Moeen helped Jonny Bairstow put on 65 for the sixth wicket and, briefly at least, England were dreaming of making life awkward for Pakistan.
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Steven Finn is backing England’s “backs-to-the-wall” mentality to rescue them in the final Test against Pakistan.
Marsh was batting undefeated on 64 including 10 boundaries with Smith on 61 with a six and five boundaries.
England captain Alastair Cook said a lack of top-order runs and sloppy catching cost his side the chance of a series win against Pakistan. He also had one catch to his credit and was rightly adjudged Man of the Match.
“The lower order has regularly got us out of trouble. It was tough, so I chose to face as many balls as possible and wear out the bowlers so that I can score runs later on”, Chandimal said after the day’s play.
“It is not easy and until you get that score it [Test cricket] is a hard place to be”, added Cook.
“The two guys who got hundreds played fantastically, negated us and got us exhausted – fielding 140-odd overs – and they reaped their rewards”. Pakistan’s team performance here was the equal of England’s at Edgbaston. I can’t fault the lads’ efforts. Ultimately, though, they just weren’t good enough to finish off the job at The Oval.
His conclusion is that England were just not quite ready to be world-beaters after all. For more than six years we have not been playing any games at home. “This four days has shown exactly where we are”.
“We’re a good side but there are areas we need to improve”.
Cook could hardly disagree that Hales was out of order.
“It s not ideal”, he said of Hales s conduct.
The off-spinner s11 wickets in the Pakistan series came at an expensive average of 46.54 apiece and denied Cook the control he wanted in the field. “We had the opportunity to beat Pakistan and it’s frustrating”.
However, after Pakistan had chiselled out two vital wickets in a nervy morning’s work, the return of Wahab’s fierce pace in the first hour after lunch was the moment at which all hope for England was blown away.
When Misbah was made captain, after the terrorist attack in Lahore in 2009 and the spot-fixing scandal of no balls at Lord’s, Pakistan faced a profound crisis. “Winning this match means a lot”, he said. “And this Test was important because we lost a legend, Hanif Mohammad, so this was our tribute to him”. He’s made a really good step forward, and he should be very proud of that.
After registering a triumphant against England at The Oval in the last Test of the 4 Test series, Pakistan have retained their third position in MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings.
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Pakistan, rather than England, may be about to go to the top of the world rankings – despite being hampered by nomadic status thanks to the long-term security threat in their home country.
