Amir-Ajmal demolish English batting in 3rd Test
With the century of Alastair cook, it seemed as if England was all set to post a challenging total in the second innings against Pakistan with England 194 for three at lunch. Alastair cook found his form to score a century against Pakistan and despite the ton lacking style or elegance, it was an important knock for him to secure his place in the English side for the Ashes Series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746.
Pakistan, on the contrary has played embarrassing cricket which led to former Pakistani cricket or ‘critics’ to severely criticize the side for their lack of planning and cohesion. Their fielding was pathetic in the last two tests as well, with the only glimmer of hope seen in the form of Ajmal and Zulqurnain’s fight back against England that saw Pakistan batting their way to Day 4, of what could have been one of the worst defeats for the side.
However, the Pakistani side is said to have taken that criticism to heart, as they played brilliantly from Day 1 at Oval with debutant Wahab Riaz leading the way with five wickets for the side in the first innings. His ability to move the ball, coupled with his bounce proved to be too much for the English batting line up to chew on and left their vulnerable side completely exposed. One would have hoped for players like Kevin Pietersen to have given his side some support from the bat however the ‘star batsman’ failed to find his form, falling prey to Pakistan’s probing bowling attack.
Pakistan then went on to post a reasonable total of 308 with mentionable performances from Mohammad Yousuf and Azhar Ali - both of whom helped Pakistan post a respectable lead against the English side. The batting display by Azhar Ali was truly classy and the batsman later regretted of not getting making it to his century. Nonetheless, Pakistan after a while looked like they had found their rhythm.
England started off with Amir getting Strauss out on a delivery that was hard to escape from, as he nicked it to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 right back into the game. Mohammad Amir matured as a bowler, showing great variation and bowling beautifully even under pressure.
At just 18, cricketing fans all over the world would be looking forward to see Amir ball reverse swing that he seems to be learning quite fast. As the saying goes, good things come in small packages and for Pakistan, Mohammad Amir has been quite the bowler they had missed since Wasim and Waqar’s retirement.
Waqar Younis needs to work with Amir to hone him to be a wicket-taker even on flat pitches. Ajmal also bowled exceptionally well, with the ball spinning both ways, making it hard for the batsman to judge the turn, which is why the English batsmen were wary of his spin and had to play defensively. The bowlers exposed their England’s vulnerable batting which was easily exploited by both Ajmal and Amir.
With a classic performance from the Pakistani bowlers, Pakistan is now in control of the Oval test with 148 runs to chase to record a win against England and mark their comeback in the 4 match test series.
And this was how one expert put it:
“It was like watching the great Pakistan attacks of the 1990’s with reverse swing complemented by mystery spin and it was impossible not to draw further comparisons between Amir and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292. That was especially true when he removed Matt Prior from around the wicket with one which straightened late and took the edge; it was only because Prior is in such fine form that he edged it.”
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