Rehman humbles England as Pakistan clinch series

Reuters: Spinner Abdur Rehman took six wickets as Pakistan beat England by 72 runs in the second test on Saturday to clinch the three-match series, bowling out the tourists for 72 in their second innings after another abject batting display.

England, the number one test side in the world, had earlier dismissed Pakistan for 214 to give themselves a target of 145 to win in Abu Dhabi.

But Andrew Strauss’s men again failed to deal with the host’s triple spin threat of Rehman, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez.

Rehman ended on 6-25, while Ajmal’s figures were 3-22.

“The way the ball was turning it was really difficult to play left-arm spinners on that wicket,” Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq told reporters. “So we were thinking we can put pressure on England and make a match of it.

“It’s a big win for us - even in these kinds of conditions to beat the number one side is a big effort from our team.”

For England, only Strauss (32) and Matt Prior (18) managed double figures in the second innings, the tourists losing all 10 wickets in the space of 22 overs.

“Those (low) totals are the hardest to chase because you know you are almost there and it’s easy to be caught between two stools, whether to be patient and wait for scoring opportunities to appear or to take the bull by the horns,” Strauss told reporters.

“It’s bitterly disappointing ... having done all that hard work you need to go on and complete the job and we just didn’t play well enough, individually and collectively.”

Alastair Cook (7) was the first to go, caught and bowled by Hafeez, who stooped to get his fingers to the ball inches from the turf.

Ian Bell (3) came in at number three in place of Jonathan Trott who had been off the field with a stomach complaint and the Warwickshire batsman lasted just three balls before deflecting an Ajmal delivery on to his stumps with an inside edge.

Kevin Pietersen (1) and Eoin Morgan (0) then continued their miserable form, falling to Rehman in the space of three balls.

Pietersen was trapped lbw after lunging forward to defend, while Morgan saw his leg stump felled.

Strauss had earlier escaped, deflecting a Rehman delivery off his bat and pad to Azhar Ali at short leg. Ali sunk to his knees to scoop the ball up before it hit the ground, but the third umpire thought otherwise, earning the England captain what was to prove to be a fleeting reprieve.

Strauss went lbw to Rehman, as did the returning Trott (1), while the slow left-armer clean bowled Broad through the gate as England offered little resistance. Earlier, Monty Panesar bagged six wickets in his first test since 2009 as England thrived in the field, but their subsequent collapse was reminiscent of their woes in the first test in Dubai, when they slumped to 43-5 in their first innings and went on to lose by 10 wickets.