PAK 378 & 354/6d V ENG 242 & 130/3 (target 491)
England's prospects of batting out time to save the Dubai Test rest not for the first time on the slim shoulders of Joe Root. It is no wonder he has a stiff back because he spends much of the time carrying the top order on it. England's first-innings batting in this Test should have come in yellow and black with a suitable warning: Danger, heavy load, use forklift.
England's target was 491, presumed to be unassailable, and their hopes of survival a distant dream. Root nevertheless committed himself to that end, limiting his shot selection, increasingly turning his mind to spick-and-span defence. He was unbeaten on 59 by the close of the fourth day, England three down with the runs required reduced to 361.
A thick edge against Yasir to bring up his 50 was a rare moment of vulnerability, but more apposite was the fact that no England batsman has ever made more half-centuries in a calendar year. There has been enough chat around the bat for him to gain a grounding in several Pakistani dialects if he sees this one out.
To Pakistan's disappointment, the pitch has provided few devils as yet, its gradual loss of pace not yet giving way to savage bounce and turn for the spinners, although one senses it is only a matter of time. Only in the closing overs did Yasir's threat really gather. Wahab Riaz's pace was also down a few kph on the first innings and Root was disinclined to risk the front-foot drive. When Wahab kicked the ball along the turf at a drinks break (fairly innocently, replays suggested), Root, suspecting some shady business, warned him that spikes in the ball was not an option.
Yasir was unwell enough to skip morning nets, but he looked energetic enough in his 16 overs and had the crucial wicket of Alastair Cook to his name by his second. He does not have the body shape to satisfy an England fitness assessment, but as far as spinners go he is a navvy, a navvy, too, with many tools at his disposal, even if the googly has barely been seen.
The last thing England wanted was the sight of Cook limping badly, something that was obvious to everybody, it seemed, except the medical staff who insisted he was fine. That Cook's mobility was severely compromised was obvious every time he broke into a pained trot and Yasir tempted him to sweep at a ball that turned from the rough, resulting in a catch at deep backward square by Wahab, one of three fielders stationed for that eventuality.
Moeen had already gone, falling to a shot that might have been designed to question further his fitness for a Test opener's role, a foot-fast slash at a wide one from Imran Khan which flew to second slip and left the batsman stooping in self-recrimination. Imran indulged in lots of "me, me, me" chest pointing and soon afterwards pounded with equal conviction down the middle of the pitch, a transgression which brought an official warning.
Ian Bell was in dire need of a score. England will reshuffle in Sharjah, however disinclined to do so, and Bell and Jos Buttler are most vulnerable. He acquitted himself determinedly in a gentle stand of 102 in 35 overs with Root but fell half an hour before the close. For once, Zulfiqar Babar found bounce in the surface and, as he tried to leave, the ball grazed his glove. Pakistan won the decision thanks to as DRS appeal, perhaps relieved to find that the third umpire had a zoom-in camera at his disposal when rumour was he had little more to fall back on than a monitor, an apple and a fold-up chair.
The morning belonged to Younis Khan. No Pakistan cricketer relishes their inability to play Tests in their own country, but Younis, more than anyone, has made the UAE a beneficial second home. Ten of his 31 Test hundreds have come in the Gulf states, the latest against England in Dubai as Pakistan's batsmen continued to pound them into the ground.
He fell for 118, swinging Adil Rashid lustily to leg whereupon Moeen sprinted 25 yards to hold a skied top-edge behind the bowler. It was a rare moment of pleasure for England's two spinners who had only two wickets to show for their efforts - both in the final slog - and who played second fiddle to England's hard-pressed pace attack for long periods.
By the time Pakistan declared half-an-hour into the fourth afternoon, they had added 132 runs in the day and England's requirement was already comfortably in excess of the record 418 successfully pursued by West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
Misbah, like Younis, began with a hundred in range, but for the second time in the match he did not add to his overnight score. Perhaps he is not someone who leans happily into a bright, new day. He was already the oldest player to score two centuries in a Test but he was not about to enhance his own record. Anderson slipped in a slower ball and he slotted it straight to his rival captain, Cook, at mid-off.
England's pace bowlers were a bit moody. On a slowing, wearing, fourth-day pitch where they might have hoped the spinners would be all over Pakistan, they were still doing their stuff. Anderson had a tiny collision with Asad Shafiq and Stokes, his mood not helped by a tweaked ankle, was all Marmite temper, his savoury mood congealing over another blazing day. Appropriately so, as England were toast.
By the time he reached the 90s, Younis was settled enough to toy with the bowlers, goading Stuart Broad by changing his position at the crease. Splay-legged and square on, he worked Broad through square leg to 98 then cut Rashid to reach his century in the next over.
Misbah, sat regally on the dressing room balcony behind a pedestal fan, seemed inclined to let Shafiq try for a century, too. A glove-carrier came out presumably with a message to tell him how much time he had but he was still 21 runs short when Moeen had him lbw, a review failing to save him. Misbah stretched, slowly rose to his feet to prepare for the work ahead, and called them in.
