WICKET! Trott 18 c Rehman b Ajmal (England 85-2) You can't review this one. Trott has gone, done by a doosra that looped up off the top-edge as he tried to play a sweep and landed in Rehman's hands at deep backward square. When is the game not a game? When it's afoot. Which it is now: KP is in.

45th over: England 84-1 (Cook 38 Trott 18) need 324 to win A run!

44th over: England 84-1 (Cook 37 Trott 18) need 324 to win We've gone for 35 balls without a run now, as Trott has played out another maiden over from Rehman.

REFERRAL! Cook 37 lbw b Ajmal Ajmal is insisting Pakistan review this, as Cook plays and misses a sweep shot and is hit on the front pad in front of middle stump. The replays show that it's a perfectly good referral. Perfectly good apart from the fact that it pitched outside leg and was missing off-stump. So, Pakistan have just squandered their second review, and won't have nay more help from the DRS in this innings. Cook bats on.

42nd over: England 84-1 (Cook 37 Trott 18) need 324 to win A third successive maiden. Over in Colombo, Buttler has gone for 64 off 31, while Root is closing in on his century. "I see you're listed as the only OBOer today," says Dan Lucas. "Are the powers that be that pessimistic that they think this'll be over inside two sessions, or is Smyth hungo... still refusing to man up to the snow?" No, not at all, Smyth is currently sat to my left, and he's in a most jaunty mood.

41st over: England 84-1 (Cook 37 Trott 18) need 324 to win Another maiden, I'll spare you the torturous metaphors this time and move.

40th over: England 84-1 (Cook 37 Trott 18) need 324 to win A lovely stat from Sky: Pakistan have made 24 reviews in this series. 20 of them have been overturned. Trott, meanwhile, has smothered the life out of six more balls, pressing down his bat on the ball like he was a murderer pushing a pillow on a victim's face. What a charming image to conjure up.

39th over: England 80-1 (Cook 37 Trott 18) need 324 to win Cook cuts a crisp four. "Interesting you mention Joe Root as being the young whippersnapper who could possibly make the senior squad when it's announced," umm, I didn't, James Brown. I just pointed out he was the top-scorer at the time of typing. "Surely Jos Buttler's the more likely prospect, as he's already scored two centuries on this tour. He's also batting with Root at the moment, and with 40 from 23 balls, might well overtake him before the end of the innings." I'm not sure if they see Buttler as someone who is ready for the Test team yet, truth be told. I'm not even sure they know who the next man into the team would be, after Bopara. Especially given that James Taylor hasn't been breathtakingly success on this Lions Tour so far.

38th over: England 80-1 (Cook 33 Trott 18) need 324 to win Rehman is into his 16th over on the bounce now. At the end of it, he overpitches and Trott whips four through mid-wicket, a lovely shot played against the direction of the spin.

37th over: England 76-1 (Cook 33 Trott 14) need 324 to win A single off of Ajmal's over, and an appeal against Cook for both an lbw and a catch at short-leg off a bat-pad. Neither was successful.

36th over: England 73-1 (Cook 33 Trott 13) need 324 to win Cook, chastened by what happened in his last over, warily plays out five dot balls against Rehman. "I'd like to have an eye each of Sir Beefy and Sir Boycs," says Ian Forth. "Everything would be so clear and unambiguous with no room for self-doubt or free floating anxiety. Your eyes would however start arguing with one another all the time which would be inconvenient and embarrassing at bus stops."

35th over: England 73-1 (Cook 32 Trott 8) need 324 to win What a let-off that was for Cook. He has been dropped twice now. Saeed Ajmal is on now, and these two have survived his first over of the day easily enough.

