Monday, 2 November 2015

Taylor leads England towards high ground

England 222 for 4 (Taylor 74*, Bairstow 37*) trail Pakistan 234 by 12 runs

As the third Test hardened into a battle of wills and wiles, England were hauled into a position of relative strength by a maiden Test half-century from James Taylor. His unbeaten 74 helped take England to within touching distance of Pakistan's first-innings 234 at the close and bound together a hitherto porous middle order on a pitch that yielded every run grudgingly.

It was hard going but England were determined not to squander the gains achieved by their bowlers on Sunday. A surface that had threatened mayhem - as least by recent UAE standards - on the first day was increasingly cowed, a slow outfield providing a further obstruction to scoring. This England team may not appear adept at grafting but they dutifully buckled down to add 218 runs from the allocated 90 overs.

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