DUBAI // Nine back-breaking overs on the run in searing heat. More or less unplayable, in spite of facilities designed to make it as good as impossible for bowlers of his type. And still no five-wicket haul to show for it.
It could have been worse, though. The last time Wahab Riaz stole the show with such a spell-binding spell of fast bowling, his side lost, were dumped out of the World Cup, and he was censured by the ICC for crimes against tepid cricket.
At least this time around the indefatigable Pakistani can look forward to celebrating a victory at some point over the next two days, which would put his side one-up with just the Test in Sharjah left in the series.
Thanks broadly to his return of three wickets – those of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler – for 15 runs in nine morning overs, Pakistan have England at their mercy in this series.
That is reward enough for the man of the moment, whose overall figures of four for 66 from 19 spoke little of the feats he performed. “If I could have got a five-for, it would have been a very special one, but still it was very good because it helped my team,” Wahab said.
“At times it happens where you bowl really well but don’t get a wicket. Sometimes it happens that you can get a wicket on a bad ball.
“In cricket you always have to put effort into it. I think I was quite lucky to get wickets on these tracks. The energy is always there. It is just that it was going really good for me.
“I had that visualisation that I might get some wickets in that spell. I kept bowling and I got the reward of doing that.”
Wahab, who hit Stuart Broad with an 89mph bouncer in the ninth over of his spell, had the perfect foil at the other end in the form of Yasir Shah.
The fit-again leg-spinner continued his stunning start to life in Test cricket with another four wickets this time around.
It is safe to assume he will be an even more potent threat in the last innings, on a worn pitch, with the added pressure of a substantial target for England to theoretically chase.
Root, who top-scored with 88 for England but whose dismissal started the collapse, rued injudicious shot selection.
“We have got to pitch up tomorrow and put in a better performance than today because we just weren’t good enough,” Root said at the close of play.
“Fair play to Pakistan – they put us under a lot of pressure. They bowled very consistently. They got the ball to reverse at good speeds. We weren’t able to handle that.
“The leg-spinner bowled with some good control.
“But if we’re being brutally honest, there were a few shots in our dismissals we probably want to rethink.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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