Pakistan vs England: Tourists count cost of dropped catches and let Shoaib Malik cash in

Sloppiness in the field cost England 176 runs on the first day of the Test series

Jimmy Anderson laments Ian Bell dropping Shoaib Malik (Getty Images)

What will annoy England the most is the fact this difficult day of chasing leather in the exhausting desert heat was made even more taxing by their own shortcomings.

It was always going to be a sobering affair given there is 24-hour ban on alcohol sales in these parts in deference to the Islamic New Year. However, England’s self-inflicted wounds made a tough task almost unbearable.

In the end, Pakistan finished the opening day of the series on a commanding but not yet match-winning total of 286 for 4. Yet it should have been so much better for the tourists.

Ian Bell was the chief culprit, dropping two chances – one an absolute dolly – at either end of the day. Stuart Broad was also culpable after committing the cardinal sin of overstepping on what would have been a wicket-taking delivery. In all, England’s sloppiness in the field has so far cost them a soul-crushing total of 176 runs.

What makes things worse is the fact Alastair Cook’s team were always destined for an arduous day in the field in conditions so heavily loaded in favour of the batsmen that the low, slow surface here appears to have been prepared with the express aim of crushing bowlers’ spirits. Yet England’s profligacy made a bad situation even worse.

Bell set the tone in the seventh over when he spilled a simple chance at second slip off the bowling of James Anderson to reprieve Mohammad Hafeez on seven.

Anderson had already struck in his second over, removing Shan Masood with a short ball that clattered into the stumps, via the opener’s helmet. Had Bell clung onto his chance Pakistan would have been 12 for 2. Instead, Hafeez went on to score 98 before being trapped lbw by Ben Stokes with the last ball before tea.

But there was worse to come for England in the field. Broad thought he had removed Shoaib Malik on 40 when the Pakistan batsman edged to the rather-more sure-handed Joe Root at gully. Broad, though, had overstepped in his delivery stride and so Shoaib, playing his first Test in five years, was recalled.

Pakistan’s score at that point, early in the afternoon session, had reached 101. Yet Shoaib ensured it would be approaching 300 by the end of the day, the 33-year-old reaching stumps unbeaten on 124.

Given his last Test had come at Edgbaston on Pakistan’s 2010 tour of England, this was some effort from Shoaib. What makes it even more remarkable is the fact he has never before played as a No 3 batsman in Tests.

Playing in place of the injured Azhar Ali – rapidly becoming one of Pakistan’s finest batsmen – Shoaib had big shoes to fill. But fill them he did and it is his contribution that threatens to take the game away from England.

Early wickets this morning will be key for Cook’s men and to make that happen they will need be far more clinical when the chances come.

The late absence of Yasir Shah with a back injury means Shoaib and his part-time off-breaks will also have a big role to play when England eventually bat. Yasir’s absence is a huge blow to Pakistan given his superb form, with the leg-spinner taking 61 wickets in 10 Tests since making his debut last autumn.

England, though, still have plenty of hard graft to do in the field before they can take advantage of Pakistan’s injury misfortune. As well as Shoaib and Hafeez’s success with the bat, there was a landmark for Younis Khan, who needed just 19 runs to overtake Javed Miandad as Pakistan’s all-time leading runscorer in Tests.

Younis got there in style with a six off Moeen Ali before eventually falling for 38, driving a legal Broad delivery to Cook at short mid-on to reduce Pakistan to 247 for 3.

It is a shame there were not more people to witness that piece of history, with an attendance of around 1500 the result of the fact this was a working day in the UAE. That was the first of two wickets in the final session which allowed England to gain at least a semblance of a foothold in this contest.

However, the second was far from straightforward as Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, was sent on his way for three when Cook successfully reviewed an appeal for caught behind. With HotSpot and Snicko not part of the Decision Review System in this series, the evidence was far from conclusive. Yet Sundaram Ravi, the third umpire, gave the benefit of the doubt to England, a rare touch of fortune on an otherwise luckless day.

If Bell had clung onto another chance three overs from the close, created by Anderson and the second new ball, England would be close to parity. But Asad Shafiq lived to fight another day following his reprieve on 10.

Anderson could at least console himself with the fact he is now the 10th most-prolific bowler in Test history, his dismissal of Misbah taking him past Pakistan great Wasim Akram on the all-time list with 415 wickets.

Adil Rashid, the leg-spinner finally making his Test debut, is still awaiting his first wicket. The 27-year-old found prodigious turn and although he conceded 76 runs from 17 overs, at least Rashid improved as the day wore on.

The opposite could be said of Moeen, who conceded 19 runs from his first 10 overs but went to all parts in his latter spells. Still, spinners are judged on their performances on the last two days, not the first.

England will hope they are still in the game by then.