ENG 4/0 │ Live Cricket Score Pakistan vs England 2015, 3rd Test at Sharjah, Day 1: Visitors finish on top of opening day

Hello and welcome to CricketCountry's live coverage of the opening day of the third and final Test between Pakistan and England at Sharjah on Sunday. I am Amit Banerjee, and I shall be presenting to you the live updates from the day's play. Pakistan head to the venue in an upbeat state of mind following their commanding 178-run victory in the second Test at Dubai, boosting their chances of maintaining their undefeated record in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). England however, have shown occasional moments of brilliance in the two Tests so far, and will be looking to convert those moments into a victory to share the series honours with the hosts. LIVE CRICKET SCORECARD: Pakistan vs England 2015, 3rd Test in Sharjah LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 234 in 85.1 overs; BATTING:  Zulfiqar Babar 6(5): And the Pakistani innings comes to an end with just five overs left in the day's play. Asad Shafiq's dismissal was definitely the cause of the lower-order collapse, with the batsmen falling prey to a disciplined spell of bowling. Yasir Shah is caught at backward square-leg by Samit Patel while attempting to pull a short-pitched delivery, getting a top-edge. Misbah was dismissed after attempting to prod an Anderson delivery that was pitched wide outside off. Anderson finished with four wickets for just 17 runs by getting rid of tailender Rahat Ali, who fell in a fashion similar to that of Misbah, the only difference being Moeen Ali taking the catch instead of Root. OUT! Yasir Shah c Samit Patel b Stuart Broad 7(13), Misbah-ul-Haq c Joe Root b James Anderson 71 (160), Rahat Ali c Moeen Ali b James Anderson 4(7) LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 205/7 in 80 overs; BATTING:  Misbah-ul-Haq 53(146), Yasir Shah 7(8): Misbah-ul-Haq completes his 32nd Test fifty — and his fourth 50-plus score this series! Speaks volumes of the fantastic form that he is in currently. The Pakistan skipper has hit five fours and a six in his innings so far, and his sixth-wicket partnership with Sarfraz Ahmed is turnig out to be the main thorn for the Englishmen! Pakistan, on the other hand, will be praying for the two to preserve their wicket till the end of the day's play. And Moeen Ali it is, who comes to England's rescue! Sarfraz attempts to smash Ali over midwicket, but doesn't get enough bat on it as the ball lands safely in the hands of Joe Root in the deep. Samit Patel adds to the damage minutes later by getting rid of Wahab Riaz with a beauty of a delivery! The Pakistan pacer exposes his stumps, and misses the line of the delivery completely as the ball rattles the middle-stump after landing between the middle and leg-stump. OUT! Sarfraz Ahmed c Joe Root b Moeen Ali 39(76), Wahab Riaz b Samit Patel 0(2) LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 178/5 in 70 overs; BATTING:  Misbah-ul-Haq 39(121), Sarfraz Ahmed 34(51): Misbah is trying to break the shackles every now and then with a boundary or two, especially in the 68th over by Adil Rashid in which the Pakistan skipper comes down the track twice in the same over. Misbah gets two boundaries as a result, towards long-on and over the cover cordon respectively. Meanwhile, the partnership between him and Sarfraz is worth 62 at the end of 70 overs, and the duo need to consolidate from here onwards if they are to guide the Pakistanis towards a respectable score. LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 158/5 in 65 overs; BATTING:  Misbah-ul-Haq 28(105), Sarfraz Ahmed 27(37): Misbah and Sarfraz are batting on 28 and 27, but the difference between the two is stark — they have consumed 105 and 37 deliveries respectively. Sarfraz is currently scoring at a strike-rate of over 72, while Misbah is still preserving his wicket, although he has hit the only six in the innings so far — a magnificent shot in which the skipper got down on one knee and smashing an Adil Rashid half-volley over long-on for a big one! LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 148/5 in 60 overs; BATTING:  Misbah-ul-Haq 26(86), Sarfraz Ahmed 19(26): Pakistan lose yet another wicket, with Asad Shafiq getting an edge to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow after attempting to defend a slightly short-pitched delivery by Samit Patel, with the delivery pitching on the off-stump and moving away from the batsman. And its tea on Day 1! OUT! Asad Shafiq c Jonny Bairstow b Samit Patel 5 (35) LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 116/4 in 50 overs; BATTING:  Misbah-ul-Haq 13(53), Asad Shafiq 5(34): 50 overs are up in the Pakistan innings, and England are in control of the proceedings after the two quick wickets that saw the departure of two set batsmen in Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan. Looks like Misbah and Shafiq will keep blocking the deliveries till the end of the second session, which probably would be the best thing to do. LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 105/4 in 45 overs; BATTING:  Misbah-ul-Haq 7(40), Asad Shafiq 0(17): Both Misbah and Shafiq are playing an ultra-slow innings at the moment, with Misbah's strike rate hovering at less than 20. Shafiq is yet to get off the mark after facing 17 deliveries. James Anderson is bowling brilliantly at the moment, having conceded only six runs from nine overs with two scalps to his credit (and six maidens). England are opting to go for the pace-spin combination, which is playing its part in preventing the batsmen from settling at the crease. LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 103/4 in 41 overs; BATTING:  Misbah-ul-Haq 5(28), Asad Shafiq 0(5): Pakistan are in deep trouble at the moment, having lost a couple of wickets in quick succession at the start of the second session. Anderson gets the better