England fall short by 25 runs in first Test as bad light stops play
England were 25 runs short of claiming an unlikely victory against Pakistan on the final day of the first Test on Saturday with the tourists ending on 74-4 as bad light ended the match in a draw.
Spin duo Moeen Ali and debutant Adil Rashid (5-64) had helped reduce Pakistan to 173 all out from 139-4, which set England a target of 99 to win and about an hour’s batting remaining.
Alastair Cook’s men went on the offensive in a rejigged batting order.
Shoaib Malik trapped Jos Buttler (4) lbw and had Ben Stokes caught on two, while Moeen Ali (11) fell to Zulfiqar Babar as spin again proved lethal on what had been a lifeless Abu Dhabi pitch during the first four days’ play.
Jonny Bairstow smashed 15 off 10 balls before being stumped by wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed, while Joe Root’s unbeaten 33 was nearly as brisk as England scored 74 off 11 overs.
Pakistan declared on 523-8 on Wednesday, England then taking nearly three days to reach 598-9 in their first innings before skipper Alastair Cook called on the hosts to bat again mid-Saturday morning.
