Pakistan had the upper hand on the opening day of the first Test against England yesterday, despite losing Mohammad Hafeez on 98 at the stroke of tea.
Pakistan were 173-2 at tea, with Hafeez falling LBW to Ben Stokes on the second ball of the last over before the break.
Hafeez, who was out on 96 in the first innings of his previous Test appearance in Abu Dhabi against New Zealand last year, fell two runs short of what would have been the ninth Test hundred of his career.
Photo: Reuters
Shoaib Malik, making a comeback into the test side after a gap of more than five years, was unbeaten on 72, with veteran Younis Khan joining him after tea.
Hafeez and Malik added 167 runs for the second wicket, after Pakistan lost opener Shan Masood early, undone by a slow bouncer from James Anderson in the third over of the innings.
The ball reared up and hit Masood’s helmet as he took his eyes off the ball, before ricocheting on to his stumps. Masood was on two and Pakistan were on five.
Anderson could have got his second wicket in the seventh over when Hafeez prodded at an outswinger and edged a simple catch to Ian Bell at second slip, only for the fielder to put it down.
Malik was then lucky to escape when on 40, slashing a Stuart Broad delivery to Joe Root in the gully, only for TV replays to show that the bowler had over-stepped the crease.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bat.
That advantage came after a major blow for Pakistan with star leg-spinner Yasir Shah unable to recover from the back injury he suffered while bowling in the nets on Monday.
That left Pakistan with only one spinner, Zulfiqar Babar, and they went into the match with three seamers in Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan and Rahat Ali.
England, as expected, gave a debut to Rashid on a pitch that is expected to assist the spinners from day three onward.
Pakistan have played seven Test matches at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, winning four, including the last two by massive margins against Australia (356 runs) and New Zealand (248 runs), and drawing the other three. They also won the only Test match there against England by 72 runs, in 2012.
England took two wickets after tea, with Pakistan finishing on 286-4. Shoaib Malik ending the day on an unbeaten 124.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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