England v Pakistan (in U.A.E) 2012

If ENG lose and SA whitewash NZ (which would probably be the most likely result in that series) then SA will be the new number 1. Fairly big incentive for ENG to win, or at least draw, as if saving face and showing they can play in subcontinent conditions wasn't a big enough one already. 

England won't go down easily. They have started well here.

53-7 for lunch on day 1. Amazing indeed. who would have thought that. I have always believed Pakistan are better off batting second. They achieved msot of their success batting second under Misbah. It is a good wake up call though - there is no room for complacency against the top ranked side. Let's see if England batsmen can translate this confidence when their turn comes. Pakistan have won tests from this  position - Karachi and Kolkatta against India - they were 26/6 and 39/6 back then. let's see if there is a revival of any sorts here.

Quite a crazy day of cricket that! I have a feeling Pakistan will still win this because they will be high on confidence after winning the first two tests. Superb performance by English bowlers today though, should be a very interesting day tomorrow.

Yes , just 50-75 runs lead won't be a huge advantage. They got to bat for at least 2+ sessions and accumulate around 200 runs (honestly I don't see that happening at 104/6, unless Broad has some plans and give his captain a good enough stand)

Edited by MalhotraRaj84 - 04 February 2012 at 4:31am

Razzaq is likely to be left out from the squad for the ODI's BP owing to his poor form, Malik apparently will still make it.

yup! Pakistan in a strong position now, very good knock by Younus and I hope he goes on to get a double, but then I expect ENG to fight back hard today and get some wickets, a target of around 400 is what Pakistan should look for, that means adding another 220 odd runs.

hmmm...ENG did well to restrict Pakistan a bit of a collapse after Misbah got out, but PAK are firm favts here, ENG again are playing too slow, may be that is how the track is, a 330 odd is almost as good as 430 odd on this wicket.

What? How has it proved he is overrated? His average is still decent and he has bowled with control. Granted, he has been the least effective of the 4 main spinners but that's down to other factors. Firstly, ENG are just worse players of spin than PAK batsmen so of course Ajmal and Rehman are going to look amazing. I'm not saying they are bad bowlers, they are very good bowlers but it's been made to look something extra special due to ENG's incompetence. Secondly, PAK have mainly right-handers and it's obvious Panesar is going to have more success against them than an off-spinner turning it in. Swann is the kind of bowler who is really good in ENG/AUS/SA type tracks with a bit of bounce and skid, these kind of slow low turners aren't really suited to his kind of bowling but we knew this already. I don't really know how you have reached the conclusion that this series proves he is overrated when he has performed exactly as expected.

I don't want to speak too soon but ENG have a decent chance at chasing this down. PAK's weak tail was exposed and they should have really reached 350 lead minimum. Their bowling late in the day lacked intensity and I feel Taufeeq's drop will prove costly. ENG are hopeless against spin but I think PAK have really let them off the hook in this game.

Swann has been out bowled by the other 3 spinners in this series and he is apparently the unofficial best spin bowler in the world. I'm just saying, I expected him to do better - he's still one of my favourite bowlers around...

Here we go, Akmal drops a sitter - sounds familiar? Both the openers now have a life each - 2-1

Originally posted by BackwardPoint What? How has it proved he is overrated? His average is still decent and he has bowled with control. Granted, he has been the least effective of the 4 main spinners but that's down to other factors. Firstly, ENG are just worse players of spin than PAK batsmen so of course Ajmal and Rehman are going to look amazing. I'm not saying they are bad bowlers, they are very good bowlers but it's been made to look something extra special due to ENG's incompetence. Secondly, PAK have mainly right-handers and it's obvious Panesar is going to have more success against them than an off-spinner turning it in. Swann is the kind of bowler who is really good in ENG/AUS/SA type tracks with a bit of bounce and skid, these kind of slow low turners aren't really suited to his kind of bowling but we knew this already. I don't really know how you have reached the conclusion that this series proves he is overrated when he has performed exactly as expected.

This has been really a good series. Very good cricket by both teams even if Pakistan won by 3-0. It wasnt one-sided at all. England had their chances to win but didnt take it, but Pakistan took theirs. This win is as good as a world cup win.
I beleave this pakistani side could do a lot better in foreign conditions than other recet teams which gave up too early.
It doesnt matter which conditions they are playing. Only Champion team can win matched from a bad situation in which Pakistan was in second and third test.


Edited by kahmad - 06 February 2012 at 5:18pm

Misbah and Mohsin make a fine leadership team - similar to Flower/Strauss and now Arthur/Clarke. Let's hope the unity stays and the corruption keeps away. These Pakistanis have some talent to boast!

India and England have both been blasted in whitewashes - but I expect England to be more proactive about their situation and bounce back a lot stronger than India.