Pakistan close in on whitewash

Saeed Ajmal

Published: 11:04am, 6th February 2012
Updated: 12:08pm, 6th February 2012

England's outside chances of avoiding a 3-0 series whitewash were fading fast as they lost their top six for 173 in pursuit of 324 to win the final Test against Pakistan.

The afternoon wickets of Kevin Pietersen, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan followed those of Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott this morning on day four at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Saeed Ajmal (three for 44) was England's chief tormentor, bowling in tandem for much of the second session with Abdur Rehman - who was unchanged for 30 overs since start of play.

It was the slow left-armer who struck the first blow when Strauss, who had already survived a straightforward caught-behind chance off Umar Gul on 26, went without further addition lbw on the back foot. Trott then fell shortly before lunch, sweeping Ajmal straight to deep backward-square.

By contrast, Alastair Cook's luck was in during an ultra-patient 187-ball 49 which took more than four hours. Cook passed a notable personal milestone when, with his 22nd run, he became the second-youngest batsman in cricket history to reach 6,000 in Tests. He ought to have gone last night, dropped at third slip off Gul on just four.

This morning he was put down on 31 by Gul himself, after mis-sweeping Rehman into the leg-side deep. He was also the batsman on strike when Pakistan squandered their final DRS option, Ajmal reviewing an lbw for an off-break that pitched outside leg-stump.

England had one precious review still available, after Strauss used up the first one to no avail. It was of no use to any of the next four dismissed batsman, though.

Pietersen hinted at much better when he went up the wicket to Rehman and hit him for a straight four and then six in the same over - shots that raised stoic England's scoring rate to almost two runs an over. But Ajmal, scourge of the tourists with his doosras in the first Test here, out-thought both Pietersen and Cook with conventional off-breaks this time.

He bowled Pietersen between bat and pad, on the front-foot defence, from round the wicket and then had Cook, trying to push his 50th run to leg, well caught at slip by a diving Younus Khan. Bell and Morgan appeared to tame the spinners for a time with the old ball, only to fall in quick succession when Misbah-ul-Haq turned back to Gul's pace.

It was a lack of that which appeared to do for Bell, embarrassingly mistiming a cut for a simple catch at cover - and then Gul produced a fine delivery to find Morgan's edge for a caught-behind on the back foot.