Pakistan vs England: Job’s far from over

A triumphant victory against the world’s best ranked test team is surely a moment of joy. But rest assured that all our delight can turn into depression if Pakistan couldn’t secure the series.

With two matches still waiting for results, the series is wide open for both teams. Pakistan surely has an upper hand thanks to the glorious victory it achieved when it wrapped-up the first match in just three days. But the current English team is known for fighting back, so Pakistan has to be at its best in the remaining two games if its aim is to wrap-up the series successfully.

So far, things are going in favor of men in green. All they have to do is to carry-on with the momentum and to focus on taking a decisive lead so that not only they can put another badge of victory on their chest but also to continue their upward journey in ICC Test Rankings.

So for the time being, everything seems fine. Let’s hope that Pakistan cuts the ribbon of the second test with same enthusiasm that it showed in the first test. Pakistan Zindabaad.

Pakistan vs England: Pakistan’s batting has become quite boring (which is good)

Second day of the match was quite dull as compared to the first one. It was as if Pakistan was aware of the fact that the stands were empty, so they played according to the “situation”. Apart from some courageous shots by Hafeez, the best entertaining thing was the “English Orchestra” which was sitting at the stands.

But this is a very positive sign that Pakistan’s batting has become dull. Though I’m not at all suggesting that there is no need for a bit accelerated run-rate, the thing is at-least the scorers have to work for what they are getting paid for, unlike the last time (when Pakistan toured England) when crossing the hundred-mark seemed like a Herculean task . So in simple words, boring is not best but it is good.

Apart from Hafeez’s unexplained pull or hook (or whatever you like to call it) and Azhar’s “mysterious” dismissal, all Pakistani batsmen played sensibly. England had to work quite hard to get the wickets; had to bowl some peaches (like the delivery on which Taufeeq Umar got bowled) to get results in their favor. Azhar Ali has to improve his “instincts”, has to improve his judgment because it was not the brilliance of Broad that got him, it was his “constant” behavior of hanging his bat against wide deliveries, just to give a faint nick straight to the keeper.

Anyhow, aside from playing a bit slow (especially when you consider the fact that openers gave a very solid platform), Pakistan has batted quite nicely if not incredibly. If somehow, we can get a lead of about 150+ (though it’s too much to ask), we have a very fair chance to draw first blood and take a lead in the series. Let’s hope and pray that Saeed Ajmal does the trick once again and achieve his rightful Man of the Match award.

Pakistan vs England: Spin has done the trick

Just like everyone has predicted, England has crumbled on a spinning track. Quite frankly, Dubai’s pitch had nothing in it; it was Ajmal’s magic that has done the trick.

After winning the toss, Strauss made the right call to bat first considering the condition of the pitch. But his whole team succumbing to one man, he surely didn’t have that in mind at that time. Cook was the first one to bow down against the spin when he tried to cut the ball but ended in edging it in the hands of Adnan Akmal. Jonathan Trott started well but was undone by Aizaz Cheema. Afterwards, it was all Ajmal’s magic that resulted in England’s capitulation. He dismissed Strauss, Pietersen and Bell in no time. Morgan put some resistance along with Matt Prior but not for long. He was trapped LBW by Saeed Ajmal when he tried to sweep a straighter one. Broad soon followed his team mates when he became the fifth victim of Ajmal’s brilliance. Swann fought like a warrior, and when things were settling for England, he was clean-bowled by Abdur Rehman. Then Ajmal didn’t take much time and sent Tremlett and Anderson back to the pavilion. He emerged as the pick of the bowlers with 7 wickets for 55 runs (his career best performance).

Pakistani openers, so far, has done well. With Hafeez on 22 and Taufeeq on 18, they have ensured that the bowling effort of their teammates should not get wasted. Let’s see what happens on day 2 but for today, Pakistan has done an incredible job.