Visitors restrict Pakistan to 378, but trail by 196 runs

Dubai - With Moeen Ali and Ian Bell having left proceedings prematurely for Trevor Bayliss' side in England's reply to Pakistan's first innings score of 378 , Cook and Joe Root put on a valuable 113-run stand for the third wicket.

 Yasir Shah claimed the key England wicket of skipper Alastair Cook in the evening session to quell a burgeoning backlash in the second Test at the Dubai International Stadium here on Friday.
With Moeen Ali and Ian Bell having left proceedings prematurely for Trevor Bayliss' side in England's reply to Pakistan's first innings score of 378 , Cook and Joe Root put on a valuable 113-run stand for the third wicket.
That link-up was eventually broken though when, with catchers crowding round the bat, Cook coughed up a chance to substitute fielder Ahmed Shehzad at leg slip to give Shah his first wicket of this Test and series. The morning couldn't have got off to a better start for the tourists as the mercurial Misbah-ul-Haq (102) was gone with only the fifth ball of the day. A
Stuart Broad delivery hit him on the knee-roll plumb in front and, although the captain chose to review the umpire's decision, there was to be no inside edge and no reprieve. A wicket down for no runs, England had seized the initiative right from the very outset but they had to bide their time before that initial breakthrough was followed up by more scalps.
Indeed, wicket-keeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq produced an invaluable 52-run sixth-wicket partnership until the former (32) went after Ali and only succeeded in picking out James Anderson at mid-on. That same combination accounted for Wahab Riaz (6) in almost identical fashion, while Shah's plucky cameo role (16) was cut short with a faint edge to Ben Stokes off the bowling of Adil Rashid.
Mark Wood then dislodged Pakistan's last two batsmen, trapping Zulfiqar Babar (3) in front and ultimately inducing Shafiq (83) to slap one straight to Joe Root at short midwicket.
Pakistan had lost their last six wickets for 96 runs as their first innings came to a close on 378 and Cook and Co headed for the lunch break with a real spring in their steps.
Certainly, they will have traipsed off in much better spirits than they did when the dark descended on Thursday night, when Pakistan were ominously on 282-4.
The feel-good factor lasted all of 10 legitimate balls in England's reply, with Riaz forcing Ali (1) to divert a darter at his pads to Shan Masood at short leg. England had deployed similar tactics to account for Mohammad Hafeez (19) and Shoaib Malik (2) cheaply early on day one and now they were getting a bitter taste of their own medicine.
The scoreboard had ticked over a further nine runs - from five to 14 - when the hosts struck again - Imran Khan tempting Bell (4) to dangle his bat out at an absolute Jaffa that carried on through to gloveman Ahmed behind the stumps.
Nonetheless, Bell's demise summoned Joe Root from the pavilion and he and Cook set about a sturdy salvation job with gusto and relish. The latter chalked up his half-century (53no, including eight fours, off 95 balls) and the pair then registered a 100-run partnership for the third wicket prior to Cook's dismissal on 65 from 117 balls.
alex@khaleejtimes.com 

Scoreboard
> Pakistan 1st innings
M. Hafeez c Bairstow b Ali 19
S. Masood c Butler b Anderson 54
S. Malik c Bairstow b Stokes 2
Y Khan c Butler b Wood 56
Misbah lbw b Broad 102
A. Shafiq c Root b Wood 83
S. Ahmed c Anderson b Ali 32
W. Riaz c Anderson b Ali 6
Y. Shah c Stokes b Rashid 16
Z. Babar lbw b Wood 3
I. Khan not out 0
> Extras: (lb4, w1) 5
> Total: (all out; 118.5 overs) 378
> Fall of wickets: 1-51 (Hafeez), 2-58 (Malik), 3-85 (Masood), 4-178 (Younis), 5-282 (Misbah), 6-334 (Ahmed), 7-342 (Riaz), 8-370 (Shah), 9-377 (Babar).
> Bowling: Anderson 20-5-40-1, Broad 17-4-48-1, Ali 25-3-108-3, Wood 19.5-7-39-3, Stokes 17-3-55-1 (1w), Rashid 20-1-84-1.
> England 1st innings
A. Cook c sub (Shehzad) b Shah 65
Moeen Ali c Masood b Riaz 1
I. Bell c Ahmed b Khan 4
J. Root not out 76
J. Bairstow not out 27
> Extars: (lb1, nb3, w5) 9
> Total: (for three wkts; 51 overs) 182
> Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Ali), 2-14 (Bell).
> To bat: B. Stokes, J. Butler, Adil Rashid, S. Broad, M. Wood, J. Anderson.
> Bowling: Khan 10-4-26-1, Riaz 10-0-51-1 (nb3, w5), Babar 10-2-35-0, Shah 17-2-59-1, Malik 4-1-10-0.
> Toss: Pakistan
> Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
> TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
> Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

> SEE ALSO PAGE 31