England spin duo Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann struck to reduce Pakistan to 54 for three in their second innings at tea yesterday on the third day of the second Test in Abu Dhabi, leaving the hosts 16 runs behind England’s first innings total of 327.
Pakistan’s security troubles may have forced their team to play home matches in the Gulf, but with more than 1 million Pakistanis living in the United Arab Emirates, the crowd was behind Misbah-ul-Haq’s men.
More supporters came after Friday prayers and they would have enjoyed the first hour of afternoon play as Pakistan bagged England’s final two wickets before openers Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar made a steady start to their second innings.
England then struck, Panesar drawing Hafeez (22) forward as the batsman tried to block the anticipated turn, but the ball kept straight for a clear LBW.
Swann came on at the other end and bowled Umar (7), as Pakistan lost their second wicket without adding to their score of 29.
However, Panesar was not to be outshone, bowling Younus Khan (1) with a turning delivery that clipped off-stump.
Captain Misbah (12) and Azhar Ali (12) were at the crease at tea.
Earlier, Stuart Broad’s unbeaten 58 had helped England achieve a 70-run first innings lead.
His knock was vital after Matt Prior and Ian Bell both disappointed with the bat, England losing their final five wickets for 120 runs.
For Pakistan, all-rounder Hafeez finished with 3-54, while Saeed Ajmal ended on 4-108.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite