England therefore left themselves needing just 99 in a maximum 19 overs, of which only 11 could be bowled, after Cook’s man-of-the-match 263 had allowed him to declare first time round on 598 for nine midway through the final morning.
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“They have nice lights here”.
Joe Root remained unbeaten on 33 as Zulfiqar Babar (2 for 27) and Shoaib Malik (2 for 25) ensured Pakistan didn’t concede a lead in the three-match series. “It made it a bit easier for me to take that Pakistan’s spinners also struggled in the first innings”, said Rashid.
In time the frustration might be overcome by the positives of how England performed.
But even on a docile pitch it needed a strong resolve from Cook as he came to the crease in the last hour of play on the second day under the pressure of a big total of 8-523 declared by Pakistan.
“We probably caught them off guard a bit in that last session, but I’m sure they’ll come back stronger and be well aware of it now”. “It’s just an unbelievable will to concentrate for that long, an unbelievable effort”.
Whether Cook will benefit again from Moeen’s inside knowledge is questionable – but the all-rounder will be keeping his ear to the ground just in case.
“I don’t quite know why I’ve got such a good subcontinent record”, said Cook who now has eight hundreds in Asia.
“We were looking to take wickets early on, bowl the spinners when the batsmen are not set and then maybe at the end we had the option of bowling with the seamers”, Misbah said.
“The only query I have is, in the letter of the law, is it unsafe to play?”
“He’s got a few good friends from Yorkshire in this team”.
“So we aren’t too fazed – we are preparing well, and full of confidence”.
Moeen is a pivotal presence for England, not just with bat and ball, but as a close ally of his fellow spinner Adil Rashid too. The offspinner is already under scrutiny, having been reported for a suspect bowling action in Zimbabwe on October 6, but he can still play pending a report on his action which will come in two weeks’ time.
“I had worked very hard for the first Test after seeing the pitch in Abu Dhabi it was disappointing to miss out”, Yasir said on a local television channel, as quoted by NDTV.
“The moment is bittersweet because when you’re only 20-ish runs short we would have liked another three overs, but we understand the decision”.
Pakistan’s plan was to play two fast bowlers and at least two specialist spinners but they were forced to bring in Imran Khan as part of a three-man seam attack after Yasir and Gohar didn’t make it.
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He said if Pakistan had Yasir back for the second game, England batsmen would face problems against him as he was good at pushing the ball through and deceiving the batsmen.
