Australia Jolted at Headingley on First Day
Salman Butt couldn’t have asked for a better first day as the captain of Pakistan. His side were all over Australia on first day of the second Test against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 at Headingley. They routed Australia for a paltry 88 and then pressed home the advantage by finishing the day at 148/3. Umar Amin and Umar Akmal were at the crease at stumps.
All the Pakistani fast bowlers were impressive and Mohammed Aamer showed why he is being compared to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292.
It was a surprising decision from Ponting when he announced that Australia will bat after having won the toss. There had been some overnight rain and the conditions were overcast. But the pitch had cracks even before the game started and Australia’s plan would have been to have some runs on the board and pressurize http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. It was not to be and Ponting would soon rue the decision.
The first six overs were a little flat for Pakistan despite a few edges and plays and misses from the batsmen. But things changed from the seventh over onwards, when Aamer wrapped Simon Katich on the pads. Rudi Koertzen, officiating in his last Test game, declared Katich out and this would pave way for a landslide.
Ponting was under pressure straight away, surviving a huge appeal for LBW. Mohammed Asif’s first spell was a great exhibition of seam bowling, in which he repeatedly beat the batsmen for swing. Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 was the next to go, this time off Asif’s bowling.
Aamer was replaced by Umar Gul who troubled Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 and then ended his stay at the crease when he bowled him.
Ponting departed shortly after, struck on the pads by Asif. Australia were in trouble at 29/4. Michael Hussey was gone three overs later, when Gul got his second wicket, although he was a tad unlucky with the decision that he got. Marcus North and Tim Paine added 19 for the sixth wicket, the second highest partnership of the innings. Pakistan then made history when they got North out. For the first time in 13 years and 156 Test matches, none of the top six Australian batsmen had crossed the score of 20.
Pakistan continued the pressure after lunch and Aamer dismissed Steve Smith on the first ball after the break. Mitchell Johnson went in the next ball and despite not getting the much coveted hat-trick, the rest of the tail was cleared. It had been a splendid bowling performance from the Pakistani seamers in helpful conditions. Australia were all out for 88, their seventh lowest total in Tests.
After the bowlers had done their job, the Pakistani batsmen had to just focus on not losing wickets and getting a vital lead. The conditions were still bowling friendly but Pakistan started in aggressive fashion with Butt and Imran Farhat scoring at almost six runs an over in first six or seven overs. However, both of them missed out on half centuries and Australia managed to strike back after tea.
In contrast to Pakistan’s bowling, the Australian bowling looked jaded and completely toothless, with Johnson and Bollinger struggling to beat the bat. Watson’s two wickets at the end of the day’s play look to have given Australia something to fight back tomorrow. The bowling star at Lords, off spinner Marcus North, did not get to bowl and Smith bowled just one over. Ponting was looking for wickets from his pacers but it might have been better if he had had the spinners bowl a bit more. The cracks at the pitch would have helped them extract bounce and get some turn.
It was a great comeback from Pakistan after a disastrous showing at Lords. They are the favourites to win the game now, weather permitting. But they would and should be wary of Australia who have been in situations like this before but had gone on to win.
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