34th over: England 69-1 (Cook 32 Trott 8) need 324 to win Meanwhile, in Colmobo (now there's a phrase that I wish I could use more often), the England Lions are 164-3 off 34 overs against Sri Lanka 'A', with Yorkshire's Joe Root unbeaten on 51. England's senior team will be there in five week's time or so, and it is reasonable to expect that, after the sorry batting we've seen in this series, there will be a place or two available in the squad for some young whippersnapper who can make a ton or two on the Lions tour. Back in Dubai, Cook has just swatted a sweep away for four through square leg. And that's a drop! And a terrible one! Cook has got away with a terrible shot! That's an awful piece of fielding by Umar Gul, and now it is his turn to hold his head in his hands. Cook, playing with untypical aggression, liked the first lofted sweep so much that he tried a second one. This time the ball travelled straight to fine leg, where Gul should have had the simplest of catches as he stood, wearing sunglasses in the shadows cast by the stand. He completely failed to spot the flight of the ball until it was much too late, and it landed three feet to his right, burst through his grasping hands and bounced over the boundary.

33rd over: England 61-1 (Cook 24 Trott 8) need 324 to win We've seen 25 runs from 13 overs so far this morning, but it's been absorbing, if not enthralling to watch. I'm a little surprised that Misbah hasn't made a bowling change yet, especially given that England have looked altogether more comfortable since Trott came to the wicket. We're at drinks, anyway.

32nd over: England 61-1 (Cook 24 Trott 8) need 324 to win Rehman continues into his 13th over, all of them have come in straight succession. He's going to bowl all day today. As Nasser is pointing out, Cook has one scoring shot against this type of bowling - he steps across and knocks the ball to square leg. Pakistan have blocked up that part of the field, so right now the contest between batsman and bowler is as stale as a ship's biscuit.

31st over: England 61-1 (Cook 24 Trott 8) need 324 to win A maiden over from Gul, as Trott blocks the straight ones, leaves the wide ones, and ducks underneath the short ones.

30th over: England 61-1 (Cook 24 Trott 8) need 324 to win A couple more singles off Rehman's latest over. "Chris Gayle has got to be the only cricketer who can apologize in third person and still sound relatively sane (or at least ridiculously straight faced)," says Aatman Chaudhary. "Chris Gayle says Chris Gayle says he is sorry.com." I'm not sure "relatively sane" is the phrase we are looking for here.

hau28th over: England 58-1 (Cook 23 Trott 7) need 324 to win Gul continues his superb spell into a fifth over. He's given up just nine runs in that time. A quick look at his Tw!tter feed reveals that in recent days, in between scoring 165 out of 298 for Jamaica against the Windward Islands, his first first class match in over a year, Chris Gayle has mainly spent his time insulting Saj Mahmood, trading insults with Tino Best, and adding the suffix '.com' to random words. This seems to be his his new affectation.

27th over: England 58-1 (Cook 22 Trott 7) need 324 to win Trott may have just got away with one here, after surviving a half-hearted appeal for lbw from a ball that hit bat-and-pad almost simultaneously. Later in the over he shovels four through the leg-side, and pushes two past mid-on.

26th over: England 52-1 (Cook 19 Trott 1) need 324 to win Cook flicks three runs away to mid-wicket, and Trott takes a single. "Imagine if you woke up and discovered you had in fact been donated Adnan Akmal's eyes, like in the Adverts song (Gary Gilmore's Eyes). Your insane optimism would mean you fancied your chances with every single girl in the world." The idea tickles me. If I could spend a day looking at the world through the eyes of one cricketer I would go for, obviously, Chris Gayle. I'd just have to hope I got lucky enough to get 24 hours when he could be bothered to get out of bed, but didn't lie around with a hangover tweeting message demanding that someone bring him some breakfast.

WICKET! Strauss 26 lbw b Rehman (England 48-1) It was a quicker delivery from Rehman, bowled from over the wicket, spinning in and spitting on past Strauss' bat as he stayed back in the crease. It hit him on the back leg, in front of middle stump. Plumb. I believe that's the word we're looking for. There is one very thankful wicketkeeper out there right now. And indeed, during the celebrations Adnan Akmal gets a quick lecture from his captain about how he should have taken that catch moments beforehand - he had his fingers pointing upwards, rather than downwards. The over ends with another lbw appeal, against Trott, but the ball was missing leg stump.

