Australia vs. Pakistan - 2nd Test, Day 2: Australia peg Pakistan back at lunch
Pakistan has been pegged back in overcast conditions at Headingley after the first session of Day 2 came to an end in final test of the MCC Spirit of Cricket Series.
The start of the day’s play was delayed due to overnight rain that made the outfield wet. However, the umpires in consultation with the ground staff started the day’s play at 11:15 a.m. local time.
With a thick cloud cover, the Aussie bowlers fancied their chances of running through the batting order, considering the lack of experience and class in the batting line-up which generally crumbles whenever they come across a challenging seaming track.
The Australians were pumped up for the occasion, knowing very well that the only way for them to get back into the game was quick wickets at the start Day 2.
After a lively start that saw a couple of crunching drives and cuts, Umar Akmal was sucked into a prod outside the off-stump by Australian left-armer Mitchell Johnson after making a rapid fire 21 off 20 balls.
Umar Amin and Shoaib Malik looked like taking Pakistan to a formidable position when Amin fell to a strange dismissal after scoping a Hilfenhaus delivery into the hands of Marcus North at square-leg.
In a short career of 2 test matches, Umar Amin has already been dismissed in the strangest of ways imaginable on international cricket. He was run out against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 when he was caught loafing in his crease which was followed by the dismissal today.
Shoaib Malik was then joined by wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal as the two looked to take the attack back to the opposition.
Kamran was lucky to survive when he drove Doug Bollinger on the up and Mike Hussey dropped a straight forward chance to make matters worse for the beleaguered Aussies.
The lunch break was taken by the Pakistani batsmen at 218/5 after losing two wickets in an enthralling session of play in which they extended their lead to 130 runs over Australia.
After the break, the Aussies will look to wrap Pakistan’s innings as soon as possible.
Pakistan on the other hand would also be hoping that the sun breaks through and the batsmen get back to their element and give the bowlers a chance to claw back into the game.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 a target in the range of 150 runs in the last innings, they would definitely have a great chance of winning the match. This is because with Pakistan, nothing is certain, especially when they have the bat in their hands.
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