Adil Rashid's 5-wicket haul helps England come agonizingly close to a victory against Pakistan

Adil Rashid’s maiden 5-wicket haul nearly resulted in a famous win until fading light intervened

England came excruciatingly within clinching a famous win against Pakistan in the final day of the 1st Test in Abu Dhabi. Chasing 99 to seal an unlikely victory, the England batsmen almost pulled off an ambitious chase. However, the umpires had the final say in the match as they deemed that the light had faded enough to call off play.

Amidst late drama induced which was heightened by the time-wasting efforts of the Pakistan team, the visiting batsmen showed intense desperation as they batted with purpose and ended up at 74/4. Even though there were still more than 5 overs, the light had waned considerably when the umpires pulled out their light meters.

Despite the opening duo of Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler falling in pursuit of quick runs, Joe Root combined with the other batsmen to heap immense pressure on the Pakistan fielders by scrambling with all their energy to convert singles into doubles. However, the tourists were denied as they fell short by just 25 runs.

Fifth day pitch enlivens high-scoring match

This happened after the Pakistani batsmen collapsed in a heap and enlivened a Test match which seemed destined to be heading for a draw. England’s newfound spin combination of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali bowled with venom on the 5th-day pitch which began to show signs of vigorous turn.

Earlier, Resuming on 569/8, Stuart Broad and Adil Rashid began gingerly and the sluggish partnership was broken by Imran Khan who curved one back and breached Rashid’s defence. After an unsuccessful attempt to pile on the runs by James Anderson who walked in at number 11, Captain Cook decided to relieve the Pakistani bowlers out of their misery after they had sent down a marathon 206 overs.The declaration came at a time when England had obtained a lead of 75 runs.

When the Pakistani openers trudged on to bat, the focus was on Anderson who had conjured quite a few magical moments with the new-ball. He did not disappoint his skipper by snaring Shan Masood who somehow contrived to drag one on to the stumps. Malik who had scored a double-century in the 1st innings, was lifted off the ground by a vicious bouncer from Anderson.

When Pakistan were reeling at 3/2, Younus Khan joined Mohammad Hafeez in the middle. Surprisingly, the pitch which behaved like a graveyard for the past few days suddenly sprung into life as both batsmen endured a few jitters at the crease.

When lunch was taken, Pakistan were still adrift by 40 runs. Even though there was a long way to go, England hoped to confront the opposition batsmen with a challenge. Immediately after the interval, Pakistan lost another wicket through the run-out of Hafeez.

Called for a quick single by his senior partner, Hafeez hesitated for a brief moment. After a swift pick-up and throw by the mercurial Ben Stokes which astonishingly crashed into the stumps, he was found short of his crease by a significant margin.

It was time for skipper Misbah to accompany Younus and avert a catastrophe. Misbah survived a close shout from James Anderson who was convinced that he had gotten his man. After the on-field umpire sent him on his way, Misbah hung around and chose to review the decision.

But, the umpire Bruce Oxenford reversed his decision after he found out that there was no bat involved. Even though the ball was just about clipping the stumps, Misbah managed to escape as Oxenford had initially given the decision for a catch.

However, Younis lost his concentration and was dismissed by Adil Rashid who was starting to trouble the batsmen with his excess drift. Finally Rashid’s seemingly unending wait for a Test wicket was over.

Asad Shafiq also perished while chasing a loopy turner and attempting an ungainly drive. Rashid had prised out 2 wickets within no time. Sarfaraz Ahmed walked out and made his objective quite clear. He was not going to simply hang around without scoring.

Meanwhile, Misbah’s patience ran out as he danced down the track to launch Moeen Ali into the stands. But, he completely missed a delivery that spun in and got castled. Things began to unravel rather quickly as Zulfiqar Babar edged Rashid to slip. Even though Anderson had his fingers underneath the ball, it looked incredibly close as a disgruntled Waqar Younis watched on in horror.

With the wickets of Rahat Ali and Imran Khan, Rashid completed his maiden five-wicket haul and sparked an unbelievable comeback from ending wicket-less in the 1st innings. But, his team ran short of time to record an exhilarating victory.

The 2nd Test starts on the 22nd of October in Dubai.

Â?Brief Scores:

Pakistan 523/8 Declared and 173; England 598/9 Declared and 74/4 (Target 99) – Match Drawn