Pakistan vs. England, 2nd Test, Day 2: Root Digs in for England
While the opening day of the second Test between Pakistan and England resembled last week's attritional Abu Dhabi clash, a flurry of wickets in the first session of Day 2 opened things up nicely.
The dismissal of Misbah-Ul-Haq without addition to his overnight score of 102 signalled a collapse that saw the hosts lose six wickets for 96 runs.
Mark Wood and Moeen Ali were the main benefactors, picking up a couple of wickets each to help limit Pakistan to a score of 378.
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Once again, Alastair Cook and Joe Root led the response with half-centuries, although with three wickets back in the pavilion and England still 196 runs behind, the game is finely poised.
Let's take a look at some of the day's takeaways and try to anticipate what may happen tomorrow.
'Rook and Coot'
Cook and Root continued their relentless run-making ways with Cook registering a score of 65 and Root finishing the day unbeaten on a fluent 76.
Coming together at a score of 14-2, the pair put on 113 runs for the third wicket—their third century partnership—and helped England to remain in the contest.
What's more, Cook, who became the top-ranked opener in the ICC rankings, and Root are the top two leading scorers of Test runs in 2015 with 1,235 and 1,183 runs, respectively.
Imran Khan't
In something of a comical sideshow, Pakistan's Imran Khan came to the crease amazingly still searching for the first run of his Test career in his seventh appearance.
A closer look at the statistics reveals the paceman has in fact only batted four times, but after being stranded by Asad Shafiq today, he is still yet to get off the mark.
Fortunately for Khan, his primary job is to take wickets, and with 10 scalps to his name at a cost of 30.50 per time, he's made a decent start at the international level.
Ring the Bell
A dogged half-century at Abu Dhabi seemed to suggest a return of form for Ian Bell, but the England No. 3 fell cheaply today, nicking a good length ball from Sarfraz Ahmed behind.
Of course, all batsmen fail every now and then, but the normally fluent stroke-maker has now scored just 342 runs in his last 20 innings at an average of 19.
With an in-form, ready-made replacement in James Taylor waiting in the wings, it could be a massive second innings for Bell's Test career.
Return of the Shah
Ahead of the series, a lot of the talk was about spin and Yasir Shah, in particular, until an injury ruled Pakistan's new king of spin out of the Abu Dhabi Test.
Fortunately, the leg spinner, who has picked up 61 wickets from his first 10 Tests, recovered to take the field in Dubai.
And it didn't take long for the 29-year-old to get involved in the action, coming on to bowl in the 12th over and delivering a huge turner with his second ball.
Bowling with enthusiasm but little reward throughout the day, Shah did manage to pick up the important scalp of Cook and, with the deck seemingly set to turn, should play a much bigger role over the next few days.
What next in this Test?
Saturday's first session will be crucial.
If England can survive without losing more than two wickets, then they should be approaching parity, meaning the game will be a second innings shootout.
However, with early wickets for Pakistan and a significant first innings advantage, things will be very difficult down the line for Cook's men on a wicket that normally starts to spin heavily.
All statistics used in the article were from ESPN Cricinfo.
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