Misbah-ul-Haq puts Pakistan on top

Dubai - Pakistan skipper smashes century after the hosts' top order falters on opening day

 Misbah-ul-Haq produced an increasingly belligerent and unbeaten century (102no) to counter England's earlier inroads through the Pakistani order on the first day of this second Test at Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik departed cheaply during the first session, while the one batsman that got slightly further away - half centurion Shan Masood - fell straight after lunch. Younis Khan and Misbah then steadied the ship through until tea, yet the former perished early on in the third and final session before the latter and Asad Shafiq (46no) got Pakistan up to 282-4 at the close.
The hosts' openers safely negotiated their way through the first hour unscathed and had just brought up 50 together when the first wicket fell. Moeen Ali sent down a curling cherry and Hafeez (19) could only glance it off his pad and up to a sprawling Jonny Bairstow at short leg. Hafeez's dislodging brought an in-form Malik (2) to the crease, but Bairstow's sharp reflexes at close range accounted for him as well.
Stokes sent a delivery down at full pelt and Malik fended it away straight into the Yorkshire player's chest. A momentary fumble saw the ball squirm away from his grasp initially, only for another athletic leap to allow him to complete the catch one-handed. The tourists had their tails up by this stage and Stokes came close to chiseling out a few more batsmen before the lunch interval.
Masood stoically stuck around though and he'd chalked up a half-century (52no, including seven fours and one six, off 81 balls) by the end of the first session, with fourth-man-in Khan just into doubles figures as the players headed off the field with Pakistan on 85-2.
However, all of Masood's good work (54) was immediately undone straight after lunch as he nicked the very first delivery from James Anderson behind to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. His early exit was compounded still further when he reviewed the on-field decision and the review came back upholding a clear dismissal. Masood's earlier-than-expected exit had Misbah emerging from the home dressing room and he and fellow veteran campaigner Khan got up to - and well beyond - the three-figure mark.
They survived a fair few scares along the way though, with Stuart Broad, Stokes and Mark Wood all seeing edges flash agonisingly beyond Buttler or the slip cordon.
Still, Misbah and Khan had predominantly nullified and stifled England's threat with the ball and they were homing in on the century partnership by tea time as Pakistan reached 178-3.
Khan had brought up his 30th Test 50 in the process (51no, including four fours, off 90 balls), yet three maiden overs after tea applied pressure and he (56) inadvisably swiped at a Wood ball down the legside to a diving Buttler.
Nonetheless, the ever-reliable Misbah characteristically dropped anchor thereafter, notched his half-century (52 no, including six fours and one six, off 105 balls) and - in tandem with a supportive Shafiq -subsequently began to open up his shoulders as the day wore on.
In the morning Pakistan made the one expected change to the side that drew the first Test in Abu Dhabi, with a fit-again Yasir Shah replacing seamer Rahat Ali in Misbah-ul-Haq's spin-orientated attack.
England meanwhile named an unchanged team from that prior encounter as Ben Stokes took his place in the XI, despite apparently still not being 100 per cent following a stomach virus. Misbah-ul-Haq won the toss and elected to bat, therefore giving Alastair Cook's men the tricky task of batting in the fourth innings on a desk that's expected to progressively turn more and more over time.
alex@khaleejtimes.com