Pakistan 7-4 for clean sweep of woeful England

ENGLAND’S woeful batting cost them dear on Saturday as they lost the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi by 72 runs after being bowled out for just 72 in the second innings.

Pakistan’s victory put them 2-0 up with one match remaining – they had been 11-4 to win the series before the first Test began – and left England wondering how they had managed to lose a game that they seemed to have at their mercy.

The tourists had been no bigger than 1-4 for victory after Monty Panesar took 6-62 to dismiss Pakistan for 214 just
after lunch.

That left England with a victory target of 145 but only captain Andrew Strauss (32) and wicket-keeper Matt Prior (18) offered any resistance as Pakistan’s spinners ran riot.

Left-armer Abdur Rehman took six scalps and fellow slow bowlers Mohammed Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal mopped up the rest of the wickets to complete a miserable batting collapse for England.

Blue Square’s Neil Lucas said:  “Our punters were piling into
England as if defeat was out of the question at the start of their
run-chase. We laid England at a low of 1-10 for good money and at tea we saw yet more support for them at 10-11.

“Pakistan were virtually friendless in the market so it was an
excellent result for us in the end.

“To put England’s collapse into context, only Andrew Strauss managed to cover his opening runs quote (26.5) – the nine
other batsmen we quoted helped make it an unders backer’s dream.”

Pakistan were understandably thrilled to clinch a series victory over the No. 1 Test team in the world and mostbookmakers shared their delight.

Coral’s David Stevens said: “The draw was our worst result going into the second Test but England’s good start meant they attracted plenty of in-play support.

“After coming into the year as the world’s No. 1-ranked side,  England had been well backed to win the series too so Pakistan’s
victory has come to our rescue on several fronts.”

The third and final Test takes place in Dubai next week and Ladbrokes make England 15-8 for victory. Pakistan are 7-4 with the firm to complete a 3-0 series whitewash, which had been a 33-1 chance at the beginning of the series. The draw is 7-4.

Blue Square offer 9-1 that England are bowled out for less than 100 in either innings.

Hills go 4-5 that the Three Lions are unchanged on Friday (10-11 one or more) and think they are more likely to have lost their Test No. 1 ranking  - 4-6 - at the end of the year than kept it (11-10). 

England’s troubles have coincided with Australia’s 4-0
series victory over India and Ladbrokes have cut theAussies from 11-4 to 5-2 to win the 2013 Ashes in England. The Three
Lions have been eased to 8-13 with the drawn series at 9-2.