ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Pakistan put the early and bizarre loss of opener Shan Masood behind them to reach 82 for one at lunch on the opening day of the first test against England on Tuesday.
Mohammad Hafeez, who passed 3,000 test runs for Pakistan in his 44 not out, shared an unbeaten 77-run stand with Shoaib Malik (36), who looked solid in his test comeback after a five-year gap.
It could have been so different though for opener Hafeez, who edged James Anderson to Ian Bell at second slip and the fielder spilled the catch.
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Hafeez, who used his feet well against debutant England spinner Adil Rashid, closed in on his 11th test fifty, ably supported by Malik after Pakistan had decided to bat first.
It had all begun so well for England as Anderson surprised Masood with a short ball in the third over which hit the opener on the side of the helmet and ricocheted down onto the stumps.
After that though, Pakistan looked in command in their adopted home while England toiled in the heat for a breakthrough.
Pakistan suffered a blow even before the toss with leg-spinner Yasir Shah ruled out of the match with a back injury.
(Reporting by David French; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
