A distraught Ian Bell was left “with his head in his hands” in the England dressing room following two dropped catches that helped Pakistan go into the second day of the first Test in Abu Dhabi in a position of strength.
After grassing the opener Mohammad Hafeez on seven early on – the right-hander would go on to make 98 – Bell suffered a repeat in the penultimate over of a punishingly hot day when the dangerous No6 batsman, Asad Shafiq, edged to him at second slip on 10.
James Anderson, who claimed two for 29 to move into the top 10 all-time Test wicket-takers on 415, was the bowler on both occasions. But Bell’s two drops were not the only moments to rue, with Stuart Broad granting Shoaib Malik a reprieve on 40 in the afternoon session when he was caught off a no-ball.
The No3, playing his first Test in five years and recalled only in the absence of the injured Azhar Ali, went on to reach the close unbeaten on 124 and, while Broad considered the home side’s 286 for four a decent day’s work by the bowlers after losing the toss, there was a lingering sense of what might have been.
“I have to hold my hand up and say the no-ball was unacceptable, certainly in these conditions,” said Broad. “And the two drops were a shame. Ian is disappointed. He has his head in his hands in the changing room. The first one was a tricky catch, low to his left. That second one you would expect him to take 99 times out of 100.
“It is different fielding at slip here. You have to stand closer and edges come faster and lower. We’ve worked hard at our low catching and, while no one means to drop them, we spoke about making sure we’re mentally switched on in the late sessions.”
Regarding a solution to the issue of staying focused in the oppressive desert heat, Broad recalled some advice from the batting consultant Mahela Jayawardene: “He told us that, if you are feeling your mind drift a little bit, put your hand up to switch positions because it is roasting hot, probably the hottest I’ve experienced.”
On his own costly error – the sixth time this year an England bowler has seen a wicket scrubbed off for over-stepping – Broad added: “I’m not a huge no-ball bowler but there’s no excuses. I said sorry to the guys at tea because we don’t need to be getting any chalked off here. It is something we need to improve on.
“We can all be proud of what we put in. It’s positive we are creating chances on a batter’s dream [of a pitch]. We are a couple of wickets away from the tail. Keeping Pakistan to a score under 400 would be a fantastic effort. Then we have one job which is to bat big.”
Anderson’s entry into the upper echelons of the game’s leading Test bowlers was not the only record brought up on the first day as Pakistan’s No4, Younis Khan, became his country’s all-time leading scorer in the format when he passed Javed Miandad’s 8,832 runs halfway through his innings of 38.
Speaking about the milestone, brought up with a six off Moeen Ali, the 37-year-old said: “It was a huge target for me. I knew if I pushed myself I could pass the great Javed. I now want to become the first Pakistani to pass 10,000 runs and, if I work hard, I think will achieve my goal.”
The dismissal of Younis, held by Alastair Cook off the bowling of Broad, made the England captain his country’s leading outfield catcher with 122 dismissals – one more than his predecessor as captain, Andrew Strauss. But his day would end early after needing stitching to the webbing on the little finger of his right hand.
While Cook will be fit to resume on Wednesday and is expected to bat unimpeded, England’s medical staff will make a final decision regarding Steven Finn’s continuation on the tour following the bone-stress injury to his left foot that ruled him out of this Test.
