Published: Oct 15, 2015, 10:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 31, 2016, 02:55 PM (IST)
th Hello and welcome to CricketCountry’s live coverage of the third day of the ongoing first Test between Pakistan and England at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. England ended Day Two at 56 for no loss after Pakistan declared their innings at 523 for 8. Shoaib Malik scored his highest score of 245 and along with Asad Shafiq (107) piled on the misery on England bowlers to ensure that Pakistan reached a commanding position. For England, Ben Stokes was the pick for the bowlers with 4 for 57, but it was a debut to forget for Adil Rashid, who conceded 163 runs in his 34 overs and did not pick up a single wicket. Moeen Ali and skipper Alastair Cook are still at the crease and their opening partnership has looked encouraging so far. Live scorecard: Pakistan vs England 2015, 1st Test Day 3 at Abu Dhabi
Stumps: Day 3
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 290/3 in 110 overs: Wahab Riaz turned the tide in Pakistan’s favour with another dismissal of Mark Wood. Pakistan had a long and hectic day but finally they managed some positives in the form of Ian Bell and Wood. England are still trailing 233 runs with seven wickets in hand. England’s two most prolific batsmen Cook and Joe Root are at the crease and the morning session of day 4 will be quite interesting.BATTING: Alastair Cook 168 (329), Joe Root 3(3)
OUT! Mark Wood b Wahab Riaz 4(7)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 285/2 in 106 overs: England were on the brink of ending day three on a high but it wasn’t to be. Ian Bell fell prey to Wahab Riaz’s persistence as the latter kept on testing him with wide full pitched deliveries. Bell finally went for one and ended up giving a simple catch at backward point. Mark Wood has walked in as their night watchman and England will be desperately hoping not to lose another wicket.BATTING: Alastair Cook 167 (317), Mark Wood 4(4)
Out! Ian Bell c Mohammad Hafeez b Wahab Riaz 63(199)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 261/1 in 97 overs: Alastair Cook continues his sensible yet graceful innings as he brings up his 150. Pakistani bowlers continue to struggle to get a breakthrough and the partnership between Cook and Bell keeps on building. Cook has given a testament of his excellency on any soil with this knock whereas Bell top has been influential in steering England at such position. BATTING: Alastair Cook 152 (288), Ian Bell 59 (170)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 234/1 in 87 overs: Pakistan have taken the new ball and will be interesting to see if their pacer can do something brilliant with it. England at present are taking the game away from Pakistan and are trailing by 289 runs with nine wickets to spare. Bell batted with immense mettle and reached his 46th Test century with a boundary at fine leg. He is now looking to open and bat freely as his team is now in a strong position. Cook continues his good run and is advancing towards his maiden 150 in UAE. BATTING: Alastair Cook 133(262), Ian Bell 51(136)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 201/1 in 78 overs: England slowly getting into a commanding position as they reached the 200 runs mark and have resumed from where they left before tea. Pakistan still looking to break this partnership which has now accounted for 87 runs. Paksiatn have experimented with their part-time bowlers too but the move didn’t yield productive results. Lack of bounce in the pitch has resulted in few nicks not carrying to the fielders too. BATTING: Alastair Cook 120(237), Ian Bell 34(109)
Tea: Day 3
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 185/1 in 71 overs: Alastair Cook and Ian Bell sailing the English ship perfectly. They are now advancing towards the score and are trailing by 337 with nine wickets in hand. The pitch is very slow and Pakistani bowlers finding it difficult to get a wicket. Misbah-ul-Haq should look to attack and restrict them from rotating the strike which will further push them to take unnecessary risks. BATTING: Alastair Cook 108(210), Ian Bell 30(99)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 170/1 in 65 overs: Alastair Cook has led the team from the from as he slammed his maisden Test century in UAE at the right time. England are in total control at the moment with Ian Bell helping Cook in keeping the scorers busy. Pakistan is in dire need of a wicket but their bowlers have not been able to create enough opportunities. BATTING: Alastair Cook 101(192), Ian Bell 22(77)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 155/1 in 60 overs: English batsmen have once again came out fighting and got the ball rolling form the outset at Abu Dhabi after lunch. Bell is now looking good and has slowly started moving his feet against the spinners, whereas the English skipper is cruising towards his century. BATTING: Alastair Cook 95(175), Ian Bell 14(60)
Lunch: Day 3
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 122/1 in 49 overs: Ian Bell looks low on confidence and has been struggling to move his feet against the spinners. Its lunch time and England will be pretty pleased with the kind of show they have put in the morning session of Day three. Cook has anchored the English innings and the team will be hoping him to be at the crease for another session or so. BATTING: Alastair Cook 78(141), Ian Bell 1(27)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 117/1 in 41 overs: England’s first aim would be to get rid of the follow-on. Pakistan was in a desperate need of a wicket which is successfully provided by Imran Khan. It’s a very important session and England will look forward to go for lunch without losing one more wicket. Imran looks all charged up with Ian Bell nicking the first delivery but fell short in the slip cordon. BATTING: Alastair Cook 67(109), Ian Bell 1(3)
OUT! Moeen Ali c Sarfraz Ahmed b Imran Khan 35(131)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 106/0 in 36 overs: Cook and Ali look set for a big partnership as they have fought fire with fire. England need to continue the way they are progressing as they bat deep. Pakistan will have to come up with a strategy to break this partnership as it has already started looking dangerous. The pitch is not offering much of an assistance for the fast bowlers but there is some help for the spinners. Cook has been dominating this partnership but Moeen Ali has played an equally effective role. BATTING: Alastair Cook 67(109), Moeen Ali 32(11)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 88/0 in 31 overs: Pakistani bowlers keeping it tight at the moment and not letting England get away easily. English openers will eye to capitalise on the solid start they’ve got and put up some more runs on the board as they are well set. Pakistan being a bit defensive and should look to attack as both the batsmen are well capable of playing long innings especially Alastair Cook. BATTING: Alastair Cook 58 (93), Moeen Ali 25 (102)
LIVE CRICKET SCORE England 72/0 in 26 Overs: England openers have held their nerves and started off on a promising note. Alastair Cook reaches his half-century and looks extremely comfortable out in the middle, whereas Moeen Ali is being tested with some short stuffed deliveries. Pakistani bowlers trying their level best to draw the first blood with spin from one end. BATTING: Alastair Cook 51 (79), Moeen Ali 16 (79)
Malik and Shafiq put up 245 runs for the sixth wicket that helped Pakistan push for a huge score. On Day One, Mohammad Hafeez scored a brilliant 98 and was unlucky to miss out on yet another ton. England still trail Pakistan by 467 runs, but their first target will be to avoid the follow on, which is another 268 runs away. England have a strong batting line-up, with the likes of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler still to follow. Pakistan bowler toiled hard for 21 overs on Day Three, but could not taste success. Moeen however, survived a confident leg-before appeal and the subsequent review when left-arm paceman Rahat Ali brought one in sharply to hit the pads but Australian umpire Paul Reiffel gave the batsman not out.
Teams:
Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Wahab Riaz, Zulfiqar Babar, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan
England: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Jonathan Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson
