Hosts hold cards as England seek reward

November 1-5, 2015
Start time 10am local (0600 GMT)

It's been an unexpectedly tough struggle for supremacy, but after 10 out of a possible 15 days of their series against England, Pakistan have established the primacy that they had always assumed would be on the cards. The valiant struggles of Alastair Cook's men to stay in touch and, for a heady afternoon in Abu Dhabi, to surge into the ascendancy have come to nought. The hosts are now dormie as they head into the Sharjah finale, their proud unbeaten record in series in the UAE guaranteed for another year.

England have had a week to recover from the agony of their near-miss in Dubai, where Adil Rashid's late-evening aberration against his legspinning counterpart Yasir Shah rendered futile the resolve he had shown through his preceding 171 deliveries. Thirty-nine more deliveries of dead-batted obduracy and England could genuinely be scenting a slice of history this week. From bad light to bad shot selection, the margins in both Tests have been extraordinarily fine.

However, the fault, as Cook rightly pointed out after the Dubai defeat, lay not in that lax moment from Rashid but instead in England's hopeless performance on the third morning of the match. That day had dawned amid visions of a decisive first-innings lead; instead it degenerated into the session from hell that England had always feared might come to pass in such hostile conditions.

It has been isolated in its ignominy as well. The competitive spirit on show for the other nine-and-two-thirds days of the series has been faultless, but that morning's loss of seven wickets for 36 would prove insurmountable.

And so, with lessons learnt and changes - enforced and otherwise - made, England regroup and Pakistan restart, with one last five-day push to the finish in the offing. The batting of both teams has proven fallible and faultless in equal measure, with the magisterial performances of Alastair Cook and Joe Root for England and Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan for Pakistan atoning for some notable weaknesses elsewhere in both line-ups.

For Pakistan, Shan Masood has spent most of the series in James Anderson's pocket, while even Shoaib Malik, with series scores of 245, 0, 2 and 7, has been more bust than boom. And as for England's middle order, the less said the better. The best of a bad bunch have been Ian Bell, who with scores of 63 and 46 appears to be battling himself as much as the conditions, and Jonny Bairstow, who has shown grit on occasions as well as a technique against the spinners that is fraught with danger.

The unsung heroes on both teams have been the seam bowlers - Wahab Riaz's Man of the Match award at Dubai was hugely deserved and a tribute to his stamina and impact in strength-sapping conditions, even though his overall match figures of 5 for 144 aren't much to write home about. He has been matched in menace if not method by England's quiet achiever, Anderson, whose canny spells with new ball and old have been repelled (or not, in Masood's case) with utmost respect and caution.

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WDWLW
England LDLWW

The most likely quick bowler on either side to open up a game, Wahab Riaz continues to mature as Pakistan's attack leader. His pace, stamina and ability to extract significant reverse swing have been impressive but he will have to back it up again after a five-day gap, particularly with his new-ball partner, the steady Imran Khan, missing through injury.

James Taylor is back in an England Test shirt and raring to go. A confident player of spin, he thrived on his return to the ODI side in Sri Lanka last year and added a maiden hundred against Australia in September. Looked in good touch during his one tour appearance so far and is ostensibly in the sort of form to shore up England's middle-order issues.

Azhar Ali missed the first Test with a toe infection and the second because of the death of his mother-in-law, but he is ready and waiting to resume his place in the side, with Masood making way. Whether it will be in his preferred slot at No. 3 or as an opener, for only the fourth time in Tests, remains to be seen. Pakistan are definitely on the lookout for a replacement opener in the bowling stakes, following the news of Imran's hand injury, sustained while fielding on Friday and requiring four stitches and ten days' rest. Rahat Ali, the left-arm seamer, is set to resume his place in the side having missed out in the second Test to accommodate Yasir Shah's return. In better news for Pakistan, their reserve spinner Bilal Asif has been cleared to resume bowling by the ICC after undergoing biomechanical testing in Chennai.

Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Zulfiqar Babar, 10 Yasir Shah, 11 Rahat Ali

Changes are afoot in the England line-up, for a variety of reasons. Mark Wood's gallantry at Abu Dhabi and Dubai cannot mask a bowling style that seems destined to send him to the knacker's yard before his spirit is even close to waning. He has received injections in his troublesome ankle and will rest up ahead of the one-day series next month. Into the picture, most probably, comes Liam Plunkett, although Samit Patel retains a chance of playing if England think the pitch will support a third spinner. Plunkett is arguably the fastest of the England quicks on tour and a man who can be relied upon to keep up the aerial bombardment that has been a feature of England's competitive spirit in this series.

England have confirmed that Jos Buttler will be given a break from the front line - a top score of 42 in seven Tests since July would be no justification for selection even if his wicketkeeping was at its sharpest, and as a couple of galling errors behind the stumps in Dubai would testify, his all-round game has suffered. Bairstow is primed to take over the gauntlets, with Nottinghamshire's Taylor making his first Test appearance since 2012. Moeen Ali has been backed to continue as Cook's opening partner, so Taylor's county team-mate Alex Hales will have to wait at least until the South Africa tour in December to make his bow.

England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Joe Root, 5 James Taylor, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 James Anderson

Cricket in Sharjah has come a long way since pitches were just "rolled sand". England played their warm-up matches at the ground, with Steven Finn recording notable success in the second, but the Test surface is very dry and likely to favour spin - if it favours anything other than run-making. The forecast, unsurprisingly, is for another hot one.

"Obviously you have to think positively and we will do our best not leave any stone unturned and play well and win. Obviously your confidence is high after winning the last game and our team's confidence is high, so its an important match for us and we will do our best to win it."
Misbah-ul-Haq promises there will be no let up now Pakistan are ahead in the series

"Over this tour I think we've been a fairly consistent side, just that third morning in the second Test has cost us the result. Nine-and-a-half days we've matched Pakistan really well. The challenge is not having that session and about coming into the latter stages of the game and putting Pakistan under some pressure with the series at stake."
Alastair Cook wants his side to avoid another horror session