 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Pakistan rout England in first Test
Pakistan beat the world's best Test team, England, by 10 wickets in the first Test inside three days in Dubai on Thursday, gaining a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Good performance by the bowlers helped Pakistan bundle out England for 160 in their second innings.
The Pakistan openers then notched the required 15 runs in 3.4 overs to hand England their first defeat in 10 Tests, since losing to Australia at Perth in the 2010 Ashes.
England batsmen were clueless against spin
England's batsmen, wrecked by Ajmal's career-best 7-55 in their first innings of 192, were again clueless against the spin and played some rash shots as they sought to score runs on the pace of Gul.
England had another disastrous start as Strauss was adjudged caught behind, pushing Gul to the leg side and seeing the ensuing edge well taken by the wicket-keeper.
Strauss instantly challenged the verdict but was left to trudge off the field after television umpire Steve Davis of Australia upheld the original decision.
Soon after the lunch break, Gul produced a sharp rising delivery that caught Cook in two minds as the left-hander gloved it to Adnan, who had no trouble in gathering it.
Kevin Pietersen, who has yet to score big on tour, made it 25-3 when he hooked a Gul bouncer straight into the hands of deep square-leg fielder Abdul Rehman, leaving England in more trouble at 25-3.
Ajmal completed his second 10-wicket haul in Tests
Saeed Ajmal took 3-42 in the second innings to complete a 10-wicket haul for the match - his second 10-wicket haul in Tests.
Ajmal got in on the act when he trapped Ian Bell plumb in front of the wicket for four. He then trapped Matt Prior to leave England at 87-7.
Stuart Broad (17) and Graeme Swann (39) delayed the inevitable by putting on 48 for the eighth wicket before Rehman dismissed Broad and Chris Tremlett off successive deliveries.
Ajmal took the last wicket by getting Swann caught, much to the delight of his team-mates and the few hundred people in the stands.
Jonathan Trott top-scored with 49
Jonathan Trott top-scored with 49, but fell to an irresponsible shot, trying to force a short delivery from Gul and being caught by wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal, who finished the match with seven catches.
Trott, who passed the landmark of 2,000 runs when he reached 18 in his 24th Test, hit six boundaries during his 111-ball knock.
He became Gul's 150th wicket (in his 41st Test).
Umar Gul took 4-63 in the England second innings
Paceman Umar Gul took 4-63 in the second innings to help his team's cause to a considerable extent.
The 27-year-old fast bowler dismissed Andrew Strauss (six) before lunch and then accounted for Alastair Cook (five) and Kevin Pietersen (nought) in his hostile nine-over first spell on a spin-friendly Dubai Stadium pitch.
He accounted for the England captain in the first session. Soon after the lunch break, Gul produced a sharp rising delivery that caught Cook in two minds as the left-hander gloved it to Adnan, who had no trouble in gathering it.
Kevin Pietersen, who has yet to score big on tour, made it 25-3 when he hooked a Gul bouncer straight into the hands of deep square-leg fielder Abdul Rehman, leaving England in more trouble at 25-3.