Although close to winning the first Test after Cook’s epic 528-ball, 856-minute innings of 263, they were comfortably beaten by 178 runs in the second match of the series and were ultimately undone by batting collapses, fielding errors and inferior spin bowling.
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However, Shah and Malik returned to wrap up the England innings to hand Pakistan the victory.
At stumps, England was 46 for 2 with Alastair Cook (17) and Joe Root (6) battling hard against Pakistan’s spin attack on a pitch increasingly assisting turn.
England’s best chase in all Test cricket is 332 they did against Australia at Melboure in 1928 while they have not crossed more than 209-run target in Asia, achieved against Bangladesh at Dhaka five years ago.
Pakistan jumped up to second place in the latest ICC Team rankings for Tests after clinching the series 2-1 against England as they outplayed the visitors in the final Test in Sharjah.
Earlier, Mohammad Hafeez capitalised on two chances to score 151 with 15 fours and three sixes while Asad Shafiq made 46 before Pakistan were dismissed after tea. “He’s had starts. Once you get in, you have to go big in these conditions”. Shoaib Malik turned out to be the hero with the ball for the second time in the Test, removing both Moeen Ali and Ian Bell to end the day with figures of 7-3-8-2.
Hafeez, who was given out caught behind for only two on day three but was given a reprieve, timed the ball brilliantly and played England’s ineffective spinners all too easily as he put on 93 for the fifth wicket with Misbah-ul-Haq (38).
Jonny Bairstow missed a stumping off Adil Rashid in the first over of day four with Hafeez on 97, and the opener was dropped by Stuart Broad on 113.
It will be interesting to see if Moeen, Patel and Rashid are still considered the best options when the squad travels to the subcontinent in 2016.
The session, which comprised of 83 runs for the loss of one wicket, belonged to Pakistan.
The third Test in Sharjah ended in defeat for England by 127 runs.
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DETERMINED: Pakistan’s Sarfraz Ahmed plays a shot on his way to 36 on the fourth day of the third Test between Pakistan and England in Sharjah on Wednesday.
