JOIN USEngland's opening batsmen safely negotiated the final hour's play to close the third day of the third Test with Pakistan on 36 without loss, chasing 324 to win, after Azhar Ali's mammoth innings of 157 put the hosts in a dominant position in Dubai.
Ali's stay at the crease -- he faced 424 balls over 533 minutes for his 157 runs -- was finally ended as he turned a Graeme Swann delivery straight to Cook at short leg, who took a good catch just above the ground. Those in the sparse crowd rose to applaud his knock -- his highest in first-class cricket. Pakistan finished with 365.
Earlier, Younis Khan added 12 to his overnight score to reach 127 before Stuart Broad got him leg before to end his partnership of 216 with Ali.
Ali said patience had paid off for him. "The wicket was slow so that's why I opted for this. I had to be patient to get runs. You can't just play all the shots. You had to concentrate on one or two shots and when it comes, you put it away. So that's what I concentrated on. I really enjoyed it in the end as batting for long gives you pleasure.”
SCORE BOARD
PAKISTAN (I Innings): 99 all out
ENGLAND (II Innings): 141 all out
PAKISTAN (II innings, O/n: 222/2):
Hafeez lbw Panesar 21
Umar c Strauss b Anderson 6
Azhar c Cook b Swann 157
Younis lbw Broad 127
Misbah lbw Panesar 31
Shafiq lbw Panesar 5
A Akmal b Panesar 0
Rehman c Anderson b Swann 1
Ajmal c Anderson b Swann 1
Gul lbw Panesar 4
Cheema (not out) 0
Extras (B-10, LB-1, NB-1) 12
Total (all out, 152.4 overs) 365
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-28, 3-244, 4-331, 5-339, 6-345, 7-346, 8-350, 9-363.
Bowling: Anderson 28-7-51-1, Broad 24-7-55-1, Panesar 56.4-13-124-5, Swann 39-6-101-3, Trott 2-0-14-0, Pietersen 3-0-9-0.
ENGLAND (II Innings):
Strauss (batting) 19
Cook (batting) 15
Extras (NB-2) 2
Total (for no loss, 20 overs) 36
Bowling: Umar Gul 4-1-11-0, Aizaz Cheema 2-0-5-0, Mohammad Hafeez 5-2-6-0, Abdur Rehman 7-0-12-0, Saeed Ajmal 2-1-2-0.