Misbah disappointed with Pakistan collapse

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq lamented his side's struggles against reverse swing that led to its collapse at Edgbaston to hand England a 2-1 series lead.

Published : Aug 08, 2016 01:41 IST

England's players celebrate after the fall of the last Pakistan wicket.
England's players celebrate after the fall of the last Pakistan wicket.
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England's players celebrate after the fall of the last Pakistan wicket.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq lamented his side's struggles against reverse swing that led to its collapse at Edgbaston to hand England a 2-1 series lead. England fought back twice in the third Test, with Pakistan having taken a 103-run victory into the second innings before negotiating its way to 69 for 1 at lunch on Day Five, chasing 343.

> Report: England takes series lead as Pakistan crumbles

Six wickets fell in the middle session -including four for a single run - as England's seam attack wrested control, and Moeen Ali wrapped up victory, getting Sohail Khan caught and bowled to rapturous applause.

"We're disappointed as it was going really well at lunch but in an hour we lost the game," Misbah told BBC Sport .

"England reversed the ball, bowled in the right areas and with intensity, and within an hour they took the game away from us. We weren't having any sort of problems before lunch, but that spell from [James] Anderson and [Steven] Finn broke the backbone of our team. 

"Sometimes when the ball starts reversing you just need to see off that 10-15 overs so the ball gets soft, but we lost all our main batsmen then."

Misbah defended his decision to put England in to bat on the opening day of the Test. Three of the last four Tests at Edgbaston had been won by the team batting second - the other was drawn. "The first day was really good for bowling," Misbah said.

"There was a lot of moisture around and we could have restricted them to less than 250, but you saw after that it was a batting paradise, there wasn't any turn, so I still back our decision. But we only took a lead of 100 from a situation where we'd been 260 for 3.

"We've got one more game left, The Oval is a good batting track and helps the spinners, so we need to get our confidence back and go there positively."

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