Cricket:England lost mainstay Alastair Cook and five others in an afternoon collapse before declaring 96 runs behind against the ICC Combined XI on day two at the GCA ground in Dubai. One of those primarily responsible for English travails was Ireland's six foot nine inch fast bowler Boyd Rankin.
Cook, with 76, appeared to have put his team in position to push for a first-innings lead, in reply to 281. But that prospect evaporated as Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Cook, Steve Davies and finally Stuart Broad failed to cash in on what looked an obvious opportunity to prosper on the way to 185 for eight declared at tea.
Cook fared by far the best in a 121-ball innings which contained 14 fours. No one else could reach 20 as six wickets fell for 52 runs. The only alarm for Cook had come when Rankin discomforted him with a well-directed short one early in his innings. The left-hander got in a tangle and was unable to get the ball effectively to ground, but no short-leg fielder had been posted at that stage.
Soon afterwards Andrew Strauss pulled Hassan into the hands of square leg, and Jonathan Trott had only a single when he got a faint edge down the leg side to be caught behind.
A watchful Pietersen needed 10 balls to get off the mark, but did so with a trademark big stride for a four through midwicket. The rationale was that England needed only patience, on a slow but benign surface, to gradually take control.
Instead Pietersen nibbled an outside edge off Rankin soon after lunch, and Bell’s attempt to glide runs behind square resulted in another catch behind when the Irishman found extra bounce. Dublin born Eoin Morgan edged a Mohammad Nabi off-break to slip having scored just a single, and Cook then toppled over and poked the blade down leg to be caught behind off Christi Viljoen.
Scottish off-spinner Majid Haq took a wicket with his first delivery — Davies lbw pushing forward — and Stuart Broad then unluckily picking out silly mid-off when he timed a back-foot shot off Nabi. Graeme Swann and James Anderson staved off any more losses until, five minutes before the scheduled tea break. Strauss confounded expectations further by declaring almost 100 runs in arrears.
There was partial vindication when, as in the first innings, Broad and Anderson served up useful new-ball spells as the Combined XI were reduced to eight for three this time.
The Irish opening partnership of Will Porterfield and Paul Stirling were both dismissed for ducks, the pair having mustered only eight runs between them in four attempts. Porterfield nicked a catch behind down the leg-side off Anderson, and Broad pinned Stirling lbw.
Saqib Ali soon edged an attempted push-drive behind off Broad, and Craig Williams chipped a catch to cover off Swann. But a stand of 40 between Kyle Coetzer and Mohammad Shahzad ended only when the former played on to Anderson, as the equations began to narrow for an England victory in this first warm-up match for the Test series against Pakistan.
ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate XI v England, Dubai
England First Innings
A J Strauss c Haq b Hassan 17
A N Cook c Shahzad b Viljoen 76
I J L Trott c Shahzad b Hassan 1
K P Pietersen c Shahzad b Rankin 15
I R Bell c Shahzad b Rankin 3
E J G Morgan c Stirling b Nabi 1
S M Davies lbw b Haq 12
S C J Broad c Porterfield b Nabi 19
G P Swann not out 14
J M Anderson not out 12
Extras b8 lb4 w1 nb2 15
Total 8 wkts dec (55 overs) 185
Did Not Bat:S T Finn.
Bowling.
Hassan 11 4 26 2
Viljoen 11 1 42 1
Nabi 14 3 42 2
Rankin 16 3 49 2
Haq 3 1 14 1