of the well-settled Younis Khan after bowling a low full-toss, which hits Younis on the pad. The veteran goes for the review, and the ball is shown to be pitched in line and hitting the base of the middle-stump. Pakistan are now four down, with skipper Misbah now welcoming the consistent Asad Shafiq to the crease. OUT! Younis Khan lbw James Anderson 31(58) LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 92/3 in 35 overs; BATTING:  Younis Khan 24(43), Misbah-ul-Haq 1(12): Stuart Board strikes as Shoaib Malik departs on 38. Now joining Younis Khan is captain Misbah-ul-Haq, with the experienced pair having excelled against the England attack more than once in the current series. Malik looked to in trouble pre-lunch session as well. OUT! Shoaib Malik c Jonny Bairstow b Stuart Broad 38(91) LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 87/2 in 30 overs; BATTING: Shoaib Malik 37(84), Younis Khan 21(32): Both Malik and Younis are attacking the spinners with their exquisite strokes, mostly towards midwicket or through extra cover. Younis has moved to the 20s while Malik looks good to get his ninth Test fifty. LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 66/2 in 25 overs; BATTING: Shoaib Malik 27(69), Younis Khan 10(17): Younis gets his first boundary of the innings after sweeping Samit Patel towards midwicket for a four to move to double figures. The flamboyant veteran looks pretty settled at the moment, and might start flexing his arms for more boundaries soon. LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 51/2 in 20 overs; BATTING: Shoaib Malik 15(43), Younis Khan 0(0): Hafeez and Malik begin to increase the run-scoring pace for Pakistan, with seven runs coming off the 16th over including a boundary. The duo move to the 20's, and Hafeez smashes Moeen Ali over the bowler's head for a boundary. Gets ambitious in the next delivery as well, this time lackadaisically hitting Ali towards square-leg off the backfoot and getting a top-edge, resulting in a simple catch for Stuart Broad near backward square-leg. OUT! Mohammad Hafeez c Stuart Broad b Moeen Ali 27(57) LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 25/1 in 15 overs; BATTING: Mohammad Hafeez 10(40), Shoaib Malik 15(43): The spinners have been introduced into the attack, with Samit Patel being the first slow bowler to be introduced by Alastair Cook. Patel injures himself in his very second delivery of the innings, injuring the little finger on his bowling arm after diving to his left. Gets treated by the physio as play is stopped for some time, before resuming his over. The outfield is quite slow especially near the boundary, which saved a couple of runs for England on quite a few occasions now. LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 16/1 in 10 overs; BATTING: Mohammad Hafeez 10(27), Shoaib Malik 6(26): Shoaib Malik struggles to get his first runs of the innings, before hitting Ben Stokes towards extra-cover for a boundary to get off the mark in the latter's first over of the day. Both batsmen are struggling against the pacers, and will look to see Anderson off. LIVE CRICKET SCORE Pakistan 7/1 in 5 overs; BATTING: Mohammad Hafeez 7(13), Shoaib Malik 0(10): Pakistan are off to a shaky start, with Azhar Ali, who comes in place of struggling opener Shan Masood, hardly making a difference as he is dismissed for a seven-ball duck. Bairstow, who fills in as the wicketkeeper in place of Buttler, takes his first Test catch as keeper since the Ashes 2013-14. OUT! Azhar Ali c Jonny Bairstow b James Anderson 0(7) Teams: Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (c), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Rahat Ali. England: Alastair Cook (c), Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Joe Root, James Taylor, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Samit Patel, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson. Changes: Pakistan: Azhar Ali and Rahat Ali in place of Shan Masood and Imran Khan. England: James Taylor and Samit Patel in place of Mark Wood and Jos Buttler. Toss: Pakistan win the toss and elect to bat first. There were a lot of positives for Pakistan to draw from in the previous Test. Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who is considered to be their primary weapon on subcontinent-like pitches such as these, made his way back into the team with a bang after missing out on the first Test due to injury. He took four wickets in each innings, assisted by the likes of Wahab Riaz and Zulfiqar Babar in these innings, to help skittle the Englishmen out. Younis Khan and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq are in terrific form at the moment in the Pakistani middle-order, with both scoring a century and a half-century in the two innings. Younis recently overtook Javed Miandad to become Pakistan's highest run-getter in Tests and cross the 9,000-run mark. For England, Joe Root showed great form with the bat in the previous Test, and will thus be crucial in the No. 4 spot. Skipper Alastair Cook, who slammed a magnificent 263 in the first Test, scored a half-century in the first innings of the match, but failed to repeat the feat in the crucial second innings. Squads: Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (c ), Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Mohammad Hafeez, Fawad Alam, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper ), Azhar Ali, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, WahabRiaz, Imran Khan, Rahat Ali, Junaid Khan, Bilal Asif. England: Alastair Cook (captain ), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow(wicketkeeper ), Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper ), Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Samit Patel, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor, Mark Wood. Live cricket scorecard and ball-by-ball updates: Pakistan vs England 2015, 3rd Test at Sharjah