Cricket: England sunk by Gul treble

Gul took three crucial wickets to undermine England’s chase of 144 for six, to help his team go 1-0 up with two to play.

Graeme Swann returned career-best bowling figures, three for 13, better by one run than his previous best – which also came in defeat against the same opponents on the same ground almost two years ago.

Stuart Broad won the toss and put the Pakistanis in. Debutant opener Awais Zia clubbed a six and a four in his 18 from 12 balls, before mistiming a ball from Steven Finn straight to mid-off.

Number three Shafiq and Hafeez more than doubled the score before Swann removed Asad Shafiq on nine with a run-out, then took three for one run in eight balls. Hafeez picked out the man in the leg-side deep, Afridi chipped straight to midwicket. Then Umar Akmal went for a duck as Dernbach took a fine tumbling catch at long-off.

Shoaib and Misbah therefore had to bat sensibly, and fared admirably in a stand of 71.

Kevin Pietersen, in particular, and Craig Kieswetter got England’s chase off to a handy start in an opening stand of 48. But Pietersen had just clubbed Shahid Afridi over long-off for six when he did not get quite enough on the next ball and was well held by Shafiq almost at the rope.

Kieswetter was out in the next over, backing so far away to Mohammad Hafeez that he could not reach a ball which bowled him leg-stump. Much depended on Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan but Morgan missed a drive at Hafeez and lost his leg-stump. Bopara top-scored with 39 and dominated another useful stand with Jonny Bairstow but, just when it seemed he and Bairstow might finish the job, Bopara failed to cover leg-stump and duly lost it to Gul.

Pakistan’s premier seamer then saw off Jos Buttler, caught at short fine-leg, and had Samit Patel lbw to a yorker first ball.