Misbah Stands Firm As England Attack In Abu Dhabi

Misbah Stands Firm As England Attack In Abu Dhabi

Stuart Broad (left) was outstanding on the opening day in Abu Dhabi for England

©REUTERS / Action Images

Pakistan 256-7 (Misbah-ul-Haq 83no, Asad Shafiq 58) v England
Second Test, Abu Dhabi, day one
Scorecard

Pakistan struggled to break free of some excellent England bowling on the opening day of the second Test in Abu Dhabi as they closed on 256 for seven.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq both scored half-centuries to revive the innings after they had slipped to 103 for four in the afternoon session.

Stuart Broad was the pick of the England bowlers and he took three for 42, Monty Panesar marked his return with the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez and Graeme Swann also picked up three wickets.

It could and should have been better for England as Misbah was dropped on 30 and Shafiq was also missed by Andrew Strauss before he was eventually dismissed.

Hafeez made 31 before he was bowled by Panesar. He and Taufeeq Umar had put on 51 for the first wicket before Taufeeq was bowled by Swann for 16.

Azhar Ali and Younus Khan then succumbed to Broad who sent both batsman's off-stumps cartwheeling behind them having broken through their defences following a sustained spell of excellent bowling.

Both had made 24 and it marked the first instance in Pakistan's Test history of their top four batsmen had all been dismissed bowled.

England blotted their copybook with their fielding, however, when Panesar invited Misbah to drive but the resultant edge was missed by James Anderson at slip.

Strauss then almost held on to a tough chance at chest height which would have seen off Shafiq before he fell for 58, missing the ball as he ambitiously swept Swann to be trapped in front.

Broad was just as impressive when England took the new ball and he quickly removed Adnan Akmal - also trapped in front - for nine.

Misbah mixed stout defence by launching Panesar for four big sixes - two of them in the final over of the day - down the ground and also hitting five fours as he provided the bedrock for Pakistan's innings.

England closed the day in high spirits, however, despite Misbah's unbeaten 83 in 168 balls, when Swann bowled Abdur Rehman without scoring.

Left-arm spinner Panesar replaced seamer Chris Tremlett, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the series with a back injury.

Pakistan lead the three-match series 1-0 after a convincing ten-wicket win in Dubai.

© Cricket World 2012