Pakistan rally frustrates England in Edgbaston Test

Second Test, Edgbaston (day three, close):

England 251 v Pakistan 72 & 291-9

Zulqarnain Haider and Saeed Ajmal scored remarkable fifties as Pakistan fought back brilliantly against England on day three of the second Test.
Debutant Haider, who was reprieved by the review system after being given out first ball, made 88 to steer the tourists to 291-9, a lead of 112 runs.
Graeme Swann, who took a Test best 6-60, had reduced Pakistan to 101-6.
But Haider's partnerships with Mohammad Amir (16) and Saeed Ajmal (50) have given Pakistan hope of a shock victory.
It was an extraordinary comeback from Pakistan, who looked to be heading for another heavy defeat after slumping to 94-5 at lunch.
Haider's partnerships with Amir and Ajmal mixed discipline and courage with moments of class and aggression as England's bowlers were flayed to all areas of the ground.

JONATHAN AGNEW'S COLUMN
Pakistan have given England plenty to think about and set up an intriguing finale at Edgbaston
And if conditions are favourable on Monday, Pakistan's bowlers could yet cause England some headaches as the home side chase a victory that would put them 2-0 up in the four-match series.
Andrew Strauss's men were surprisingly sloppy in the field, with several catches going down, while Matt Prior had an inconsistent day behind the stumps and Stuart Broad and Eoin Morgan fluffed run-out chances.
And perhaps more worryingly with the Ashes in mind, England's pace bowlers were far less effective when the ball did not swing, with Steven Finn and Broad letting their line and length stray later in the day.
Fortunately for England, Swann bowled superbly, taking four quick wickets either side of lunch and also broke the 105 stand between Haider and Ajmal.
His first wicket came with only his third delivery of the match - and 13th of the series - ending a partnership of 52 between Imran Farhat and Azhar Ali with a sensational ball to the left-handed Farhat, which drifted, gripped and turned from leg stump to clip the top of off stump.


Swann made his mark on the series with a stunning spell of spin bowling
It was the 20th time Swann has taken a wicket in the first over of a Test spell and an important breakthrough for England after Ali and Farhat, who was surprisingly dropped by Collingwood in the third over of the day, had begun to look settled.
Swann struck again in his next over, extracting alarming turn from the pitch to bowl Ali through the gate for 19.
Shoaib Malik, whose promotion from six to four in the batting line-up has done little to stiffen up Pakistan's top order, was the next to fall during a testing spell from Finn.
Malik withdrew his bat from a delivery which pitched outside off stump and straightened, but the ball brushed off his glove, gifting an easy catch to Prior.
Swann claimed his third wicket in the next over, with a delivery which did not turn as much but rapped Umar Akmal on the pads right in front of the stumps for a clear leg before wicket.
And it was almost two wickets in two balls as Haider was trapped by a ball which kept low. Umpire Steve Davis raised the finger again but a successful Pakistan referral showed the ball was missing leg stump.
Pakistan reached lunch on 94-5 but another wicket fell soon after the interval, with Swann drawing Umar Amin out of his crease and Prior pulling off a tidy stumping.
With six wickets down, it seemed as if an England victory was imminent but a disciplined partnership from Haider and Amir held England at bay for the remainder of the afternoon session.

606: DEBATE
Well done Pakistan. They might still lose but they haven't lost easily. They have outscored England and proven that they can get 250 plus 
Solo443
Broad cut a particularly frustrated figure. Seemingly angered by the umpire's decision to turn down a caught-behind appeal, he rashly threw the ball at Haider, and in the following over he misdirected a throw to the bowlers' end when Amir was well out of his crease.
England took the new ball after tea and finally the breakthrough came in the fourth over when Amir threw his bat at a ball angled across him by Broad and Strauss snaffled the catch at first slip.
The seventh wicket seemed to be the signal for Haider to go on the offensive, clipping Finn through midwicket for four to bring up his fifty and take Pakistan into the lead.
Haider found a worthy ally in Ajmal, who received several blows from England's pacemen but counter-attacked superbly to reach fifty in a thoroughly entertaining partnership.
But just when the duo seemed destined to see Pakistan through to the close, Swann rediscovered some of the turn that had been so effective earlier in the day and Ajmal's edge was well caught by Collingwood at slip.
Haider followed soon afterwards when he mistimed a drive off Swann and was caught by Strauss, but Umar Gul (nine) and Mohammad Asif (13) batted well to keep the Pakistan innings afloat going into what promises to be an intriguing fourth day.


Source:news.bbc.co.uk

Pakistan rally frustrates England in Edgbaston Test

Read more...

Pakistan overcome recent Test Cricket history against Australia

It was a typically chaotic Pakistan performance on the fourth day of the second and final test match against Australia. The hosts of the neutral series, Pakistan lost four wickets as they inched towards a historic win at Headingly Leeds.