REFERRAL! Strauss 26 lbw b Rehman Strauss ha been given out, but he's referring it. It's a bad decision by him, and a good one by umpire Davis. Strauss is out and England are one down.

25th over: England 47-0 (Strauss 26, Cook 16) need 324 to win Cook, having made it quite clear that he isn't going to play at anything outside his off-stump even if he was holding a bargepole rather than a bat, suckers Gul into bowling a straight one at leg stump, which Cook whips away for three to the leg-side. And that's a drop, a terrible one too! Strauss edged the delivery straight into Akmal's gloves, but he made a terrible mess of taking it, and the ball tumbled to the turf. As did the 'keeper, collapsing on his hands and knees in frustration and self-recrimination. It was the simplest of chances. Both England's openers have been dropped now. "You have to catch the ball before you throw it up," shouts one English wag in the crowd, while on commentary Sir Iron Bottom gives him a broadside about paying more attention.

24th over: England 44-0 (Strauss 26, Cook 16) need 324 to win Strauss plays a choppy sort of leg-glance that Adnan Akmal gets all excited about. What a tiresome tireless enthusiast he is. Rehman is bowling over the wicket, into the rough outside the left-hander's off-stump, and he's mixing up his pace, probing away, looking for a rip-snorter that will skittle the skipper. But right now, Strauss has his measure, and flicks four runs through mid-wicket

23rd over: England 38-0 (Strauss 21, Cook 15) need 324 to win Umar Gul is on at the other end. There's another single from his over, but that's all. Otherwise Cook flags most of the over through outside off-stump.Empathy. Andrew Jolly has it: "I'd like to think that I have a little bit of an understanding of what the English boys will be feeling today. Yesterday I was batting in 33.7 degree heat in our one day league game in Brisbane. I managed to graft to three with an unconvincing leg glance and an Ian Bellesque drive through midwicket before being made to look a complete fool by their spinner and getting bowled all over the place. We only lost by two wickets though, which lets face it - I'd probably take at this moment. I'd probably take anything better than a 100+ run drubbing."

22nd over: England 37-0 (Strauss 20 Cook 15) need 324 to win The second over of the day is bowled by Abdur Rehman, it included a single run, and a perilously close LBW appeal shout against Cook. Or at least perilously close if you looked at it with Adnan Akmal's eyes.

Besides, for me this whole series has been an exercise in preamble efficiency savings. And seeing as this is likely to be the last day of play, it's only appropriate that we have reached the apogee of this process, where we are furthers away from the good old days when Smyth and I would spend hours lovingly crafting lavish introductions for you all. Anyway, I'm rambling, and I'm sure you'd rather know what's happening in Dubai. Think of this interlude as the OBO equivalent of the Shipping Forescast.

OK, sorry, that's a disgraceful lie. In my early morning delirium I mistook the 'snooze' button for the 'off' button on my alarm clock. I know, I know. But let's accentuate the positives: at 5.35am minutes ago I was lying in bed, eyes wide and heart doing a Triple Lutz with a Toe Loop as I realised that I had 20 minutes to make it here for the start of play, and that with a belly laden down with three helpings of apple crumble from last night. And here I am. For the first, sitting down at my desk even as Umar Gul is bowling the first over. For the time time in a long time, I amaze myself.

This preamble has been cut as part of Guard News and Media's on-going editorial restructuring process. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

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A morning show host of a television channel has invited the wrath of hundreds of Pakistanis for trying to drill moral sense into young couples dating in Karachi's parks. In a bid to perhaps shore up her ratings, Maya Khan, host of 'Subha Savera Maya Khan Ke Saath' on Samaa TV, decided to chase couples dating in public parks on a January morning.

She included young and not-so-young women and two "analysts" on her mission to give an insight into the dating behaviour of couples and to comment on their body language. While most couples made good their escape seeing a horde of women with cameramen approaching them, some countered them bravely.

