(BBC) Moeen Ali impressed with the ball as England drew their opening tour game against Pakistan A in Sharjah yesterday.
The 28-year-old off-spinner, who made only 22 after being promoted to open the batting on day one, claimed 3-41 as Pakistan A closed on 216-5.
Iftikhar Ahmed (92 not out) and Fawad Alam (55) added 112, while Mark Wood and James Anderson took a wicket each.
England had made 286-5 in the first of two two-day matches before the three-Test series, starting on 13 October.
“We’ve talked about playing aggressive cricket and attacking cricket, but in these conditions you can’t blast teams out – you have to sit in and be patient,” said Durham bowler Wood.
“Wickets can fall quickly and then all of a sudden you can be four down in a hurry and that changes the momentum of the game. We’ve just got to be patient. When we get one then that’s the time to attack and try to get two or three quickly.”
After a solid first day, which saw four England players pass 50, including captain Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow, the tourists made early inroads with the ball on a largely unresponsive pitch.
With seamers restricted to short spells by the extreme heat, Wood struck first, having Sami Aslam caught by Stuart Broad at square leg.
Moeen came to the fore with the wickets of Khurram Manzoor and Ali Asad to reduce Pakistan A to 32-3 during a pre-lunch spell of seven overs for nine runs.
It could have been even better for England had Cook held on to a two-handed catch high to his right at slip after Iftikhar edged the first ball of Stuart Broad’s second spell.
The Pakistan batsman would give no further chances as he and Alam dominated the afternoon session with a stand of 112.
Their fourth-wicket defiance was finally ended by Moeen, before Anderson chipped in with the wicket of Usman Salahuddin, but by then the toil of England’s efforts had begun to show.
Moeen’s fellow spinner Adil Rashid, who is likely to feature heavily during the tour, was also economical and despite not taking a wicket went for just 55 runs from his 22 overs.
