As the day two of the final Test between England and Pakistan which is being played at the Oval came to an end, the visitors had scored 340 runs with the loss of six wickets. ‘It’s great to have strength in depth, but the lower order should be putting the icing on the cake, not making the cake.
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Leg-spinner Yasir Shah then took three for 15 as England slumped to 88 for four in their second innings come the end of Saturday’s third day – still 126 runs behind, with two days left in the game.
It was a result few predicted after England’s consecutive wins at Old Trafford and Edgbaston saw them bounce back from their convincing defeat at Lord’s.
While England captain Alastair Cook and number three Joe Root scored a combined 935 runs at an average of 66.78 over the four Tests, the rest of the top five – Alex Hales, James Vince and Gary Ballance – managed 498 runs at 22.63 between them.
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. Ultimately, though, they just weren’t good enough to finish off the job at The Oval.
Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who took his third five-wicket haul of the series, said that the partnership between Marsh and Smith shows that the team is slowly coming to terms with the Asian conditions.
But it is not just the batsmen who are causing concern.
Finally, after failing in first three Tests of this crucial series, Younis Khan recoiled back with the record-thrashing knock of 218 runs.
“Not scoring a big score has been a little bit frustrating, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to kick on and get a big score”. ‘We’re a good side when we’re on it, but there are areas we need to improve to make the next step’.
“We’ve given them four chances in that first session on day two”.
“But apart from that incident. we have talked about the cricket for 99.9 per cent of the series”. “I will be trying to get there when I can, that’s for sure”. There are a lot of tours and even our home series are in the UAE.
The significance of a harmonious return was not lost on captain Misbah-ul-Haq. They will next be seen in action on 18 August, where they play Ireland in the first of a two-match ODI series.
Misbah said that he sees his family only once in a year as all the matches are hosted overseas.
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‘Playing all your games outside Pakistan is really hard, ‘ the captain said.
