Malik a rock for Pakistan
SHOAIB Malik marked his first Test appearance for more than five years with a composed unbeaten 124.
Mohammad Hafeez fell two runs short of a century of his own, and Younis Khan sealed his place in history by overhauling Javed Miandad’s 22year-old record to become the leading run-scorer in Pakistan Test history, as England’s bowlers were served notice of the hard graft to come on the opening day of the first Test in Abu Dhabi.
By the close they had chiselled four key wickets, including that of Pakistan’s captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who had made three centuries in as many innings in his last two Tests in Abu Dhabi.
He was dismissed this time for three in controversial circumstances – umpire Sundaram Ravi upholding James Anderson’s review for a caught-behind, despite there being no overwhelming evidence that the initial not-out decision had been incorrect.
Malik, however, was still in situ at stumps, and proved to be the rock of Pakistan’s first innings.
With 14 fours, the majority filleted through the off side whenever England’s discipline wavered, he showcased the technique, application and acceleration necessary to thrive in the stifling heat of the UAE desert.
The bulk of Pakistan’s first-day total of 286/4 was made in his 168-run stand for the second wicket with Hafeez.
Hafeez had looked nailed on for his ninth Test hundred until Ben Stokes trapped him lbw with the final ball of the afternoon session.
At 173/2 the die was cast for an arduous final session, and, sure enough, into the fray strode the imposing figure of Younis, who started the series needing 19 runs to overhaul Miandad’s long- standing record of 8 832 runs.
After a cautious start, he climbed into his strokes against the spinners and, in one bludgeoned swing of the bat against Moeen Ali, he struck a six over midwicket.
This enabled him to leapfrog both Miandad and his predecessor as Pakistan’s linchpin, Inzamam-ul-Haq, who had challenged Miandad’s record back in 2007, only to fall three runs short in his final Test innings.
Younis’s itchy innings continued in a similar vein, and it was not a massive surprise when, on 38, he smeared once too often at Broad and picked out Cook at short straight midon, a cunning fielding position from a captain who has begun to find his feet as a tactician in the past six months.
There was little Cook could do, however, about the moments that got away from his team, and three vital let-offs – one each for Shoaib and Hafeez, and another for Asad Shafiq in the penultimate over of the day – undermined a determined day’s work from England’s six-man attack.
The need for the fielders to capitalise on every opportunity had been drummed home by their assistant coach, Paul Farbrace, in the wake of two fallible fielding efforts in their warm-up games last week.
But the advice might as well have been a mirage, in particular to Ian Bell, whose two dropped chances at slip spoke of a cricketer who isn’t entirely convinced of his continued hunger. – ESPNcricinfo
Patrick Compton
THE Dolphins and the Warriors – both unbeaten after stirring victories at the weekend – will meet in a televised Momentum One-Day Cup match at St George’s Park today (2pm).
The hosts are hopeful that their captain, Colin Ingram, will recover from illness to take his place in the team after missing their thrilling, highscoring victory over the Titans at SuperSport Park.
The Dolphins, for their part, are likely to field the same team that beat the Knights by 76 runs at the Oval in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday.
Speaking after practice yesterday, coach Lance Klusener said that there had been some recent rain in Port Elizabeth, and he felt that the pitch would be a good one for batting – certainly better than the slow, uneven track at the Oval.
Asked whether he was happy with Sunday’s performance, Klusener replied: “I’m happy with the result, of course, but we need to improve in some areas. We need someone to score a hundred, and we need a big partnership in the top order.
“We also bowled too many four-balls, and our fielding was pretty average. We won’t be able to get away with that standard of fielding later in the competition. But there were a lot of positive things, and if we can build on that then we’ll be in good shape.”
The Dolphins, who have joined up again with their fielding consultant, Ryan Maron, have a talented but young, inexperienced middleorder, and there will be pressure on the top order, comprising Morne van Wyk, Cameron Delport, Vaughn van Jaarsveld and Cody Chetty, to score the bulk of the runs.
Van Jaarsveld was the Dolphins’ star batsman with a mature 82 on Sunday, and Klusener will no doubt be asking some of his teammates to take a leaf out of the chunky left-hander’s book.
Keshav Maharaj and Robbie Frylinck were the most successful of the Dolphins’ bowlers on Sunday, with three wickets apiece, but it was the bowling unit as a whole that impressed, taking wickets regularly and keeping the Knights’ batsmen under pressure.
Warriors coach Malibongwe Maketa said he had been refocusing his squad for today’s game.
“What was pleasing about the Titans game was the belief that we had throughout the whole squad,” said Maketa.
“It suggests that we’re in a good space, but we’re very careful about reminding ourselves that we need to take it a game at a time.
“What happened on Friday is now gone, and we need to refocus. We’ve got young players who have not really won anything, so it’s important that we keep focusing on the process.”