PAKISTAN v ENGLAND 1987-88

There was yet another hiatus before the final Test when the Pakistan authorities appointed the controversial First Test umpire, Shakeel Khan, to stand again. It was a decision lacking in sensitivity, and following protests by the England management, he was withdrawn. After abortive - and probably none too serious - attempts to secure neutral officials from India, his place was taken by Mahboob Shah, one of Pakistan's three World Cup umpires. Another, Khizar Hayat, had already been chosen for this match.

Following Pakistan's escape at Faisalabad, this time a flat pitch had been prepared. None the less England, after winning the toss for the seventh time in eight tour matches, attempted to abuse it by slumping to 85 for six in their first innings. Pakistan had strengthened their pace attack by including Wasim Akram and Saleem Jaffer, while England brought in DeFreitas and Dilley for Hemmings and the injured Foster. Fairbrother replaced Robinson.

Emburey and Capel rebuilt the innings with a stand of 114 in 41 overs and were parted only by the second new ball, when Emburey carved straight to Qadir on the third-man boundary. French then supported Capel, who was only 2 runs short of a maiden Test century when he was last out, beaten by Qadir's googly, having batted for 372 minutes.

Pakistan also got themselves into trouble, losing Ramiz, Miandad and Ijaz in eight balls after being 105 for one from only 27 overs. However, from 146 for six Aamer, Wasim (despite suffering from a strained groin) and Qadir pulled them round to a handy first-innings lead. Qadir's Test-best 61 included four big sixes off Emburey and six fours, while Aamer, like Capel, missed by 2 runs his maiden Test hundred. He had batted for almost seven hours and had faced 329 balls when he ran out of partners, DeFreitas finishing off the tail to return his first five-wicket figures in a Test innings.

England again lost wickets cheaply, slipping to 115 for five, and despite Gooch's fine 93 (375 minutes, eight fours), his dismissal on the final morning allowed Pakistan to entertain real hopes of victory. Emburey again batted well, however, keeping Pakistan at bay for more than five and a half hours, and Cook survived for two hours eleven minutes before providing Qadir with his second ten-wicket return of the series. The captains' agreement during the tea interval to settle then and there for a draw left Emburey 1 run short of his highest score for England. It was an unusual way to finish a Test match, but with no other result possible, both side were keen to end what had been a squalid and joyless series.

Man of the Match: Abdul Qadir.

Close of play: First day, England 222-7 (D. J. Capel 53*, B. N. French 10*); Second day, Pakistan 122-4 (Salim Malik 55*, Aamer Malik 1*); Third day, Pakistan 345-8 (Aamer Malik 91*, Iqbal Qasim 10*); Fourth day, England 150-5 (G. A. Gooch 79*, J. E. Emburey 9*)