The win by Pakistan ended arguably the bleakest period in test matches against a single opponent. A losing streak that lasted fifteen years, that included 13 test matches all against the Aussies.

Breaking a jinx as big and as harrowing as this was no mean task and it was certainly evident that the cobwebs had returned to haunt the Pakistanis.  They lost four wickets after resuming their overnight position of immense strength of 140 for 3.

The batsman who played such a pivotal role in Pakistan’s comeback on day three Azhar Ali, reached his half-century with a drive off Bollinger. But unfortunately his celebrations were cut short next ball, as he was snapped up behind the stumps by Tim Paine with the score on 146, 34 runs away from the target.

The cat was set amongst the pigeons as Umar Akmal who had looked a bundle of nerves from the outset on day four, nicked a delivery from Ben Hilfenhaus straight into the hands of Tim Paine.

As Akmal prodded around for 8 runs, it became a little better with a crunching flick by Shoaib Malik as the target went under 20.

However, the Aussies were not giving up at all, as Shoaib Malik perished to a scintillating catch by Marcus North in the cover region off Ben Hilfenhaus.

At that stage Pakistan was 19 runs away, with four wickets in the kitty, Kamran Akmal than struck a brace of boundaries to bring the required runs to fewer than 10.

With 5 needed to win Kamran smashed a drive into the hands of Mike Hussey who claimed a catch, yet Kamran stood his ground indicating that the ball had touched the ground.

The adjudication went to the third umpire who ruled the wicket-keeper not out.

Left-armer Mohammad Aamer than steered the ball through the slip region to leave Pakistan within one run of breaking the 13 test match losing streak.

However, Pakistan being Pakistan lost Kamran Akmal to a stunner by Mike Hussey off the bowling of Mitchell Johnson.

The match ended when Umar Gul smashed the next ball through the cover region to spark off wild celebrations in the Pakistan camp, as the players hugged each other and ran onto the field to embrace the two not out batsmen Gul and Aamer.

Mohammad Aamer was declared man of the match from Pakistan for his brilliant bowling display in the match, while Shane Watson won the Australian man of the match for his six wicket haul in the first innings of the match.

An elated Salman Butt who was leading Pakistan for the first time in a test match dedicated the historic triumph to the people of the country who have been deprived of watching test cricket, for that matter international cricket due to the ongoing security concerns in the terror ridden state.

The win brought smiles on the faces of millions of cricket fans across the country who had endured one defeat after another from the Australians who had a complete stranglehold on them.

It also augurs well for the Pakistan team as they look forward to the challenge of confronting the English team in a four match test series, that will be followed by five ODI’s and two T20 matches.

Sourch: blogs.bettor.com

Pakistan overcome recent Test Cricket history against Australia

Read more...

Pakistan on top after two sessions

Australia struggled to tea on one of its darkest days in Test cricket in living memory, on day one of the second match against Pakistan at Headingley.


Firstly, the Aussies were humiliated with the bat by being rolled for 88 in Leeds - the national side's worst Test total in a generation.


Then new Pakistan captain Salman Butt (38 not out) climbed into the shell-shocked Australian attack as his side marched to 0 for 64 at tea with opener Imran Farhat (20) also unbeaten.


The day was threatening to become even more disastrous than the opening day of the 1997 Ashes series at Edgbaston when Australia was dismissed for 118 with England reaching 3 for 200 by stumps.


The brilliant Pakistan swing bowling trio of Mohammad Aamer (3 for 20), Mohammad Asif (2 for 33) and Umar Gul (2 for 16) earlier used the overcast conditions to perfection, producing wicked late swing to skittle Australia in 33.1 overs.


The last time Australia posted a lower score was back in 1984, the tally of 76 coming against a rampant West Indian attack consisting of Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and Michael Holding on a lightning-fast WACA pitch.


It was Australia's fifth batting collapse in six Tests on English soil and the performance provided further evidence of the side's inability to cope with the swinging ball in this country.


Australia's performance also mirrored England's capitulation on the opening day of the fourth Ashes Test at this very ground last year.


Australia had come into the match with a 1-0 series lead in the two-match series and in pursuit of a record 14th straight Test win over Pakistan.


Since his fateful decision to send England in at Edgbaston in 2005, Ponting has batted first in the past 27 times that he has won the toss.


But from the outset on Wednesday, this looked like a decision he could come to regret in Leeds.


Pakistan's bowlers brilliantly exploited the swing-friendly conditions as Australia lost all 10 wickets for 68 runs following an opening stand of 20.


Left-arm paceman Aamer got the ball rolling by pinning opener Simon Katich (13) in front before Asif dismissed Shane Watson (5) eight balls later.


