Agence France Presse
Dubai, Oct 26: Pakistan’s bowlers wore down tough resistance from England’s tail to win the second Test here Monday by 178 runs, and helped their side take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah (4/87) and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar (3/53) shared the bowling honours as England, set a daunting 491-run target, were bowled out for 312 late on the fifth day with just 6.3 overs left in the match at the Dubai Stadium.
A Pakistan win early in the day was very much on the cards, but England’s ninth-wicket pair of Adil Rashid (61, 172b, 7×4) and Mark Wood (29, 95b, 4×4) put up a valiant fight for 29.2 overs through their 55-run partnership.
Babar ended Wood’s resistance while Shah finished the match by ending Rashid’s 239-minute tenure at the crease when he had him caught in the covers in the fading light as the Pakistani fielders embraced each other.
Pakistan had sensed victory at lunch with just four wickets to take but first Rashid and Stuart Broad (30, 72b, 4×4) frustrated them through their 60 runs stand for the eighth wicket and then the Rashid-Wood stand lasted for nearly two and a half hours.
Before tea Wahab Riaz bowled Broad to bring Pakistan to within two wickets of winning the match. Pakistan could have finished the game before the break but Mohammad Hafeez dropped a regulation catch at slip when Rashid edged a Shah delivery while on 42.
The victory was important for Pakistan after they narrowly escaped defeat in the first Test in Abu Dhabi when bad light helped them draw the match in final minutes.
Brief scores: Pakistan 378 and 354 for 6 decl beat England 242 and 312 (Joe Root 71, Adil Rashid 61, Yasir Shah 4/87, Zulfiqar Babar 3/53) by 178 runs.
