Pakistan having conceded a 72-run first innings lead were faced with two hurdles to cross. One of them was to ensure getting past the lead without any damage, and the other of course to see the third day off with as many wickets intact as possible.

They were not easy in the circumstances when a team is bowled out on a low score and the opposition then turn the game in their favour.

Pakistan no doubt crossed the first hurdle without much fuss or loss of a wicket through Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali partnership until a silly run out ended their valuable stand.

That was, indeed, a sigh of relief for Alastair Cook’s men who are well focused to level the series. In this decisive match England has tirelessly showed a lot more application with both bat and ball to dominate the proceedings in the last three days, except for a brief period when Pakistan bowlers struck back yesterday to bowl England out.

Shoiab Malik, who hastened the end of England’s innings with four wickets, was later unable to maintain his form with the bat despite that double century he scored in the first Test.

After that heart-warming innings, he appears to have gone down the roller-coaster really fast as his last four innings suggests. The pattern of his scoring 0, 2, 7, 38 and 0 makes very unimpressive reading. It will be unfair of me to condemn him for losing his marbles during the course of this series because at times he did help out with his bowling, breaking partnerships in required moments. There are others too on whom we can portion blame for being impetuous and even complacent when situation demanded.

Having crossed the first hurdle successfully, Misbah-ul-Haq’s men now need to stay at the wicket at least till late after tea time today to take a substantial lead of at least 270 to 280 runs to have England under their thumb.

Criticize as much as we may, Hafeez has unquestionably showed the way for the rest with his patience and application that has kept him anchored in the middle. At times he was delightful to watch when attacking the fast bowlers or the spinners.

Before the start of Pakistan second innings the Pakistan captain chose to have a heavy roller which certainly showed improvement in the pitch and in its behavior which has apparently helped in Pakistan surviving the day.

Hafeez obviously was its main beneficiary as he held his end intact and also on occasions shielded his partner once the wickets started to fall. A century at the end of the day would have been a lot more satisfying and rewarding. Today it could be his perhaps may be in the first couple of deliveries if he keeps his head down and focused wear the bowlers down.

This would be tough but not impossible for the rest of the Pakistan batsmen to extend their 74-run lead into a lot more impressive one.

England, on the other hand, will no doubt try to dent the innings with early strikes to restrict Pakistan to a minimum to make a chase easier.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play