Pakistan Set Below-par Target
50 overs Pakistan 222 for 10(Umar Akmal 50, Afridi 51) v England
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The predicted sandstorm in Dubai was not as unbearable as forecast but try telling that to Pakistan. They batted as if visibility was down to zero to leave England anticipating a victory that would clinch the one-day series.
There had been a rush of face masks after a practice day in which the sandstorm had clung over the Dubai International Stadium, leaving players coughing and spluttering and rubbing sore eyes. The skies cleared to reveal a Pakistan top order nursing a sore head. They lost three wickets for one run in 15 balls to slump to 50 for 4 before Umar Akmal, his lips daubed in luminous green sun cream, tried to manufacture a recovery.
England's pace attack bowled spiritedly enough with Steve Finn again pronouncing himself a fast bowler to be reckoned with and Stuart Broad, hot and bothered initially, having the wherewithal to pull himself together. Both took two wickets as Pakistan, who had been dismissed for 130 in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, got off to a torrid start.
Pakistan had won 12 one-day matches out of 13 going into this series and had also whitewashed England 3-0 in the Test series but both seemed statistics from another age as they wasted an ideal batting opportunity on a decent batting surface with enough pace to encourage strokeplay.
At 49 for 1 after eight overs, the loss of Imran Farhat, who was caught at the wicket as he struggled to cope with Finn's hostility around off stump, seemed little more than a blip. But Broad caused Azhar Ali to flirt with one outside off stump and edge behind, Mohammad Hafeez was lbw to an inducker from Finn and Misbah-ul-Haq dangled his bat at Broad to edge to first slip.
For Broad, it represented a fight back. He conceded 16 from his first over, his mood not enhanced by a no ball that prevented him from dismissing Hafeez to a catch by Eoin Morgan at gully. His interrogation of Aleem Dar about the exact position his foot landed was borne out of frustration but it looked disrespectful all the same. Broad does not need sand stinging his face to become a bit irascible; a ball in his hands normally does the trick.
Beneath the passion, though, there lies an increasingly mature bowler's brain and his switch to a cross-seam style to control the outswing that had given Pakistan too much width was a successful ploy.
Shafiq and Umar, who has been freed from keeping duties after Pakistan recalled his brother Adnan, had a considerable recovery job ahead of them. Shafiq might be one of the more junior members of the Pakistan side but he had showed his strength of character by dissuading Hafeez, correctly as it turned out, from reviewing his lbw decision.
His first run, though, was a fortunate one, an unwise single to mid-on which would have caused his downfall if Pietersen's flat throw had hit the target. His dismissal was a waste. Shafiq was unsettled by Swann's lbw appeal as the ball ran into the legside and had to dive back into the crease as Alastair Cook threw the ball to the wicketkeeper, Kieswetter, but the third umpire, Kumar Dharmasena, ruled his bat was not grounded behind the line. It was a tight decision; little was going right for Pakistan.
Things could have been even worse had Umar been held by Kieswetter, diving to his right, when Umar was 28. It was a catch that should have been held; Broad had the reddest face in the ground as his sand prickles returned to maximum.
Pakistan 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Asad Shafiq, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Adnan Akmal, 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Aizaz Cheema
England 1 Alastair Cook capt, 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ravi Bopara, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Craig Kieswetter, 7 Samit patel, 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Steven Finn
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