James Taylor underlined his prowess for batsmanship against the spinning ball by scoring a half-century as England posted 198-9 against Pakistan A in Sharjah today.
The Nottinghamshire man took to the crease at 16-2 and - alongside Ian Bell, who finished unbeaten on 53 - steered the tourists to 118-2 at the Lunch interval before initially retiring his innings on 45.
Taylor, who used the sweep shot to good effect against the spinners, resumed during the evening session and took his score to 61; in all facing 123 balls and striking six fours, before falling lbw to the leg-spin of Mohammad Asghar; the last wicket to fall in the day.
Alex Hales faired less well in England’s final day of warm-up cricket ahead of the Test series as - having opened with his rival for opening spot, Moeen Ali - the Nottinghamshire top-order enforcer scored nine before nicking left-arm paceman Mir Hamza to slip.
Ali, by then, had already fallen for seven off the bowling of Pakistan A’s former Lancashire fast bowler Junaid Khan, leaving Alastair Cook and Trevor Bayliss with plenty to ponder.
Ben Stokes was then bowled without scoring by the part time off-spin of Iftikhar Ahmed, a dismissal that provided Samit Patel with his opportunity to impress with the bat following a bowling contribution of two for 31 yesterday.
Jos Buttler (8), Jonny Bairstow (0), Adil Rashid (2) and Liam Plunkett (1) had all been dismissed at the other end by the time the Nottinghamshire all-rounder gloved Junaid Khan behind for eight, having battled for 41 balls, leaving England 142-8.
Ali and Buttler batted again, allowed to do so my the informal nature of the two day fixture, scoring 13 and 32 not out respectively.
For those aiming to predict England’s 11 for the forthcoming first Test, it's fair to say the warm-up matches have provided more in the way of questions than answers.
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