"Do your parents know that you are here?" Maya Khan asked a couple perched on a bench. "Do you know what people think of couples who date like this? Do you know how bad it is for the reputation of girls to be seen like this?" she charged. Of the few couples "interviewed" by Khan, one said they were engaged. Khan's team was, however, not happy with their relationship status.

"Engagement is just a commitment. It is not a nikaah. It is not legal," pontificated one of Khan’s analysts when she was asked to comment. The only couple who Khan's team managed to shoot at some length told her that they did not owe her an explanation. "We are not accountable to anyone except our parents," said a college-going student wearing a veil.

Khan's next question was: "Do your parents know you are here?" The student replied in the negative and Khan beamed as if she had just won a war. Pakistani bloggers and Twitter users have slammed Khan's behaviour, asking people to boycott Samaa TV.

Some even asked the channel to take her off air and others said they intended to complain to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority about her "moral policing". "Maya Khan is not crazy, she is evil," tweeted lawyer and columnist Tammy Haq, asking people to boycott Samaa TV.

A blog on The Express Tribune newspaper's website generated tremendous traffic. "See, girls fall in love pretty much every single day of the week and so do boys. Sometimes they make the right decision, sometimes they make mistakes. It's called being human," Mehreen Kasana said in her "An Open Letter to Maya Khan" on the blog.

"But trust me, they don't need a team of middle-aged women hounding them down in public places to enlighten them about their decisions. And trust me, their mothers will handle whatever happens. No one asked you or anyone else to take the responsibility of scrutinising them," Kasan wrote.

Comments in response to the blog are largely against Khan’s decision to accost couples in the park.
"This is open violation of public privacy and human rights. What's the big deal if I want to go out to have a private chat with my friend or my girlfriend peacefully in a park? These kind of shows must be banned," posted a reader.

Some criticised Khan for not donning a veil before deciding to indulge in moral policing.
"Just suppose if Maya were in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, she would be punished for not wearing veil, thus if someone is herself/himself not perfect, so how they can change society.

Dating is part and parcel of our society from decades and it cannot be eliminated in this way," read another comment. Others compared Khan with another TV anchor, Meher Bokhari, whose diatribe against Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was blamed by some for his assassination by a police guard.

Ever since the show was telecast last week, a petition has been signed to take Khan off air. Others have made public a video on YouTube that shows Khan singing and dancing with a man to expose her "hypocritical ways".

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Pakistani offspinner Saeed Ajmal on Friday rose to the position of world's highest ranking spinner a day after guiding his team to a comprehensive ten wicket win in the first Test against England inside three days. The 34-year-old registered his second ten-wicket haul, a career best 7-55 in the first innings and 3-42 in the second to help Pakistan take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.

Ajmal termed his top ranking as a "great honour.""It's a great honour to be the best spinner in the world but performing in my team's win is always more important for me than anything else," Ajmal said. The International Cricket Council (ICC) added: "Ajmal earned 117 ratings points for his magnificent bowling performance, now has England's second-ranked James Anderson firmly within his sights who has 37 more ratings points."

Given that Ajmal is still in a qualification period for bowlers, it is likely that he will move even further up the ladder depending on how he performs in the second Test which starts in Abu Dhabi on January 25, the ICC said. South African paceman Dale Steyn tops the bowlers' list with 896 rating points. Ajmal has also leapfrogged England's offspinner Graeme Swann who has slipped one position to fourth, while Ajmal's spin partner Abdul Rehman has also leapt five places which has put him in a career best 14th position.

The latest rankings have brought bad news for England batsmen. England opener Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, who entered in third and fourth positions respectively, have slipped two and three positions respectively, while Kevin Pietersen has fallen out of the top 10. Pietersen, who scored two and nought in the Dubai Test, has lost six places and is now in 16th position while England captain Andrew Strauss has also dropped six places to 34th spot.

The only England batsmen to make any upward movements are wicketkeeper Matt Prior in 18th (up by one) and Swann in 64th (up by 11). In contrast, the Pakistan batsmen have made positive gains with Younus Khan in fourth (up by two), captain Misbahul Haq in 14th (up by three), Mohammad Hafeez in 30th (up by 15), Taufeeq Umar in 32nd (up by six) and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal in 70th (up by 23).

