Bad light saw the match end as a draw

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

England were forced to settle for a draw on the fifth day of the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi as bad light left them 25 runs short of victory.

The match was poised for a high octane finish as England only needed 99 runs to win after bowling Pakistan out for 173 in their second innings.

Starting out the day on 569/8, England lost Adil Rashid on their way to making 598/9 before captain Alastair Cook decided to declare.

Wahab Riaz was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Imran Khan and Shoaib Malik snapped up two wickets apiece and Rahat Ali and Zulfiqar Babar took one wicket each.

Trailing by 75 runs, none of Pakistan’s batsmen, with the exception of captain Misbah-ul-Haq, had a major impact as Rashid ran through the line-up with his maiden five-wicket haul. Despite scoring 51 off 111 balls, which included six boundaries, ul-Haq was unable to stop his side from being skittled out for 173, which set England a target of 99 to win.

Rashid was easily the most successful bowler with five wickets, while James Anderson and Moeen Ali claimed two wickets apiece.

Rashid finished with career-best figures of 5-64 off 18.5 overs

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Chasing 99 to win, England lost Jos Buttler, Ali, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow in quick succession. Even though England had been reduced to 66/4, Joe Root tried to guide them to victory, but despite making an unbeaten 33, it was too little too late as the fading light led to the match ending as a draw.

Babar and Malik picked up two wickets each.

Ul-Haq was relieved that the match ended as a draw, and said: “I think we made mistakes. These games can destroy your confidence, but we are in a situation where we are not 1-0 down, we have had success in Dubai and we will go there level. [Surprised by how well England played] We were talking about it before the series, the pitch also helped them, not much turn and bounce. But credit to them, after we scored 500 runs, they dealt with the pressure and made almost 600.”

Cook, who was named Man of the Match, was gutted to have come so close to winning, and said: “We would have liked another three or four overs, but that’s the way it is. I can’t fault the guys, on a really flat wicket, conceding 500, we had to hang in there. The wicket did start deteriorating at the end. We’re proud but would have obviously liked the result. We knew we had to put pressure back on Pakistan, either going close to them or going past them, then on the last day you never know. The pressure on the opposition…Brilliant from Rash, the criticism he got was unfair, he handled the pressure and what you saw today was a very fine bowler. We played a good game, Pakistan did too, probably a bit softer today. The game does speed up, we probably deserved the win on points. Credit to the boys and the fans.”