There is no element of a chance or a miraculous escape in this nerve-tickling decisive final Test for either England or Pakistan. With today being the final day, it is ominously poised for a result which in the end may turn out to be a cracker. And it deserves nothing less because of the excitement it has generated all through the last four days with the balance of the game tilting from time to time.

This indeed was made possible for the fact through the Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez who while scoring his ninth Test century kept the score moving to extend Pakistan’s overnight meager lead to a relatively respectable one as both Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq lend support with valuable knocks.

The longer Hafeez and Pakistan stayed at the wicket the grimmer it began to look for England bowlers who toiled in the scorching heat to restrict Pakistan lead to a minimum.

A resolute Pakistan batting though held their fort till late after tea to set a target which in all calculations is a tough one to achieve keeping in view the pattern of the play throughout.

Pakistan already one up in the series have nothing to lose and should go all out to attack the England batsmen to claim early wickets today. The state of the final day’s pitch and the situation of the match suggest that Misbah’s men are in with a chance to win this series comprehensively.

But England on the other hand are no mugs. They know the importance of drawing level with Pakistan before embarking on a lot more demanding mission, that is facing South Africa.

Cook’s Ashes winning team also have in focus the glory that will come their way if they beat Pakistan on their ‘home’ turf.

A number of close decisions went in England’s favour as a tension packed late afternoon drew to a close. I suppose there were couple of lucky moments for Cook and company who more than once had the lady luck on their side as Pakistan spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Shoaib Malik’s deliveries went past their bats.

This brings me to the standard of umpiring in this series which remains questionable. I always believed that if there is technology available then it should be used no matter which teams are playing. It does not really balance out if one series has all the facilities present because they can afford it and the other is played without them.

In this series there is no snickometer nor there is hot-spot facilities which does not speak well for those who run the game. I know the difficulties that is faced and the money involved to have the technology available. No doubt, without it the TV umpire is no less than a dummy.

A solution needs to be found by the ICC to make all the technology mandatory to avoid controversies which may spoil a game. In a very demanding situation like that of today in Sharjah Test, a close decision for one or the other will no doubt influence the end result.

England have not chased more than 332 runs to win a Test and that was against Australia in 1928. This target here against Pakistan is attainable but is certainly not easy for England who have already lost two wickets.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2015

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