Legends of Sports

England formed world-class death bowling coupled with moments of brilliance in the field to snatch a five-run win in the deciding Twenty20 against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and seal the series 2-1. With Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal together, needing 35 off the last five overs, Pakistan were in control but Stuart Broad and Jade Dernbach showed nerves of strengthen to end the tour on a high.

Broad bowled the 16th and 19th overs which cost just four runs apiece and that included a misfield by Jonny Bairstow at long-on in the second to last over which gave away a boundary. Broad removed Akmal, who skied a catch to long-off after missing the first two balls of the 19th over, and Bairstow redeemed himself in the last with a influential throw to Craig Kieswetter which found Shahid Afridi short of his crease.

Dernbach, who bowled the 17th over for six runs, was left with 13 to play with for the last and was in control except when a slower ball looped out short to be called wide. That left Pakistan needing eight off three deliveries but Hammad Azam and Misbah could only muster two singles before a trademark slower ball from Dernbach castled Misbah and set of wild celebrations from the bowler.

The series win, an important result for Broad who is still in his infancy as a captain, will give the England squad a major surge of confidence ahead of their title defence at the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Their remaining T20s before that competition are all at home, so success in conditions similar - if not identical - to Sri Lanka will have provided a wealth of knowledge particularly for the younger players.

Pakistan's spinners "outclassed" England's batsmen for a comprehensively deserved 3-0 Test series whitewash. Captain Misbah-ul-Haq knows that after 71-run success at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium completed the rout on the back of yet more wickets for Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman. They and Misbah had all the answers to make contempt of England's world No 1 status, yet the captain had to admit afterwards he did not have the words to describe accurately how much Pakistan's first whitewash of these opponents’ means to them and their country.

"I can't really describe how important this series was for us," he said, as he reflected on a fully dominant performance throughout. Pakistan, of course, must play their 'home' series hundreds of miles away from their native country because of ongoing political turmoil there. They also began this first Test series against England since the spot-fixing scandal of 2010 still needing to distance themselves from the sins of those who represented Pakistan so dishonorably in the recent past.

"To win 3-0 is really a wonderful achievement for this team, especially with what was expected before the start against the top team in the world," Misbah added."We were expecting England might have problems, because of the slowness of the wickets here."I think our bowlers, our spinners, was really outstanding and they just outclassed their batting line-up."Ajmal and Rehman inflicted a series of batting collapses on England over the past three weeks. But in the final Test, Pakistan had to overcome a shambolic first innings of their own - which realized only 99.

The two previous Tests here have both ended in draws and have produced three double centuries at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. It is exciting to note that, in both instances, Pakistan's captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, won the toss and inserted the opposition. On the first occasion, South Africa combined 584 but not before they had been 33 for three, while on the second occasion, Sri Lanka was dismissed for 197. If there is any life to be exploited in the pitch, it might well be in the first few hours.

Much of England's success in recent years has come against sides that have imploded: India, Australia and Pakistan come to mind. All were in change and all capitulated under pressure. Pakistan is unlikely to do that. Pakistan play, on the whole, solid, sensible cricket. In the first Test, they were successful through bowling straight, playing straight and displaying discipline and patience in all departments. They applied the pressure and England buckled.

In the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Umar Gul and the underrated Abdur Rehman, Pakistan have mature cricketers who know what it takes to prosper at this level. Besides, in Saeed Ajmal and Younis Khan, Pakistan is blessed with a sprinkling of genius. Ajmal was particularly impressive in Dubai. His use of the crease, his variations in pace and his subtle turn in each direction, presented huge problems for England. How they combat him in Abu Dhabi may well prove crucial.

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