Opinion has been divided over the wisdom of Alex Hales going to visit the third umpire on Thursday after his first-innings dismissal. Hales obviously thought it was a good idea; the rest of the world reckoned it was a very poor one.
The general view thereafter was that Hales would be better off letting his bat do the talking. He had his opportunity on Saturday but after battling away for 87 minutes he managed little more than a whisper. He was dismissed for 12 in a manner that he will not have enjoyed a great deal – Yasir Shah, who caught him at square-leg in the first innings, was the bowler. From Hales’s perspective this has been a grim Test and the outlook for England is no brighter as Yasir rediscovered the spring in his step in the Kennington sunshine.
Pakistan, having gained a first-innings lead of 214, beyond their expectations at the start of play, had reduced England to 88 for four at the close, 126 runs in arrears. Yasir, who also dispatched James Vince for a limp duck and then, more significantly, Joe Root, is obviously more dangerous inside the M25. In the final session England were transported back to Lord’s when Pakistan’s wrist-spinner bemused them in the first Test.
The concerns over England’s top order that have lingered all summer were magnified . The team is far too heavily dependent on Alastair Cook and Root. In the final session Cook received a snorter from Wahab Riaz, an occupational hazard, and was caught at slip. From there the alarms bells clanged.
Hales had defended watchfully against the pacemen but in Yasir’s first over he propped forward, played outside the ball and was given lbw by Bruce Oxenford. Hales instinctively did the on-field equivalent of visiting the third umpire by calling for a review; the three reds on the big screen soon sent him on his disgruntled way. At least he was spared the possibility of witnessing a knowing smile from Joel Wilson up in the pavilion.
In Yasir’s next over Vince played one of his languid cover drives and the ball sailed straight into the hands of Misbah-ul-Haq at short extra-cover.
In the mayhem Root had endured the odd scare but he was picking up runs with an ease that was way beyond his partners. Then he succumbed. He tried to whip the ball on the leg-side; there was another review and three more reds. It seemed that England had forgotten the lessons learned. Yasir’s most dangerous ball is not his leg-break; it is the skidding top-spinner/googly that hurries past the inside edge of right-handed batsmen and then on to the pads.
Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance hung on but to save this game is now a monumental task and the batting selections for the winter tour grow ever more uncertain. Vince is bound to feel insecure, with considerable justification while Hales has done himself no favours in this game on or off the field. Clearly a priority for the winter is to find calm batsmen capable against spin, which is not a straightforward undertaking.
The hapless response with the bat may at least spare the bowlers from having to do much more work. On the evidence of Saturday they could do with a breather. It took England two sessions and a little bit of luck to take four wickets at a cost of another 202 runs. The ageless Younis was the expert helmsman again, albeit in calm waters. Within an hour or so England were flagging on a surface that held few demons for Pakistan’s batsmen, which has often been the case in the past.
However earnestly Stuart Broad propelled himself towards the crease there was not much venom as the ball left his hand while Jimmy Anderson was sparingly used. As usual in this series Chris Woakes was the liveliest and the likeliest of the pace quartet. Meanwhile Moeen Ali was tormented. Whenever Younis decided that he was going to hit him for six he did so with absolute certainty.
As ever Sarfraz Ahmed batted fluently, occasionally advancing down the pitch to the faster bowlers before flicking the ball to the leg-side boundary. He stayed with Younis for another 90 minutes before he was well caught by Bairstow diving to his right after edging a handy delivery from Woakes.
Thereafter Younis calmly marshalled the tail to great effect. Wahab, in obstinate mood, lasted beyond the lunch interval and was the victim of a less polished piece of wicketkeeping. Wahab meandered down the pitch against Moeen and missed the ball, which then bounced off the gloves of Bairstow on to the stumps, a dismissal that looks more elegant in the book than it did at the time.
Mohammad Amir was runless for 23 balls but then swatted his 24th – from Moeen – for six whereupon he offered more vigorous support for Younis, who was now cruising along in the most stately fashion. Among Younis’s many attributes include fitness. Eventually he was lbw, after a review, to Anderson’s off-cutter, which, fortunately for the bowler, did not turn.
Off set Younis to a standing ovation for his 218 and one wondered why the bowlers had spurned any form of intentional slower ball in the previous 142 overs.
