Missed opportunities cost England dear on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, with the hosts closing on 286-4.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad produced admirably frugal performances in testing conditions for bowlers, securing figures of 2-19 and 1-30 from their respective 14-over shifts in searing heat.
Broad was, however, responsible for one of the costly missed chances, called no-ball on review having persuaded Shoaib Malik to edge to gully on 40, with the Pakistan number three closing the day unbeaten on 124.
Ian Bell shelled two slip catches off Anderson; Mohammad Hafeez on seven before he went on to score 98 and share a second wicket stand of 168 with Malik, followed by a reprieve for Asad Shafiq (11*) in the closing overs of the day.
England began and ended strongly as Anderson top-and-tailed the day with the dismissals of Shan Masood (2) and Misbah-ul-Haq (3), climbing into the top ten Test wicket-takers in history with 415, at the expense of Wasim Akram.
Ben Stokes chipped in with the wicket of Hafeez, who he trapped lbw, finally ending Pakistan’s bumper second wicket partnership on the stroke of Tea.
Adil Rashid’s first day of Test cricket didn’t go according to plan with his 17 overs costing 76 runs. Mooen Ali, selected to open the batting, bowled 19 overs and went wicketless for 73.
Broad gained just reward for his day’s efforts midway through the final session when Younus Khan, who became Pakistan’s all-time leading run-scorer on his way to 38 - was caught by captain Alastair Cook, who had stationed himself as one of three close catchers on the leg-side.
The 28-year-old agreed that England had been their own worst enemies by missing chances on the day, but he praised the efforts of the bowlers and insisted that the tourists are still very much in the contest.
“It’s all about your inner ticker and we can take a huge amount of credit for how we’ve gone about today,” he said.
”We were disappointed to miss a couple of opportunities but it’s been a pretty good day.
“If we can bowl well tomorrow and expose the tail we could be in a decent position.
“It’s something we monitor in training but, in the last seven months, it has crept into our bowling attack a bit more,” Broad continued having been quizzed about over-stepping the front line.
“I was disappointed to bowl a no-ball. It was unacceptable for me to do that.
“Particularly in conditions like this, you can’t afford to do it. The key is to check where your foot is and get feedback from the umpire after most deliveries.
“He is disappointed; he’s head in his hands in the changing room,” Broad said of Ian Bell following the two dropped catches.
“Catches go down but it’s not for the lack of practice. The guys have been working incredibly hard.
“The first was a tricky catch low to the left. The second he would hope to catch 99 times out of 100.
“But hopefully with that new ball tomorrow we can create a couple more chances.”
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