Spinner Abdur Rehman took six wickets as Pakistan beat England by 72 runs in their second Test yesterday to clinch the three-match series, bowling out the tourists for 72 in their second innings after another abject batting display.
England earlier dismissed Pakistan for 214 to give themselves a target of 145 to win in Abu Dhabi, but Andrew Strauss’s men again failed to deal with the host’s triple spin threat of Rehman, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez.
Ajmal finished on 6-25, while Ajmal’s figures were 3-22.
Alastair Cook (7) was the first to go, caught and bowled by Hafeez, who stooped to get his fingers to the ball inches from the turf.
Ian Bell (3) came in at No. 3 in place of Jonathan Trott, who had been off the field with an illness, and the Warwickshire batsman lasted just three balls before deflecting a Ajmal delivery on to his stumps with an inside edge. England were 26-2 and reeling.
Kevin Pietersen (1) and Eoin Morgan (0) then continued their miserable form, falling to Rehman in the space of three balls. Pietersen was trapped LBW after lunging forward to defend, while Morgan saw his leg stump felled.
Earlier, Monty Panesar bagged six wickets in his first Test since 2009 as England thrived in the field, but their afternoon collapse was reminiscent of their first Test woes in Dubai, when they slumped to 43-5 in their first innings and went on to lose by 10 wickets.
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