Australia battles back against Pakistan in Headingley Test
Australia finally removed the shackles of defensiveness as they fought back to get back into the second Test match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Headingley. It was Pakistan’s old nemesis Shane Watson, who began the fight back with the ball. Then Ponting and Clarke clicked with the bat to put the Kangaroos in a safe position.
Australia’s change of fortune started with another brilliant performance by Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 against Pakistan as he took career-best figures in consecutive matches. His figures of 6 for 33 destroyed the Pakistani batting line-up as they could not build a substantial lead despite having an early advantage. Pakistan was bowled out by the Aussies for 258 as the South Asians acquired a nominal lead of 170.
After losing openers early in the second innings, Ricky Ponting and Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, who has been out of form for quite some time, developed a strong partnership as they dug deep to take Australia to 136 for 2 at the end of the 2nd day at Leeds. The Australian skipper also compiled a battling half century during which he passed 12000 Test runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 lost both of their openers for 55. Captain and vice-captain came to crease to save Australia from their first defeat against Pakistan in 14 Test matches. Both of these batsmen batted confidently as they shortened the Pakistani lead to 34 runs when bad light stopped play.
After play on the second day, the consensus among the pundits was the balance and momentum had shifted toward Australia. It was also evident from Pakistan’s tactics as Salman Butt seemed satisfied to set his field deep. This match is reminiscent of the Sydney Test and Pakistan's players will have to be mentally strong to prevent their minds from wandering back to what happened at the start of the year Down Under, when they lost the match from an invincible position.
Ponting’s growing confidence with the bat on day 2 is worrisome for Pakistan. After escaping an LBW call from Mohammad Aamer on the first ball he faced, Ponting batted reasonably well. He started batting with confidence and became the second batsman to cross 12,000 Test runs when he reached 40. Later he notched fifty from 73 balls.
On the other hand, Michael Clarke, who started batting at No.4 in this Test, brushed aside his recent failures with the bat as he provided the role of anchor for the Australian side. He was quick to use his feet against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314 as he dominated the lanky leg-spinner. But he was also fortunate to survive a mesmerising Mohammad Asif over, who is improving with every game. He was beaten by Asif on three separate occasions by perfect out-swingers and the last one even brought a huge appeal, which was denied by Rudi Koertzen as the South African correctly ruled out that the bat had clipped pad.
Earlier, Pakistan failed to exploit a position of strength as they lost wickets at regular intervals on day 2. Pakistan's lost last five wickets for only 36 as Watson destroyed Pakistan’s batting line-up after lunch. He even found himself on a hat-trick but failed to convert it. The day began in chaotic style as Australia struck early to remove Umar Akmal. The Australian bowling success only confirms that conditions remained heavily in the bowlers' favour. It made the 170-run advantage quite substantial and Pakistan began bowling for the second time with high hopes of limiting Aussies to a nominal score. They had early successes as Aamer found movement from the new ball. Fully exploiting the movement, the young left-arm pacer placed one behind Simon Katich's pads to bowl his leg stump back.
Pakistan will now be aiming to limit the Australian target because with the pitch providing movement, Salman Butt’s batsmen would find the going tough against the Aussie bowlers.
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