England bow to Ajmal’s tricks

Wednesday, 18 January 2012 00:15 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Dubai: Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took a career-best seven wicket haul to destroy England’s much vaunted batting line-up on the opening day of the first Test here on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old, whose claims of a mystery delivery surrounded the lead-up to the three-Test series, had figures of 7-55 which wrecked England to 192 all out on a slow turning pitch at the Dubai Stadium.

In reply Pakistan finished on 42-0, with openers Mohammad Hafeez (22) and Taufiq Umar (18) unbeaten. They trail by 150 runs with all ten wickets intact.

Ajmal, whose previous best of 6-42 came against the West Indies at Guyana last year, bowled with variety, unleashing a straight delivery bowled with a round-arm action which kept low, seemingly his mystery one he named ‘teesra’ (the third one).

His superb bowling kept rival batsmen guessing and destroyed England’s hopes of a sound start, watched by a pawltry crowd of 1500.

Only wicket-keeper batsman Matt Prior batted with defiance, scoring a brilliant 70 not out for his 19th half-century. This was England’s lowest total in the last ten Tests since Australia bowled them out for 123 at Perth in 2010.

Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event including Valentine ’s Day. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Flower Bouquets, Clothing, Watches, Lingerie, Gift Sets and Jewellery. Also if you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.