Cook admits England second best to Pakistan

SHARJAH: Alastair Cook admitted his Ashes winning England team was second best to Pakistan as they lost the three-match series 2-0 following defeat in Sharjah on Thursday.
Chasing a daunting 284-run target, England were bowled out for 156 on a weary fifth day pitch, with leg-spinner Yasir Shah taking 4-44 and Shoaib Malik finishing with 3-26.
“It is a really tough tour,” said Cook, who top-scored with 63 in the second innings.
“Our record here is second to best. For everything in the last 15 days with our commitment and desire to do well in really testing conditions, we could not achieve it.”
Cook rued missed chances, dropping Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez twice during his 151 and Asad Shafiq on 29 on Wednesday, which allowed Pakistan to score 355 in the second knock.
“The bottom line is that we were quite good enough with the bat to repel the Pakistan bowlers at crucial times and then in the field we slipped some tough half chances yesterday when the game was still very much alive.
“We were there but we were not quite good enough to put Pakistan under enough pressure to grab the opportunity.”