Cook and Finn Do It Again

Alastair Cook once again won the toss and elected to bat first at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium for the 2nd one day international of the series, a match which the Greens needed to win in order to stand any chance of winning the series. It was a crucial toss to win. England went unchanged. Pakistan made 3 changes with Azhar Ali coming in for Asad Shafiq, Abdur Rehman taking the place of the out of sorts Shoaib Malik and Aizaz Cheema replacing Wahab Riaz as the 2nd seamer to partner Umar Gul.

Once again Cook and KP put on a solid opening stand of above 50 runs without losing any wicket in the first 10 overs, before Saeed Ajmal struck in his first over and the 16th of the innings by getting the better of the flamboyant KP with an off break and KP didn’t bother referring as it looked pretty adjacent. Cook and Trott got together for the 2nd wicket as often is the case with England and milked the bowling around with efficient strike rotation before Aizaz Cheema was brought back for his 2nd spell and provided the breakthrough as the 2011 ICC cricketer of the year departed, edging behind to make shift arrangement, Umar Akmal.

Bopara and Cook put on another significant stand for the 3rd wicket just like they did on Monday evening before Afridi broke the partnership in his 3rd spell towards the latter stages of the innings as Cook was caught and bowled with some extra bounce by the Pakistani all rounder after silencing his critics with back to back centuries. Morgan lasted the duration for an unbeaten knock and got some form under his belt. There were not many boundaries in his cameo except for a mighty blow all the way into the leg side stands in the 49th over of the innings against Saeed Ajmal. Bopara reached his 2nd half century in 2 innings before being dismissed by an off cutter on the final delivery of the innings to give Cheema his 2nd wicket. Pakistan required 9 less than what they did on Monday evening to win the match, but were hoping Azhar Ali’s inclusion would provide some stability at the top of the order which was badly lacking in the last one. Alastair Cook was once again the highlight of England’s innings as the left hander bossed the Pakistani bowling.

Pakistan fell 20 runs short of the target as the Greens were bowled out for 230 in the 49th over with Imran Farhat and Misbah ul Haq top scoring. Azhar Ali made an impressive 32 batting at one down and showed a calm head in anchoring the chase for the power houses down the order before Samit Patel bowled him just before the batting powerplay was enforced on them. Both Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi showed potential, but were dismissed at critical junctions in the match when they were looking dangerous and threatening to run away with the show. Earlier Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat put on over 50 for the 1st wicket for the 4th time when they have been batting together as a pair. For England Steve Finn was once again the shining light with 4 wickets as the Middlesex bowler is currently the leading wicket taker in the series at the half way point.

Pakistan will be hoping to take inspiration from 2006 where they were 2-0 up in 5 match series with one match in Wales washed out due to bad weather, but England came back with 2 wins to level the series 2-2. The next ODI is in Dubai on Saturday as is the final one. Misbah ul Haq will be hoping this time that he wins the toss and can bat first for a change. Samit Patel has voiced his hopes of England completing a whitewash on Pakistan in this series as Cook's side will be looking to wrap up the series come Saturday. England will return to Abu Dhabi for the final time in the tour during the 3rd T20 international on Monday 27th February, but for now the action moves on to Dubai where Pakistan will be hoping and expecting better things.

When a Team Dominates a test Series, things like this are Bound to Happen

Just going be memory here:-

West Indies lost 4-0 during a test series in England in 2004 and won the Champions Trophy which followed

Pakistan beat India in a test series in 2006 1-0 and then lost the ODIs 4-1

England were whitewashed 5-0 in the 2006/07 Ashes series and went on to win the triangular series which followed

England won the 2009 Ashes series at home 2-1 and lost 5-1 in the ODIs which followed

England won the 2010/11 Ashes series down under 3-1 and lost 6-1 in the ODIs which followed

South Africa won a test series in England in 2008 and lost 4 ODIs which followed

Personally, I think there is bound to be complacency once you have won a high profile test series and it’s easy to take the foot off the gas and begin to take the opposition for granted once the major format is done with, especially when you win the series in such dominating style. Perhaps the ICC should start to schedule tours more with T20s and ODIs at the beginning rather than at the back end of the tour as a leading up process to the test series almost as a first look at the opposition. It can be seen as preparation for the series which really counts.

Pakistan vs England Test Series Review - The Seamers

Umar Gul 7/10 - Two fine spells in the series, in the 3rd innings of the 1st test and in the fourth innings of the final test where Gul bagged 4 wickets to bowl Pakistan to victory on the same day. Had Gul not overstepped the front line during the 3rd day of the opening test the spearhead of the attack would have claimed a well deserved 5 wicket haul. Gul's role was limited in Abu Dhabi where 19 of the 20wickets fell to spin, but his pace managed to trap Bell in front with the 2nd new ball when Bell was looking it nice touch in that innings, managed to club a ball out of the mark to extend the lead and also held on to the winning catch of a historic win at deep square leg. Gul did the bulk of the work in the fast bowling department in tough conditions for pacers and delivered when needed as the senior bowler in the ranks.

Junaid Khan / Aizaz Cheema - Limited bowling for both of them so I won't be grading them. Junaid bagged a pair and dropped a sitter in Abu Dhabi and disappointed when he came in to replace at the time injured Aizaz Cheema. Cheema only conceded 70 runs in 4 innings of bowling which is a reflection of how little he was used and needed by Misbah. Cheema went Not Out in all his 3 innings.

