough for a rope to be pulled around the outfield before start of play and if that did not please the knot of England supporters, whose sun cream remains largely unused, it was bound to lift England's spirits as Pakistan resumed on 125 for 4, 55 runs to the good.

Shafiq, on his 26th birthday, tried to recapture his attentive approach of the previous evening but Monty Panesar found the outside edge with one that turned sharply and James Anderson stooped to hold a good catch at first slip to give England's left-arm spinner his fourth wicket.

Panesar's celebrations are more muted these days. In his early Tests for England he would dance animatedly down the pitch, eyes shining, and leap into the arms of the slip fielders. Now his dance is more muted but it fools nobody and he is unlikely to be able to keep it up for long.

Azhar needed DRS to overturn an lbw decision when Hawk Eye concluded Graeme Swann's delivery would have turned past leg stump by several inches, a prediction that led the umpire, Steve Davis, into a lengthy bout of head shaking.

Panesar found more extravagant turn to pass Azhar's outside edge in the final over before the new ball became available but as much as Andrew Strauss responded excitedly he took the new ball without a second thought. It brought dividends in the third over when Anderson unseated Azhar with a lifting delivery and Matt Prior held the catch.

Azhar and Shafiq had put on 88 in 42 overs but such a cautious approach is not part of Adnan Akmal's make-up. His attempt to reverse sweep Swann, on four, indicated he saw things differently. He is certainly a sucker for the wide, driveable ball and, when Stuart Broad provided it, his uncontrolled shot flew to Strauss at second slip.

Little encapsulates Strauss' management of this England side more than his insistent on a systematic response whenever the thought of an umpiring review enters England's mind. England had briefly become excitable when Swann turned one into Azhar's pad and Alastair Cook caught the rebound at short leg. Strauss convened an immediate conference, calmed moods, sought judgements, demanded reason and error was averted. The businessman in him could not have been more apparent.

That does not mean England never mess up. They used up their final review against Abdur Rehman when Anderson's appeal for an lbw decision was sent upstairs. The ball was shown to have pitched outside leg stump.