Pakistan v England, 2nd Test, Abu Dhabi, 3rd day

Panesar leaves Pakistan reeling

Tea Pakistan 257 and 54 for 3 (Misbah 12*, Azhar 12*) trail England 327 (Cook 94, Trott 74, Broad 58*, Ajmal 4-108 ) by 16 runs

England's bowlers seem to be coming to terms with the rigours of playing Test cricket in Asia. It is rare to see England in the field with two spinners in harness and close fielders clustered. At tea on the third day in Abu Dhabi, with Pakistan faltering, they were even beginning to think they might like it.

The main reason England were able to put the squeeze on Pakistan was Stuart Broad, whose enterprising, unbeaten 58 from 62 balls gave them a 70-run lead on first innings. It looked useful but not as potentially decisive as England made it appear by tea as Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan all fell to the spinners in the space of six overs.

Much was made of England's flimsy top-order batting during their 10-wicket defeat in Dubai. Pakistan's looked just as brittle, just as anxious. Hafeez and Taufeeq fell to nothing more substantial than artfully-pitched straight balls and then Younis got a beauty from Panesar which turned to uproot his off stump. A substantial sandstorm could blow through the gap between Taufeeq's bat and pad.

Panesar and Swann have not been as magical as Saeed Ajmal, nor have they turned the ball as sharply as Abdur Rehman, but in their first Test together for two-and-a-half years they have laid down a challenge.

The growing quality of pitches in the UAE has contributed to two engrossing Tests. It was widely anticipated that this could be a tedious series on unresponsive pitches. Instead, there has been enough life for bowlers to relish an even contest. For those watching from England, whichever side they have been rooting for, it has been well worth an early alarm call.

But the main benefits have come from the advent of DRS. Technology is rapidly making defensive pad play a thing of the past as umpires grant lbw decisions where once they would have looked askance. The game is different now, livelier, more combative and eminently more watchable. The downside is that lbw decisions are at an all-time high but with the future of Test cricket in such doubt, technology has provided a timely shot in the arm.

England made 116 runs in the morning session at a rate of nearly 4.5 runs an over as Broad poured his frustration with England's careworn batting in the series into every shot. He had made some mildly provocative remarks about his England batting colleagues after Pakistan had been bowled out for 257, remarking on Twitter that it would make no difference if the batsmen did not frame themselves.

When Ajmal had broken England's dominance with three quick wickets on the second evening, frustration had been etched into Broad's face as he watched from the boundary edge. At such times there is something endearing about his unabashed desire to win a cricket match.

He batted like a man on a mission. If it was up there he would hit it. Ajmal, who had threatened to run through England's lower order, was twice driven to the boundary off the front foot. When Pakistan reluctantly took the new ball at 250 for 6 shortly before drinks, Broad retorted by lofting Umar Gul over Younis at mid-off and then slapped him off a thick edge to third man. It was not long before the spinners returned.

He needed good fortune on 33 when he survived the narrowest of run out decisions by the third umpire Billy Bowden. Azhar Ali pounced on the ball from cover and threw down the stumps as Broad chanced a single to Junaid Khan and as he dived for the crease it was debatable whether his bat was grounded.

Such was Broad's confidence he brought up England's 300 by slog-sweeping Rehman's left-arm spin for six into the Knocking Area - a sanctuary perhaps for the England batsmen he had previously chided. When he failed to middle another slog-sweep later in the over and it fell short of Asad Shafiq, Rehman railed at the fielder for standing in the wrong place.

The old ball was 84.5 overs old at start of play but Misbah-ul-Haq entrusted the task of dismantling England's lower order to his spinners. Matt Prior was intent on playing them off the back foot whenever possible but Ajmal had his measure. He was badly dropped at deep square-leg by Junaid and then spared from an lbw decision by the tiniest inside edge - another excellent decision by Bruce Oxenford, who has had a fine match. By the time Ajmal had him lbw on the back foot, a decision upheld after an England review, it was apparent he needed to be put out of his misery.

Ian Bell was also dropped, a rasping return catch to Rehman which flew through his hands for four, and was also beaten several times by Rehman's sharp turn. He was one England batsman not to have jettisoned the sweep and his tremors against Ajmal's doosra were less apparent, but he fell to Gul and the second new ball, England resorting to DRS but failing for the second time.

Pakistan finally parcelled up England's innings one over into the afternoon as Hafeez, an increasingly redoubtable all-round cricketer, took two wickets in three balls. James Anderson was bowled by a quicker offspinner, trying to cut, and Panesar, whose last Test innings had been a heroic rearguard action against Australia in Cardiff, this time managed a more prosaic second-ball duck. Panesar, lbw, signalled that he had hit it, but England, carelessly, had omitted to save a review for him.