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Pakistan openers Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar hit contrasting half-centuries to steer their team to a 96-run lead over England with three wickets in hand at stumps on the second day of the first Test in Dubai. Led by Hafeez's chancy 88 and Umar's solid 58, Pakistan reached 7-288 in reply to England's 192 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

'We are very much in control of this game (and) with two spinners in our side we have a very good chance to win the Test match,' Hafeez said. Offspinner Saeed Ajmal's career-best 7-55 on Tuesday had bundled out top-ranked England on a pitch favourable for batting.

Misbah-ul-Haq (52) frustrated England further with his 11th half-century in 13 Tests since being appointed captain in 2010, before England hit back with two wickets just before stumps. Captain Andrew Strauss won his first of two television referrals after New Zealand umpire Billy Bowden had turned down Graeme Swann's (2-89) lbw appeal against Misbah.

James Anderson (2-57) brought some relief for England on an otherwise frustrating day by bowling Abdur Rehman in the last over of the day. Anderson had provided immediate success with the second new ball, inducing Asad Shafiq to get a big edge while on 16 and Pakistan's lead was 39 runs.

Adnan Akmal, who will resume on 24, was on 9 when Kevin Pietersen dropped a hard chance in the covers after England bowlers had toiled without much success in the first two sessions.

Hafeez escaped a run out on 44 and was also dropped on 52 before falling lbw when he missed Swann's full-pitched delivery while attempting a sweep shortly after lunch. Hafeez hit 11 fours and also lofted Swann over wide long on for the lone six of the match so far.

England - unbeaten in their past nine Test series - found something to cherish in the middle session as part-time medium-pacer Jonathan Trott forced Younis Khan to play across the line to trap the former Pakistan skipper lbw on 37. Umar and Hafeez batted with aggression against the England seamers after resuming overnight at 0-42.

The pair added 48 inside the first hour before Stuart Broad ended the 114-run partnership by bowling Umar. England has not won a Test on the subcontinent after conceding a first-innings lead in 12 years.

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Pakistani off-spinner Saeed Ajmal took three wickets in five balls to leave England struggling at 52-5 at lunch on the opening day of the first Test played at Dubai Stadium here on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old, whose claims of a mystery delivery surrounded the lead-up to the three-Test series, delivered the goods after being introduced in the 19th over, leaving England in an early spin after they had decided to bat on a slow turning pitch.

Ajmal dismissed Andrew Strauss (19) with the last delivery of his first over and then had Ian Bell (nought) with the first ball of his next, before trapping Kevin Pietersen (two) leg before three balls later.

Ajmal went into lunch with figures of 5-3, and could have had his fourth wicket had Adnan Akmal stumped Eoin Morgan, who was beaten all ends up while coming out to drive. But the wicket-keeper failed to gather the ball cleanly.

Pakistan played two frontline spinners in Ajmal and left-armer Abdul Rehman. England may be regretting their decision to leave out the in-form Monty Panesar and play three seamers alongside off-spinner Graeme Swann.

Pakistan introduced spin as early as the sixth over through the part-time off-breaks of batting opener Mohammad Hafeez, who was rewarded when England opener Alastair Cook edged his third delivery to Adnan for just three.

Paceman Aizaz Cheema then dismissed Jonathan Trott (17), caught behind by a diving Adnan off a leg-side edge to leave England at 31-2. Ajmal, who did not appear to have unfurled any new bowling delivery in the morning, then bowled Strauss who went for a pull but missed the ball and lost his off-stump.

Bell was then caught and bowled off a straight delivery from Ajmal. Pietersen survived a confident lbw appeal but Ajmal asked for the Decision Review System and to the team's joyful surprise, umpire Billy Bowden was forced to change his mind with replays showing the ball going on to hit the stumps.

