Cricket: England at last saw the back of Azhar Ali, but still needed to pull off the second-highest run chase in their Test history to avoid a 3-0 whitewash against Pakistan. Azhar's painstaking career-best 157 spanned six sessions and almost nine hours, before the number three was ninth out in Pakistan's 365 all out on the third evening at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
England were therefore left with more than six-and-a-half sessions to make 324, on a wearing pitch which had already helped spinners Monty Panesar (five for 124) and Graeme Swann share eight wickets.
Azhar’s 442-ball vigil was a triumph of unstinting concentration, shot selection and restraint, taking in a stand of 216 with Younus Khan (127), and containing just 10 fours and one six.
Pakistan’s last seven wickets fell for only 34 runs in 21 overs, to give world number ones England a glimmer of hope that their batsmen might yet redeem themselves on this hugely disappointing tour to date. To that end, they might do worse than take their cue from Azhar.
He was in absolutely no hurry on the way to his second Test hundred and beyond, having previously reached exactly three figures on this same ground against
Sri Lanka last year.
He eventually reached the milestone from the 319th ball he faced, with one of the most memorable shots of his long innings — a cut off Panesar for his fifth four.
Azhar might have gone before his third-wicket partner Younus, for 84, but survived when Swann was just unable to hang on to a tough chance at second slip, very low to his left off the bowling of James Anderson.
Instead England’s only breakthrough this morning came when Stuart Broad had Younus lbw on the front foot — DRS indicated the ball would have clipped the very top of middle-stump — after a five-hour stay which had helped to shut England out for 82 overs.
Younus was replaced by captain Misbah-ul-Haq, another batsman content to make the most of the ample time available in this well-progressed match.
He and Azhar duly added another 87, until Misbah fell lbw pushing forward to Panesar in late afternoon to kickstart the rush of wickets.
There was no DRS left for Asad Shafiq, sweeping at Panesar to become the 40th lbw victim of this head-scratching series, and Adnan Akmal was soon bowled for
a duck by one that turned to beat his defence and hit off-stump.
Swann then scored his first successes, after 32 overs in vain.
Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal were both caught at slip shortly before tea — and then Azhar fell bat-pad to the off-spinner, and Panesar completed the innings with yet another lbw to account for Umar Gul.
Meanwhile, Tim Bresnan arrived in Dubai this afternoon, having undergone fitness tests in Yorkshire on the elbow injury which ruled him out of the Test series.
England hope the seamer will be available for four one-day internationals and three Twenty20s against Pakistan, starting on February 13th.