2nd Test: Captain Misbah equals Inzamam's ton record, Pakistan end day one on 282-4

Test captain Misbahul Haq says spinners will be able to use Dubai pitch for good

DUBAI: Pakistan ended the first day of the second Test against England on 282-4 as captain Misbahul Haq completed his seventh ton as the leader of the pack equalling former skipper Inzamamul Haq's record.

Pakistan opted to bat first in the second of the three-match Test series after the first match ended in a draw.

Misbah has been magnificent today .. Patience & aggression at exactly the right times .. And... #PAKvENG https://t.co/pqb0XCeMj2

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 22, 2015

Leggie Yasir Shah was brought into the team after dropping paceman Rahat Ali.



Opener Shan Masood opened the innings for Pakistan with a half-century (54 off 87 balls) while Muhammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik were sent back cheaply for scores of 19 and 2 respectively.

Abu Dhabi day one: 286 for 4, Dubai day one: 282 for 4. Shall we move straight to day five? #pakveng

— Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) October 22, 2015

After lunch, Jamed Anderson removed Shan which brought Misbah on the crease to join Younus Khan.



Both veterans gave Pakistan a 93-run stand to consolidate the innings after which Younus was caught by Joss Buttler off Mark Wood on 56 off 115 balls.

And he gets to a hundred with a reverse-sweep! Ninth Test century for Pakistan's captain https://t.co/XF29aAz5X8 #PAKvENG

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 22, 2015

At stumps, Misbah (102 off 192 balls, his ninth Test century) was batting with Asad Shafiq (46 off 93 balls) pushing Pakistan to a score of 282-4.



Tea: Misbah, Younus lead Pakistan's way

Senior Pakistan batsman Younus Khan hit his 30th half-century to guide Pakistan to 178-3 at tea on the opening day of the second Test against England in Dubai on Thursday.

Younus (56) and Misbah-ul-Haq (44) were at the crease at the break after Pakistan lost Shan Masood (54), Mohammad Hafeez (19) and Shoaib Malik (two) in the two sessions.

Younus and Misbah have added 93 for an unbroken fourth wicket stand after Pakistan lost Masood off the first ball of the second session.

England grabbed two wickets in the first session but then Younus batted solidly to anchor Pakistan's fightback.

He pushed spinner Moeen Ali for two to reach his half-century and was ably assisted by Misbah, who has hit five boundaries and a six.

Masood, who failed in both innings of the drawn first Test in Abu Dhabi last week, drove paceman Stuart Broad to point to complete his second fifty in Tests.

He hit seven boundaries and a six off 86 balls before falling after lunch, caught behind off paceman James Anderson.

England introduced spinner Ali as early as the seventh over.

Hafeez struck a boundary off the first ball of Ali's fifth over but was caught bat-pad by Jonny Bairstow at short leg off the very next delivery.

Malik, who scored a brilliant 245 in the first Test, lasted just nine balls before playing a short-pitched Ben Stokes delivery into the hands of Bairstow, who caught it on the second attempt.

Pakistan were boosted by the return of leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who missed the first Test with a back problem, replacing paceman Rahat Ali.

England made no change from the first Test line-up.

Pakistan 85-2 at lunch in second Test

Pakistan, who won the toss and batted, lost two early wickets before reaching 85-2 at lunch on the opening day of the second Test against England in Dubai on Thursday.

Opener Shan Masood was on 54 and Younis Khan on 10 after Pakistan lost Mohammad Hafeez (19) and Shoaib Malik (two) on a flat track.

The first of three Tests ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi last Saturday.

2nd Test: Pakistan follow ritual of batting first in Dubai

Pakistan Test captain Misbahul Haq on Thursday won the toss in the second of the three-match Test series and opted to bat first against England in Dubai.

Misbah said the Dubai pitch will have some help for spinners. He also said that Pakistan are making only one change in the team as fast-bowler Rahat Ali goes out and leggie Yasir Shah makes his way into the team to boost the hosts' spin bowling.

On the exclusion of Bilal Asif, Misbah said that they are happy with the usual duo to Yasir and Zulfiqar Babar handling the spin department for them.

Misbah praised England's fightback in the first Test and said that they are a good team to play quality cricket against.

Meanwhile, English captain Alastair Cook said that they are confident after their heroics on day five of the first Test. He said the team needs to display all their fighting skills in the second Test.

On Ben Stokes, he said that the player was not a 100 per cent fit but he was ready to go.

England went into the second Test with an unchanged squad from the first Test.

Teams

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Younis Khan, Misbahul Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Imran Khan.

England: Alastair Cook*, Moeen Ali, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Johnny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Joss Buttler†, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Mark Wood, James Anderson.