Younis braced for England resistance

Younis Khan, Pakistan's fourth-day centurion, believes his side will have to fight hard to secure victory in the second Test in Dubai, despite sweeping England aside with little resistance in the first innings.

England reached the close on 130 for 3 after 54 overs of at-times comfortable batting, particularly against the spin attack of Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar. And yet, given that they lost their last seven wickets for 36 in 18 overs on the third day, there is plenty reason to believe that the end could come swiftly tomorrow.

However Younis, who passed 1,000 runs against England in the course of his 118 and is therefore well qualified to comment on the strengths of this vintage compared to the previous England teams that he has faced, is sure that they will be stronger in the closing stages of the match.

"I have always said that this is not an England team which succumbs to the spin," said Younis. "You can't expect that they will get out to a spinner that easily.

"This is a changed team, which fights, and I think they are very much capable of a fightback tomorrow. It will not be easy to finish the game in the next two or three hours, we will still need to do the hard work and will have to bring in some good plans, only then we will be able to do well."

After two early breakthroughs, including the captain Alastair Cook for 10, Pakistan struggled for penetration for much of the afternoon, especially while Joe Root and Ian Bell were adding 102 for the third wicket.

"At times things come towards you and the momentum gets on," said Younis. "But today it felt that, when we went to bowling, things did not come towards us. We might have got two wickets but then the partnership started to built up.

"The way Ian Bell and Joe Root put up a partnership, they are experienced players, top batsmen and are playing for quite a time now so this fightback was very much expected, because they are a top side after all. So I would say that, in this last session we got three wickets, but tomorrow will not be easy, it will need hard work."

England's target of 491 remains unassailable but the draw is not entirely unassailable, especially if Pakistan fail to dislodge Root early.

"We are thinking like that [a sense of victory] at the moment but they will fight back, the way Root is playing at the moment, it is fantastic to see a young guy from Yorkshire. He plays spin bowling very well and I think there is still hard work for us if we want to win this game."

At the age of 37, Younis has now scored 31 Test hundreds, taking him into the all-time top ten, beyond Shivnarine Chanderpaul Matthew Hayden, who have 30 each. He now has the most hundreds among active Test cricketers, with Cook close behind on 28, while today's century was his eleventh since turning 35. Only three other batsmen have made more at a later age. Already ahead of Javed Miandad as Pakistan's leading run-scorer, he has now crossed the 9,000 mark with five figures firmly on his mind.

"I remained focused, that is the main thing, and I feel that I don't have much time so I want to cash everything and make every opportunity count," he said.

"Probably I will not be there after three or four years so I am happy to perform whenever I get the opportunity and to convert it into a big innings, and an innings which helps Pakistan. So these are the things kept me motivated and take me forward.

"I just want to keep things simple, I want to perform and I can't say that I am at my peak," he said. "But the effort is to play to my best ability and do the best for my country, move ahead in my career and I am thankful to Almighty that He holds my hand, and I am giving performance."