England began their winter tour of the United Arab Emirates with a win over an ICC Combined XI – though the victory was far from the resounding success many would have anticipated. A match that was heading for an uneventful, if surprising, draw was suddenly thrown wide open when the ICC Combined XI declared on 164-9, leaving England with a healthy run chase of 261 to win the game.
Andrew Strauss played a real captain’s innings, leading from the front and setting what should have been a fine example for the batsmen who followed, posting a comfortable 78 before he was caught off the fine bowling of Majid Haq. Strauss was the second wicket of the day to fall after Alastair Cook was dismissed in the 12th over, also by Scotsman Haq.
The dismissal of Strauss should have been the catalyst for the rest of England’s batting line-up to get in some much-needed batting practice ahead of the upcoming test matches with Pakistan, also to be held in the United Arab Emirates because of security concerns. Unfortunately for the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan, the ICC Combined XI’s bowling line-up were in no mood to go easy on them.
Pietersen lasted only one ball before he was caught by Dockrell off the bowling of Boyd Rankin while Morgan fared little better; ironically he too was dismissed by fellow Irishman Rankin. In between, Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell had managed to steady the ship and add some vital runs to the England total.
Bell in particular will have reason to be disappointed with the manner of his dismissal, deflecting his own shot into the hands of Nabi in the slips and leaving England somewhat stranded on 199-6, still over 50 runs short of their target.
Luckily for Strauss and England, Stuart Broad and Steve Davies, both looking more and more like genuine all-rounders with every innings, stepped in to ease the team home. A stand of 60 between the two youngsters was enough to take England over the finishing line and secure a victory that the more established members of the team had almost contrived to throw away.
England’s bowlers had performed only slightly better earlier in day, with Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad again showing up the more experienced batsmen with another 50 to follow the one he notched up in his first innings.
Shahzad was ably supported by Christi Viljoen of the Netherlands, who was eventually smartly run out by an excellent throw from substitute fielder Monty Panesar. Panesar was on the field for Graeme Swann who was unable to bowl because of problems with a tight leg muscle and only made a brief batting appearance at the end of the innings when England needed only one run for victory.
England have one more warm-up match, a three-day contest against a PCB XI, before they play their first match against the Pakistan team proper on January 17. Swann is expected to be back in action in time for the warm-up game, while Tim Bresnan, who missed the entire match against the ICC Combined XI with an injury, should return to the side for the Pakistan opener.
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