Pakistan yesterday grabbed two early wickets to hit England hard in their chase of a 284-run target as the third and final Test heads for an intriguing finish after day four in Sharjah.
England were 46-2 with Alastair Cook (17) and Joe Root (six) fighting hard against Pakistan’s spinners, led by Shoaib Malik who claimed both the wickets on a weary Sharjah stadium pitch.
England will need another 238 runs on the fifth and final day today for a series-leveling win, while Pakistan will fancy a 2-0 victory.
Pakistan won the second Test by 178 runs in Dubai, while the first ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi.
It was Malik, due to quit Test cricket after this match, who provided Pakistan early breakthroughs, trapping Moeen Ali (22) leg-before and then bowled Ian Bell (nought) in successive overs.
Cook and Root survived confident leg-before appeals off Zulfiqar Babar in the dying moments, much to the relief of the England camp.
England’s best chase in all Test cricket is 332 they did against Australia at Melbourne in 1928, while they have not crossed more than 209-run target in Asia, achieved against Bangladesh at Dhaka five years ago.
England could have dismissed Pakistan for less than 355 in their second innings and subsequently chasing an easier target had they not dropped two crucial catches of Hafeez on 113 and Asad Shafiq, who made 46, on 29.
It was paceman Stuart Broad who led the attack admirably with 3-44 and was ably backed up by James Anderson (2-52) to help England take the last six Pakistan wicket with the second new ball for 126 runs.
It was only through Shafiq and Srafraz Ahmed’s 55-run stand for the seventh wicket that Pakistan’s lead soared over 250 plus as the pair batted with determination. Spinner Samit Patel dismissed the Pakistan wicket-keeper for 36 before Broad had Shafiq to leave Pakistan at 354-9.
England took the second new ball after 81 overs with Pakistan at a lunch score of 229-4 and Broad struck in the fifth over, trapping Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq leg before for 38.
Misbah hit two fours and a six and became Broad’s 50th wicket in the calendar year in 13th Test, the best this year.
Misbah and Hafeez added an invaluable 93 runs for the fifth wicket.
Hafeez, dropped by Broad off his own bowling when on 113, drove Anderson for two to complete the 150-mark, his fourth 150 plus in all Tests, but a run later holed out to spinner Ali at long-on where Bell took a simple catch.
Hafeez batted for 380 minutes, faced 266 balls and hit 15 boundaries and three sixes.
With Hafeez’s catch Bell became the eighth English fielder to take 100 plus catches in Test cricket.
Shaquille O’Neal is staying with TNT Sports on a new contract worth more than US$15 million per year, Front Office Sports reported on Friday. The news means the cast of Inside the NBA is staying together even as TNT is set to license out the show to ESPN starting next season. TNT was the odd network out in the NBA’s recent TV rights negotiations, as NBC and Amazon joined previous rightsholder ESPN in inking deals for basketball games. That left TNT without a need for pregame and postgame NBA shows. In a trade with ESPN, TNT is licensing Inside the NBA to the
Juventus on Sunday stopped Inter from replacing SSC Napoli at the top of Serie A by beating their fierce rivals 1-0 and moving into the UEFA Champions League positions. Francisco Conceicao made sure that Napoli would stay two points ahead of reigning champions Inter by classily tucking home the winning goal 16 minutes before the end of an entertaining contest in Turin. Portugal attacker Conceicao netted his fourth goal of the season in all competitions after brilliant work from Randal Kolo Muani to give Juve a third straight league win. Juve are in fourth place on 46 points, ahead on goal-difference from SS
Eugenie Bouchard already has her own signature pickleball paddle. She is No. 17 in the pickleball rankings and constantly appears on the main court at events because she is always a big draw. However, just to be absolutely clear, she is not retired from tennis. The 2014 Wimbledon finalist still practices on the tennis court, still competes at tennis events and still has a Women’s Tennis Association ranking (No. 1,288). The Canadian standout just has a new sport that has caught her attention. Bouchard is one of several familiar tennis names — like Jack Sock and Donald Young — crossing over to
Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum on Sunday combined for 27 points as Shaquille O’Neal’s “Team Shaq” cruised to victory in the new-look NBA All-Star game in San Francisco. Curry, playing on his home court at Golden State’s Chase Center, reeled off a string of trademark three-pointers to help his star-studded lineup coast to a 41-25 victory over Charles Barkley’s “Team Chuck.” Boston Celtics star Tatum finished with 15 points after delivering a dominant performance in a starting lineup that also included Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and James Harden. Team Shaq’s preparations for the game had been dealt a blow shortly before tip-off when