SL V WI
Persistent rain forced the umpires to abandon the fourth day of the second Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo at 3pm local time. The morning session was scheduled to start at 9.45am, after the final session on the third day was washed out, but a steady rain, to add to overnight showers, meant that no play was possible at all.
Chasing 244 for their first win in Sri Lanka, West Indies had lost Kraigg Brathwaite lbw to Dhammika Prasad for 3, minutes before rain forced an early end on the third day.
The second day of the Test was affected by rain as well, with the start getting delayed by 30 minutes. The forecast for the final day does not look promising either.
South Africa 438 for 4 (du Plessis 133, de Villiers 119, de Kock 109) beat India 224 (Rahane 87, Dhawan 60, Rabada 4-41) by 214 runs
South Africa won their first-ever bilateral series in India after Faf du Plessis' first, Quinton de Kock's second and AB de Villiers' third centuries of the series, which helped the visitors soar to the highest total in the five matches, the highest at the Wankhede and the highest against India. They did not subject India to their biggest margin of defeat, but they did bowl them out more than 200 runs short of the target, no mean feat in batsmen-friendly conditions.
South Africa's line-up enjoyed the track, which offered almost no bounce or turn most, and applied aggression in waves reminiscent of the day nine years ago when they scored this exact number of runs against Australia at the Wanderers. Then, South Africa were chasing, this time they were making India's bowlers do that. India have never conceded more runs in an ODI; South Africa have scored more but only by one. This was their sixth score over 400 and fourth in 2015 alone, and it underlined their ability to dominate opposition on their own turf.
India will be disappointed by the way their challenge died in both departments. Their bowlers began with an over-reliance on the short ball and then just ran out of ideas while their batsmen showed the right intent upfront but lost wickets trying to sustain the scoring rate. In the end, they conceded a second series to South Africa on the tour with the main event, the Tests, still to come.
The signs of South African authority were evident from the start. They raced to fifty inside six overs during which Hashim Amla became the fastest batsmen to 6,000 ODI runs. Amla was dismissed cheaply for a fifth time in the series but that did not have an impact on South Africa's morale.
De Kock owned the pull shot and with the seamers failing to generate anything, MS Dhoni introduced spin in the seventh over. Harbhajan Singh kept things tight at first but the tension was routinely broken at the other end. South Africa grew in confidence, brought up 100 in the 15th over and appeared unstoppable until de Kock hit Amit Mishra in the air to mid-off and presented a chance. Mohit Sharma got fingertips to the ball but could not hold on. De Kock was on 58 at the time and Mohit's mistake would prove costly.
He was seeing the ball well and found the rope so regularly, there was barely a need for singles. More than two-thirds of his runs came in boundaries but he reached his century, his fifth against India and eighth overall, with a single.
Du Plessis had almost been a spectator in the proceedings and allowed de Kock most of the strike but when de Kock was caught on the long-off boundary, he knew he had to take over. With de Villiers egging him on, du Plessis upped the ante, assisted by Dhoni using part-timers Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli against South Africa's two most destructive batsmen. They pierced the gaps and hit with power as the intensity increased.
De Villiers injected impetus into the innings with his scoring rate - his fifty came off 34 balls - and du Plessis followed suit. After taking 61 balls to score fifty, he needed just 44 more deliveries to get a century, even as he battled cramps to get there.
South Africa entered the last ten overs on 294 for 2 but would have been wary of the squeeze that can strike with the new playing conditions. This time, they were not strangled. Du Plessis plundered 24 runs off the 43rd over, bowled by Axar Patel, even though he could barely stand up and had to retire hurt on 133.
Then, it was de Villiers' turn. His century came off the 57th ball he faced to chants of "ABD" from the Wankhede crowd. South Africa were on the brink of 400 when de Villiers edged an attempted pull and was caught behind and India had finally got through the senior batsmen. Farhaan Behardien and David Miller had free reign to slog as hard as they wanted and they made the most of what time they had. South Africa scored 144 runs in the last ten overs. By the time India had that many, it looked as though a thriller might just play out.
India lost Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the first eight overs of the reply but Shikhar Dhawan, who had been middling until this match, and Ajinkya Rahane kept them in it. Rahane was particularly severe on Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir but neither of them targeted South Africa's fifth bowler, Behardien, as much as they should have. Still, they applied pressure, forced mistakes from South Africa in the field and were on track despite the length of the journey.
Then it all changed when Kagiso Rabada proved there is no substitute for pure pace. He was brought back on in the 23nd over, angled a fuller ball across Dhawan and drew the leading edge. Hashim Amla fell face first taking the catch and India were faltering. In Rabada's next over, he dished up a leg-stump yorker than snuck past Suresh Raina and broke the back of the Indian chase.
Rahane, who batted with composure and class and scored 50 off 41 balls, was feeling the heat. He holed out to midwicket off Dale Steyn, whose veins popped. In South Africa, the corks would have been doing the same as the series was all but sealed. India lost their last five wickets for 29 runs and South Africa secured a second limited-overs series on their longest-ever visit to India.
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