England were relieved to emerge from a nerve-wracking and barely fathomable first day of the final Test with the edge over Pakistan.
The tourists must win at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to be sure of retaining their world number one status by the time they start their next series in Sri Lanka.
In a match which has already witnessed a welter of 16 wickets, they can claim to be slightly, but not yet significantly, on top.
Stuart Broad (four for 36) and James Anderson (three for 35) blew away Pakistan’s top order, and by lunch England seemed sure to take total control. But their opponents recovered from 44 for seven to a still paltry 99 all out, and then reduced England to 104 for six in reply.
Were it not for Andrew Strauss’ unbeaten 41, England might even already have conceded an unthinkable first-innings lead on a day which contained nine lbw dismissals.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, February 04, 2012
