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.