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As expected, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has raised concerns over security issues in Pakistan. The board wants its own elite security team to visit the country to assess security measures being taken for the proposed tour in April and for the Bangladeshi players. If approved, this will be the first international cricketing event in Pakistan since the 2009 attack on Sri Lanka’s team.

Pakistan Cricket Board has established that the BCB has approved the Bangladeshi security team to visit Pakistan for the aforementioned purpose. The process of approval was delayed since the PCB had to take permission from the government of Pakistan, the official stated.

After the approval from Pakistan, Mustafa Kamal, president of BCB, noted that the board is now waiting for directions and suggestions from the government in order to conduct the analysis, since it’s quite a sensitive issue with lives of their players on stake. BCB has contacted its government to ensure proper strategies are employed to assess the security situation in Pakistan at its best. The BCB is now waiting for approval from its own government to send the team.

On his plans of organizing the tour, PCB chairman, Zaka Ashraf stated, “I am sure after a successful tour by the Bangladesh team, we will be able to convince more teams to tour Pakistan.”

Zaka Ashraf visited Bangladesh last month and proposed the Tigers to visit Pakistan on an official tour. The BCB accepted the offer; however, said that it will consider all circumstances before giving the final answer. After the incident with the Sri Lankan team, Pakistan has been holding all its home matches in the UAE, since the country itself is not considered safe for tourists.

Chief Executive Officer of BCB, Manzur Ahmed, stated that the team will only fly to Pakistan if the Bangladeshi government approves it. In his words, “It entirely depends on the government's decision. If we get the clearance, we will go. The tour is in the ICC's Future Tours Programme and we have friendly relations with other cricketing nations in the sub-continent. But the assessment is important. We won't go unless the government gives us the green signal.”

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Veteran Indian actor Raza Murad has sought Pakistan’s counterpart Veena Malik’s help in securing the release of Sarabjeet Singh, who has been lodged in Pakistani jails for over 20 years.

Singh has been sentenced to death over being convicted of conducting bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan in 1990, which had killed 14 people. Murad has launched a campaign, ‘Sarabjeet Bachao Adolan’, which would demand Singh’s release.

“Plan involves participation of the entire Punjab entertainment industry. I’m also framing letters to the Indian prime minister and the president. Letters to the Pakistan’s prime minister and president are being sent through the Pakistani embassy, as too our memorandum of protest through the Ministry of External Affairs,” The Express Tribune quoted Murad, as saying.

He said he is planning to rope in Bollywood actors like Salman Khan, Shatrughan Sinha, and Raj Babbar for his campaign. Singh’s lawyer Awais Sheikh had earlier said that he anticipates bright prospects of his client’s release.

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New Delhi, December 31 (ANI): The fourth season of the reality TV show 'Swayamvar' would be more spicy and full of high voltage drama as the controversy queen Veena Malik has been roped in to find a suitable groom for herself. But apart from the Pakistani bombshell, the show which has been titled this time as "Swayamvar 4: Veena Ka Vivaah" will grab more eyeballs for its contestants too. If rumors are to be believed NRI's and high profile men will be chosen to participate in the show.

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HYDERABAD: The famous Sindhi folk singer Amina Sadiq died at the age of 65 years at her Mumtaz Colony residence here on Wednesday. Sadiq was popular for her typical Sindhi accent in singing. She performed with a number of famous singers of Pakistan as well as her counterparts; she was laid to rest in G.O.R Colony graveyard on Thursday with thousands of mourners attending the funeral.

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LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is organising a ceremony to pay tribute to a former PCB chief Air Marshal (retd) Nur Khan on January 3. Late Nur Khan remained president of Pakistan Cricket Board (formerly BCCP) from 1980-1984. He died in Rawalpindi on December 15, 2011.

As PCB president Nur Khan initiated the successful endeavour to take the World Cup out of England, the first three editions were held there, for the first time and bring it to the sub-continent in 1987. He also mooted the idea of the ICC match referee and neutral umpires, both an integral part of international cricket under the ICC’s aegis. Nur Khan’s legend was not limited to cricket alone. He promoted hockey and squash, and left his indelible imprint on both these sports as well.

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