1st Test : England stay firm after Malik’s maiden double ton

Tourists trail by 467 runs after Pakistan declare on 523-8 on day two

ABU DHABI:

Openers Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali batted solidly to take England to 56-0 after Shoaib Malik’s double century lifted Pakistan to a mammoth total in the first Test in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Cook was unbeaten on 39 and with him Ali 15 not out as England trail by 467 runs in reply to Pakistan’s first innings of 523-8 declared after day two at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

It was a day to remember for Malik as he capped his return to the Test side after a gap of five years with an epic knock of 245, his best score in Test cricket, after coming into bat in the third over of the match.

Read: Malik inspired Pakistan declare at 523-8 in first Test against England

Asad Shafiq, who scored 107 for his ninth hundred, added 248 runs with Malik — a new record in Pakistan-England Tests — as Pakistan added 213 runs after resuming the day at 286-4.

Malik hit 24 boundaries and four sixes during his 420-ball knock before he smashed a Ben Stokes delivery straight into Ian Bell, who took a well-judged catch at mid-wicket.

Malik steered paceman James Anderson towards third man for two to complete his double hundred off 367 balls. Shafiq also completed his century as the pair erased the previous best fifth-wicket stand of 219 set by Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan in 2010.

Read: Younis becomes Pakistan's highest run-scorer in Test cricket

Shafiq went soon after tea, when he was trapped leg before wicket off seamer Mark Wood while Sarfraz Ahmed (two) and Zulfiqar Babar (nought) also fell to Stokes.

Stokes was England’s most successful bowler with 4-57 while Anderson took 2-42.

Pakistan declared soon after tea, leaving England to bat the remaining 23 overs.

Read: England's Finn out of first Pakistan Test

Finn out of Test and ODIs

England paceman Steven Finn will return home after suffering a toe injury which ruled him out of the three-match Test and four-match one-day series, announced the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old lanky paceman suffered a “bone stress injury” a day before the first Test started in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, forcing him out of the eleven.

“Finn has been ruled out of the remainder of the tour of the UAE with a bone stress injury to his left foot which requires a period of off-loading to aid recovery,” said the ECB release.

Finn will return to the UK on Wednesday for further assessment, the ECB added. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2015.

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