Gul stepped up the carnage by knocking back Michael Clarke's (3) middle stump and Asif showed that Ponting's (6) brilliant record at the ground meant little on Wednesday.


Even the normally reliable Mike Hussey (5) could not stem the flow of wickets with Gul adjudged to have trapped him in front, even if the ball might have slipped down the leg side.


Marcus North (16) looked like he was guiding Australia to lunch but medium-pacer Umar Amin had him caught behind just before the interval.


Aamer was inspired after the break, knocking over the stumps of Steve Smith (10) and Mitchell Johnson (0) with his first two balls after lunch.


He producing an excellent inswinger to Smith and followed that up with an even better delivery to Johnson that swung late and tilted back his off-stump.


Ben Hilfenhaus (3) somehow negotiated the hat-trick delivery, the tailender not good enough to get an edge on the ball as it screamed past his bat.


Hilfenhaus pushed Australia beyond its lowest Test total against Pakistan of 80 in Karachi in 1956 with a straight drive off Aamer.


But in a sign of the batting side's dirty day, he was run out going for a third soon afterwards.


Tim Paine (17) was the last man to go, trying to improvise a shot with number 11 Doug Bollinger (2 not out) at the other end.

Pakistan on top after two sessions

Read more...

Shahid Afridi to retire from Tests

Shahid Afridi made the decision that seemed inevitable from the day he took over as Test captain, by announcing his Test retirement immediately after leading his side to a 150-run loss against Australia at Lord's.

Afridi has been a reluctant Test player over the years and this Test was his first in four years. A poor personal performance, capped by a four-ball 2 on the last day - out slogging to deep midwicket - didn't help matters and the second Test against Australia at Headingley, starting on Wednesday, will now be his last. Afridi's participation at Headingley, however, will depend on whether he passes a fitness test for a side strain in the days leading up to the match.

Salman Butt, the vice-captain, is likely to take over the leadership for the England series though that is not set in stone until the PCB makes a final decision. Whoever does take over will be Pakistan's fifth Test captain since the start of 2009.

"With my temperament I can't play Test cricket," Afridi said. "It is better a youngster comes in my place, probably a genuine batsman or even a genuine bowler. I picked up a side injury during the Asia Cup and unless you are 100 percent fit you can't perform in Test cricket.

"I wasn't interested in playing Test cricket but the board asked me to go and take a look as they didn't have a choice. So I took up the responsibility. They asked me to take a chance and may be I would enjoy it. But I wasn't really enjoying Test cricket but I tried. I wasn't good enough. A captain should lead by example which I did not. And if I played the way I played in this match it is better to leave."

If Afridi's side injury rules him out of the second Test at Headingley his final shot in the five-day game will be the slog-sweep that picked out Mike Hussey and Afridi was honest enough to admit he just couldn't hold back. "You are right," he said. "I am coming back to Test cricket after four years and in the interim I'd played a lot of ODI and Twenty20 cricket so I came in with the same [attacking] temperament. I was in two minds. You can say I was not strong mentally."

Yawar Saeed, Pakistan's manager, confirmed Afridi's decision to Cricinfo, though he insisted he wouldn't call it a retirement. "Afridi had a side strain and felt that he shouldn't keep a specialist out of the side. Temperamentally he feels not comfortable with the format so Leeds will be his last Test," he said.

Saeed said that Butt is likely to take over, but that any decision would have to be made in consultation with the board. Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, is in England currently. "Salman Butt was appointed vice-captain for the tour and he will take over unless the PCB meets and decides otherwise. But as per procedure, he will take over," Saeed said.

"Salman is the vice captain and he should ideally be the man," Afridi added. "The way he has shown the maturity he is good enough to carry forward the responsibility."

The development will bring into sharp focus the PCB's decision to appoint Afridi as Test captain in the first place. He had already retired from the format once before, in 2006, only to return, ironically, for the tour to England that summer. He played a couple of Tests before pulling himself out of the format again.

Since his appointment recently, his hesitancy towards the format has surfaced repeatedly. In an interview to The Wisden Cricketer before the series began, Afridi hinted he might not play Tests for long. "I'm confident I am fine fitness-wise," he said then. "But I came back to Tests because I am doing it for the team only. If I think I am fit to do it, I will continue playing Tests. Otherwise I will not burden the side."

In a more recent interview to Cricinfo, Afridi said, "If down the line I become aware that I am not a good captain, or not a successful one, and the team is unable to make any use of me as a captain, I will not chase it. If I don't have the ability then I will leave it on my own ... I did not ask anyone forcibly to give me the captaincy, nor will I forcibly captain the team. If I am good I will prove it through my performance. If I am not good I will say khuda hafeez.

Shahid Afridi to retire from Tests

Read more...