Pakistan vs England Test Series - Spinners Review

Abdur Rehman 9/10 - 19 wickets in 3 tests for the slow left arm spinner with his canny darts and smart changes of pace and trajectory. However, he really struggled in the batting department against the off breaks of Graeme Swann who dismissed him 4 times out of 5, but he bowled extremely well that the batting utility can be overlooked. Rehman was the 2nd joint leading wicket taker in the series. When the two have bowled together in the same line up Pakistan have taken 20 wickets 9 times in 10 tests and formed a destructive partnership with their guile and accuracy. With 75 wickets in exactly 15 tests Rehman is on track to be one of the quickest to the feat of 100 wickets as the Sialkot Stallion has not only controlled the run flow, but been amongst the wickets consistently.

Saeed Ajmal 10/10 - No brainer with regards to the mark. Perfection and rightly so. Where do we start? Saeed was phenomenal and claimed 40% of Pakistan's wickets in the series. Ian Bell was indeed his bunny as Ajmal saw the back of him on 4 occasions in this series as the off spinner spun webs around him. Saeed claimed 50% of his wickets LBW which gives a clear indication of how accurate he was bowling which enabled him to attack the stumps and bring DRS into play.

The flat pace he bowled never allowed batsmen to get to him which enabled him to bowl to a plan and work over a batsmen by getting the chance to bowl many balls at him. His economy rate is a reflection of how difficult it was to rotate the strike against him with many batsmen getting stuck at one end. His action was always going to be a talking point if he performed so let's leave that one out. I think former England captain Nasser Hussain summed him up well : " The gem in that bowling attack, Saeed Ajmal can end up as one of the genuine greats of the game. Arguably the best cricketer in the world at the moment. The lad is an absolute gem both on and off the field. He is the smiling assassin like Murali."

Ajmal during the series became not only the quickest Pakistani to reach the landmark of 100 test scalps, but also the quickest spinner to get there ever. In the last 3 major test series Pakistan have contested against West Indies, Sri Lanka and England, Ajmal has concluded the series as the leading wicket taker and MOTS. He was not off colour against them by any means, but his effectiveness was less against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh where Hafeez and Younis Khan received MOTS respectively.

Number 4-7 Reviewed

Younis Khan 7/10 - Younis was short of runs in this series for the most part, but in his final innings he demonstrated his class and calibre to become the 1st batsmen of the series to reach 3 figures. It was an exhibition of efficient technique to eliminate DRS, aggressive running between the wickets, manoeuvring the ball into the gaps, making it count once he was set, guiding Azhar Ali, accelerating and stamping his authority on the English attack. It was a masterpiece of an innings and England can and would have taken plenty of lessons from it, particularly on how to handle spin and overcome being paranoid as a result of DRS. It was Younis's 20th century in his glittering high achieving test career. The series couldn't go through without a Younis century and we finally got it. Younis would be the first to admit that he didn't have the best of times in this series, but he made up for it and it was only a matter of time before he delivered.

MUH - 8/10 - We saw two crucial dogged, sturdy, determined test match innings in his first 2 innings of the series in the first 4 days of the series. Alongside Azhar Ali, MUH was the only batsmen to reach above 50 twice in the series as he continued his sensationally consistent batting record as captain. All 5 times MUH was dismissed LBW and 4 times he reviewed unsuccessfully. MUH also put on a 50+ stand for the 4th wicket with Azhar Ali on the penultimate day of the series as the solid and dependable middle order batsmen killed time with tight defence and powers of patience allowing the pitch to deteriorate further. Surprisingly no catches came his way. MUH has now featured in 99 wins in a Pakistan shirt and will want to get to the 100th one in the 1st ODI at Abu Dhabi on Monday. MUH deserves the plaudits for captaining his side to their first whitewash outside home. Throughout the tour he extracted the best from his players and guided the likes of Adnan and Shafiq a great deal. Also, he ensured the team did not get in hot water and kept everything in check with his respectable stature and stabilising presence which has been a rarity in previous Pakistan - England contests.

Asad Shafiq 8/10 - Most catches by a non wicket keeper in the series as Shafiq held on to 6 of them which came his way. Shafiq continued to show why he was preferred ahead of the exciting and exuberant Umar Akmal with some vital knocks throughout the series, particularly in the Abu Dhabi test match and the first innings of the final test in Dubai where he top scored and allowed Pakistan to reach respectability when they were disastrously placed at 21/5 at one stage as the elegant stroke maker reached the 40s before being a victim of Monty's arm ball.

Adnan Akmal 6/10 - One half century in the opening test and he was even a contender for the player of the match award with 7 catches and a vital half century to provide Pakistan with an important lead. It's never easy to keeping to the likes of Saeed Ajmal and Adnan was reasonably sound in the keeping department with the odd slight error. Adnan Akmal has played 13 tests for Pakistan and Pakistan have never lost any of those with 8 wins along the way. He's clearly a lucky charm for the team with his excitable appealing, tidy glove work and entertaining batting. He's got areas to work on, but this whitewash is an experience he shall never forget as he was part of it by keeping the energy levels high behind the stumps.

Performance Predictions of Batsmen Review Written In December

Pakistan

Mohammad Hafeez = 1 ton and 1 50

1 50

Taufeeq Umar = 0 50s

1 50

Azhar Ali = 3 50s and a 30 odd

2 50s

Younis Khan = 2 100s and 2 50s including 150+ score

1 100

Misbah ul Haq = 2 50s and 1 ton with no score of below 25 and an unbeaten stay along the way

2 50s

Asad Shafiq = 2 50s

1 50

Rest = 0 50s

1 50 Adnan Akmal


England

Andrew Strauss = 2 50s

1 50

Alastair Cook = 3 50s

1 50

Jonathan Trott = 1 100 and 3 50s

1 50

KP = 1 100 and 1 50

0 50s

Morgan = 0 50s

0 50s

Bell = 3 50s

0 50s

Prior = 1 100 and 2 50s

1 50

Rest = 2 50s

1 50 Broad