1st Test: Gul-dozed, Aj-mauled, simply blasted

DUBAI: The victory came all too easy, according to Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq, as his team won by 10 wickets inside three days against world cricket’s number-one ranked Test side England.

Fast-bowler Umar Gul, spinners Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal were among the wickets as the tourists crumbled to 160 in their second-innings, leaving Pakistan just 15 to win at the Dubai Cricket Stadium.

“We didn’t expect it to be so easy for us,” said a delighted Misbah as Pakistan gained a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. “Ajmal put us on the path to victory. Rehman and Mohammad Hafeez are contributing as well. It was a team effort as the conditions are not the easiest for batting here.

“After the 2010 series, the players wanted to improve. I’d also like to congratulate the curator for this wicket.”

Strauss promises fightback

Meanwhile, England captain Andrew Strauss was a disappointed man but vowed a fightback.

“Obviously it’s disappointing to lose in this manner,” said Strauss. “We lost five early wickets and it’s disappointing to bat like this but we are not going to press the panic button and will show resilience in the second match.

“But credit to Pakistan. Restricting them to 338 was good enough for us but they were very solid.”

Gul dismissed Strauss (six) before lunch and then accounted for Alastair Cook (five) and Kevin Pietersen (nought) in his hostile nine-over first spell on a spin-friendly pitch. Rehman (three for 37) and Saeed Ajmal (three for 42) – his second 10-wicket haul in Tests – supplemented Gul to help Pakistan bundle out England, who trailed by 146 in the second-innings.

Pakistan reached the required 15-run target in 3.4 overs to hand England their first defeat in 10 Tests – their last was when they lost to Australia in the 2010 Ashes.

England’s batsmen, wrecked by Ajmal’s career-best seven for 55 in their first-innings of 192, were again clueless against the spin and played some rash shots as they sought to score runs on the pace of Gul. Earlier, Adnan had boosted Pakistan’s lead with a gutsy second Test half-century. Adnan scored a career-best 61, adding another 50 runs after Pakistan resumed at 288 for seven.

Ajmal looking ahead

Ajmal, who was adjudged man of the match, was looking forward for a repeat show in the second Test.

“It is a very happy day for me,” he said. “I did not get any turn on the first day though but I am looking forward to the next match. Hopefully, I will try the teesra in that game.”

Ramiz Raja

“Pakistan are playing like a well-oiled unit and every player appears to be aware of his role. Misbah has led the side well. They now play the game at their own pace and wait for the opponents to wilt under pressure.”

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Misbah, Strauss surprised at England’s submission

DUBAI: Rival captains Misbah-ul-Haq and Andrew Strauss showed surprise at England`s capitulation which saw them lose the first Test against Pakistan by ten wickets here on Thursday.

And the manner of victory surprised Misbah.

`Obviously, we were not expecting it would finish so early, but I guess all the credit goes to the bowlers. No team would have expected such a victory against the world number one,` said the Pakistan captain.

The win also gave Misbah seven wins in 13 Tests as captain since taking over in October 2010.

`We are trying to be one of the best teams in the world, but I think it`s still a long way to go, we have to just improve much more than this, and we are just on the right path,` added the 37-year-old Pakistani captain.

Misbah praised his bowlers. `It`s a wonderful performance by our bowlers, they stuck to their task and it was total variations of Saeed on which they made mistakes. It`s a very big win for us which will increase our self-confidence,` remarked Misbah.

The Pakistan captain, however, expects England to bounce straight back.

`When you are number one team there is something that makes you number one, they have good quality cricketers, they are fighters and they can really come hard on us,` he added.

England captain Strauss said Pakistan surprised them after they won the toss and batted on day one.

`We were caught off guard in the first session of the first day on a very flat wicket, from then on Pakistan were in front and never let us back into the game and you need to congratulate them for the way they played,` said Strauss.

Strauss, under whom this is England`s first defeat in ten Tests, pointed a finger at batsmen.

`Obviously we are disappointed by the way we batted in the both innings, primarily in the first innings because it was not a 50 for five wickets. So you need to learn some lessons from that and move forward.

`The most important thing is not to be too carried away by the result and obviously learn the lessons from that and make sure you don`t make those mistakes again,` said Strauss, who added that he was not worried about the number one ranking.

`This is not the time for us to be worrying about number one or anything like that. What we need to do is make sure we don`t play this type of cricket we played in this game in the next Test and that is what our focus is on.

`The feeling of disappointment is a good motivation to make sure that it does not happen again,` said Strauss.

Strauss, whose team played the first Test since beating India in August last year, refused to agree England were under-prepared.-AFP

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