Worst Performance in History?

Misbah-Ul-Haq hitting a six in his score of 84.

As England crash to an embarrassing defeat in the second test of their three match tour against Pakistan, questions about England's title as world number one are on everyone's lips. How can the world's number one team lose so comprehensively against what on the face of it is a pretty ordinary team? Not only did they lose the game, and in doing so lose the series, they lost it in dramatic fashion. After three days of enticing cricket, day four was always going to be crucial in the outcome of this game.

On day one, Pakistan had one the toss and decided to bat. Pakistan made a solid start to their innings right up until Graeme Swann simply bowled Taufeeq Umar for 16. From then on England were in the ascendency as Broad took a couple of wickets early after the lunch interval to leave Pakistan 103/4. And even though Jimmy Anderson dropped a catch just before the tea interval, England were still on top. The dropped catch proved crucial however as Misbah-Ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq but on a partnership of over 100. Swann eventually got the break through as he trapped Shafiq lbw in front of off stump, not before England had dropped another catch. After yet another dropped catch, Broad had Akmal dismissed leg before for just 9. Misbah passed 50, but England had the last laughed as the magnificent Swann bowled the helpless Abdur Rehman for 0. So at the close of play, England had the upper hand with Pakistan 256/7.

Stuart Broad got the crucial wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq.

Day two started fantastically for England as Broad got rid of the dangerous Misbah and Jimmy Anderson took the remaining two Pakistan wickets leaving Pakistan to go from 256/7 over night, to 257 all out. England had been sloppy in the field with their dropped catches but Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann bowled superbly to give England a fighting chance. Now it was down to the batsman's turn. England's innings started slowly as captain Strauss departed early after nicking an inside edge to short leg. But Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott put England in command after their stand of 139. Trott was eventually undone by the spin of Abdul Rehmann. Still, at 166/2 England were in the perfect position. Cue the traditional England middle order batting collapse. After Cook was dismissed 94, Pietersen became the fourth victim of the innings after what can only be described as a poor shot. And with seemingly the day over with England in a handy position, Eoin Morgan fell with the final delivery of the day leaving England 207/5.

With England sitting in a half decent position on 207/5 at the start of day three, it was imperative that England got off to a good start. A good start was not what England got. After two dropped catches very early on in the day, Matt Prior was out after some great spin bowling by Saeed Ajmal. With England still 30 runs behind Pakistan's total, it was down to Bell and Broad to help get England into a healthy position. With England twelve ahead of Pakistan's total, Bell was trapped lbw by Umar Gul leaving England's long tail exposed. However Stuart Broad defied the Pakistan bowlers before the rest of the tail gave way. Eventually England were all out for 327, Broad finishing on 58 not out.

With Pakistan trailing by 70 at the start of their second innings, England needed a few early wickets. Three wickets went down before tea as Pakistan fell to 54/3, still trailing England by 16 runs. The final session on day three seemed to hold the key to the rest of the match, and so it proved. England started the session well dismissing Misbah for 12 as Pakistan were still scoreless after the interval. But then Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq took the game away from England. The pair frustrated the England attack as they put on a partnership of 70 to leave Pakistan 55 runs ahead at the end of day three.

Rehman celebrates taking another English wicket.

Pakistan needed runs, England needed wickets day four was set nicely. England got the better start as they got the first wicket of the day. However Pakistan kept chipping away and even though all the England bowlers contributed to the dismissing of Pakistan, Pakistan had accrued 214 runs to leave England chasing 145. Panesar the star of the bowling attack as he finished with figures of 6/62. A small target for England to chase, but on an ever turning pitch, 145 was always going to be a challenging total to reach. And so it proved as Cook, Bell, Pietersen and Morgan all disappeared back into the dressing room with England on 37/4. After this early flurry of wickets, England seemed to have a partnership going in Strauss and Prior. However, the England captain was then trapped at the back on his stumps leaving a sick Jonathan Trott to take up the mantle. Trott lasted all of eleven balls before he took the lonely walk back. With England 68/7, it was always going to be a tough ask. But England managed just four, yes four, more runs before Pakistan wrapped up victory. England woeful, Pakistan impressive, and Abdul Rehman magnificent as he took seven of England's second innings wickets.

Panesar takes his first of his seven wickets in the second test.

So was this defeat the worst performance in England's history? In many ways yes, but in reality, no. England's batting in the second innings was atrocious and not the way the best team in the world should be performing. It was an embarrassing batting display that left many questions about England's ability to bat in the subcontinent. Despite the clear horror show that was England's second innings, there were plenty of positives to take from this performance. In both innings, England bowled well. Swann, Broad and Panesar particularly stood as England limited Pakistan to under 300 in both innings. On top of that, England's first innings score was at least half challenging. Cook and Broad scored most of the runs, but the middle order collapse in both innings will give coach Andy Flower a headache ahead of the third and final test. But what England will take heart from is that they put themselves in a position to win. After a 10 wicket defeat in the first test, this game showed a significant improvement by England. Yes they didn't make the most of their winning opportunity, but England will have to take the positives from this game if they want a chance of winning the third test. But take nothing away from Pakistan who played extremely professionally, and were thoroughly deserving of their victory. Misbah played the perfect captains role in the field and with the bat. Ajmal and Rehman were also mightily impressive with the ball. If Pakistan play like this in the next test, a whitewash seems likely.