Pakistan vs England Sharjah Test: Anderson shines as Pakistan bowled out for 234

James Anderson claimed four wickets as England made an excellent start to the third and final Test in Sharjah by bowling out Pakistan for 234 on Sunday.

With England needing a victory to level the series, Pakistan won the toss and batted but Anderson and fellow paceman Stuart Broad made them regret their decision by producing combined figures of six for 30.

Pakistan were 116 for five at one stage and were only spared complete embarrassment by captain Misbah-ul-Haq's 71 and 39 from Sarfraz Ahmed.

Sarfraz, batting at number seven, was caught by Joe Root off spinner Moeen Ali and Misbah's men collapsed with their last five wickets falling for just 38 runs.

Pakistan's top order did not show much application, failing to convert good starts into significant contributions.

Misbah won his sixth successive Test toss and, for the third time in the series, opted to bat first on a wicket that offered significant turn

Anderson was rewarded for his immaculate line in the third over when the scoreless Azhar Ali, one of two changes in Pakistan's side, was caught behind.

Mohammad Hafeez (27) looked confident but the opener succumbed to a soft dismissal, top edging Moeen to Broad at deep backward square leg.

The bearded spinner also had Shoaib Malik trapped leg before on 22 but the Pakistani reviewed the decision and got it overturned.

Broad tasted success after lunch when he had Malik caught behind by Jonny Bairstow for 38 and the lanky paceman sent down five maiden overs on the trot to stifle the batsmen.

It yielded immediate dividends as Anderson, replacing Broad, trapped the dangerous Younus Khan leg before for 31 with the first ball of his new spell.

Playing his first test since December 2012, left-arm spinner Samit Patel then dismissed Asad Shafiq for five.

Anderson finished with exemplary figures of four for 17 from 15.1 overs while Broad was equally mean with the ball, taking two for 13 in as many overs. Moeen and Patel also picked up two wickets apiece.

England were four for no loss at the close of play.

Lunch

England's pace-cum-spin attack removed Pakistan's openers cheaply to give them a kick-start on the opening day of the third and final Test on Sunday.

Pakistan had reached 87-2 at lunch, with Shoaib Malik unbeaten on 37 and Younis Khan on 21 not out, after they won the toss and chose to bat on a grassless pitch at the Sharjah stadium.

Malik, who hit a career-best 245 in the drawn first Test in Abu Dhabi, successfully challenged Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford's leg-before decision off spinner Moeen Ali when he was on 22.

He took 20 balls to score his first run but has hit five boundaries so far.

Pakistan lost opener Azhar Ali, who missed the first Test with a foot injury and the second due to the death of his mother-in-law, in the third over when he edged James Anderson to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow without scoring.

Mohammad Hafeez swept Moeen Ali's first delivery to the boundary but miscued a pull shot and was caught in the deep by Stuart Broad for 27.

Pakistan, leading the series 1-0 after their 178-run win in the second Test in Dubai, brought in Azhar Ali and paceman Rahat Ali, dropping Shan Masood and the injured Imran Khan.

England were forced to leave out seamer Mark Wood with an ankle problem and dropped the out-of-form wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, including slow left arm spinner Samir Patel and batsman James Taylor.

Both Taylor and Patel are playing their first Test for three years.

Taylor and Patel are playing their first Test in three years.

The first Test ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi.

Teams:

Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Azhar Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Samit Patel, Jonny Bairstow, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Taylor

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS) and Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)

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