Australia defeat Pakistan by 150 runs as North takes six wickets
Australia have defeated Pakistan by 150 runs at Lord’s, with Marcus North proving the key destroyer for his side as he added his name to the new “neutral” honours board at the home of cricket.
Play recommenced on day four of the first Test of the series with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salmon-c88177 Butt (who made 63 as his team crumbled for just 148 in the first innings) returning to the crease with 58 runs already to his name to guide debutant Azhar Ali in the pursuit of this mammoth task.
Mitchell Johnson, who may still have nightmares about his bowling at Lord’s in last year’s Ashes series, started the day in some erratic form, with Butt enjoying several loose deliveries much more than Ricky Ponting would have as he was quickly forced to ring in the changes, turning to the previous innings’ five-wicket man Shane Watson to make the breakthrough.
The all-rounder couldn’t provide the immediate answer in brighter conditions than he’d sent down his medium pacers on Wednesday, but Ben Hilfenhaus’ persistence eventually reaped its reward as he drew the edge from Ali to dismiss the batsman after a patient 42.
With the anticipation of a potential Pakistan collapse swirling around the home of cricket, Butt’s ongoing presence in the middle ensured Ali’s wicket wasn’t to be the trigger as he constructed another composed innings and edged ever closer to his century.
It was new batsman Umar Amin, however, who with three fours in the 54th over of the innings ensured http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 was hit out of the attack, a move that provoked Ponting to make a creative captaincy decision, and one that yielded immediate dividends as he turned to the part-time spin of North.
It took only one ball for North to claim his first wicket of the match, as Tim Paine wasted no time in whipping the bails off as Butt was left stranded on the wrong side of the crease, his innings ended on 92 with half an hour to play until lunch.
Should that have been the last wicket to fall in the opening session, Pakistan may well have been judged to have taken the honours, but when North struck again to have Umar Akmal (22) caught at slip in the last over before lunch to leave Pakistan four wickets down with 216 runs on the board, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 must surely have scented the blood in the water.
North picked where he left off after the break, first dismissing Amin for 33 as Simon Katich reacted well at short leg to hold onto the catch and then adding http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 to his list of victims in the same over.
The Pakistan captain once again threw away his wicket deciding to play ODI cricket in his whites, and just as in the first innings at a time when cool heads were needed, when he attempted to club the ball out of the ground but instead found Michael Hussey camped underneath it just inside the boundary rope.
Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Aamer then combined to frustrate the Australians for a 54-run partnership but as Ponting held off on taking the new ball it was Steven Smith who dropped in a quicker ball that skittled the former’s stumps just four runs short of his half-century to land his second wicket of the innings.
Aamer (19) quickly followed, holing out at midwicket, as North completed his five-wicket haul, and as Australia raced to victory it was Smith who took his third wicket of the match as Ponting snaffled the catch at short cover to dismiss Umar Gul for one.
The pair combined again to seal the victory, as North finished the innings with the impressive figures of 6-55, with his partner in spin, Smith, taking 3-51 in the second innings of his debut match.
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