“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.
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England were 194 for six in their second innings at lunch on the fourth day, still 20 runs shy of making Pakistan bat again as the tourists sought a win that would see them end the four-match series all square at 2-2.
Meanwhile, Australia have enjoyed their best batting session of the series with Sri Lanka as they fight their way back into the third Test in Colombo.
The action between Pakistan and England will now shift to the five-match One-day worldwide series, which will commence on 24th August after the visitors complete their short two-ODI trip to Ireland. It needs to win the Port of Spain Test to reclaim the number-one ranking which it had conceded to Australia following Australia’s 2-0 series win over New Zealand in February this year. The United Arab Emirates has since become their adopted base.
Richie Richardson of the Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees imposed the fine after Misbah-ul-Haq’s side was ruled to be one over short of its target of 158 overs when time allowances* were taken into consideration**.
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. Between 2004 and 2015, England won ten out of 11 home series of four or more Tests.
“We’ve given everyone a pretty fair go”.
Misbah-ul-Haq and his team had started the summer in style, winning the opening Test at Lord’s to spark those famous press-up celebrations.
It is an unsustainable collective shortfall for a Test team with aspirations to top the world rankings.
“Consistently, we haven’t scored enough runs at the top of the order”, said Cook.
England have an established policy of ensuring all players selected are given time to prove themselves, but as Bayliss assessed the team’s performance after their 10-wicket defeat at The Oval on Sunday, there were hints perhaps that time may well be running out in some cases.
The likes of Alex Hales, James Vince and Gary Ballance were all given the chance to impress but struggled across the four innings and failed to reach 200 runs. “We are a good side when we are on it but there are a few areas we need to improve to make that next step”.
‘It’s hard to comment because you’re not allowed to criticise a decision, ‘ said Cook.
“It probably shows exactly where we are as a side, some good games and some not so good games”.
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While admitting that the missed chances are an area of concern, Cook said that England win games when they hold onto the catches. With both lunch and Pakistan’s total in sight, Ali got a sizeable edge on a fast leg break which Sarfraz did brilliantly well to cling on to.
