England defeat fighting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Durham-c782
They didn’t win, and in the end they didn’t even come particularly close, but at least Pakistan were in the fight in their first ODI of this month’s series against England.
The home side ultimately claimed victory by 24 runs after setting Pakistan a formidable total of 274-6 in just 41 overs (the match abridged due to a wet outfield that delayed the start of play until 12.30pm). But this was no cakewalk for England as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482’s beleaguered side restored some pride with a measured approach to the chase that kept them in the contest for longer than many observers may have expected.
Pakistan’s openers refused to panic as they began the daunting task of reeling in the England total. Having been dismissed for a miserable 89 in the second of their Twenty20 internationals against the home side in Cardiff earlier in the week, Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez showed more steel today as they set about building a solid platform for the rest of the innings at Chester-le-Street.
Hafeez, whose last ODI before this match was in October 2007, was the first to go and it was some Graeme Swann first over magic and a diving catch from Tim Bresnan that did the damage as the 29-year-old departed for 30 and the opening partnership ended after 62 runs.
Kamran was more than a little lucky not to follow soon after, with Andrew Strauss putting down a tough one-handed chance at gully before Jonathan Trott dived forward to catch the wicketkeeper-batsman in the deep two balls later but that one was dropped too.
He may have ridden his luck a little to get there but Kamran pushed on to bring up his half-century, losing another batting partner along the way with former captain Mohammad Yousuf dismissed for eight after padding up to a straight delivery from Michael Yardy.
Kamran (53 from 61 balls) eventually went down swinging in the 23rd over, caught by Stuart Broad at long-off to hand Swann his second wicket, as he sought to keep the required run-rate, which had by that stage tipped over eight runs per over, at a manageable level.
Fawad Alam then teamed up for a 35-run partnership with Umar Akmal, but after scoring 39 from 38 balls the left-hander dished up an easy catch to substitute fielder Luke Wright at mid-on to throw away his wicket at a point in the match where his side could ill afford him to do so.
It was a dismissal that left Pakistan four wickets down with 158 runs on the board and one that brought Afridi to the crease. Two overs later the batting Powerplay was taken, as Pakistan sought to make some inroads into a required run-rate that had ballooned out to more than 10.5 runs per over.
Umar Akmal’s dismissal for 43 in the midst of the Powerplay – as he got a bit too fancy with an attempted scoop over the wicketkeeper’s head, which ultimately landed in Steve Davies’ gloves – was seemingly another blow to the visitors fading chances of taking this one down to the wire.
Four consecutive fours to new batsman Asad Shafiq in the first over after the Powerplay again restored hope for the tourists, but it was to prove shortlived as Yardy rattled his stumps for 19 (from 10 balls).
Pakistan finally ran out of time to reach the target with their score on 250-9.
It was not the morale-boosting win Afridi (who contributed 19 from 25 balls) would have wanted for his team, but Pakistan can take plenty of positives out of the way they approached the contest in this one.
Earlier in the day, England’s innings got off to a strong start thanks to a 78-run partnership between Andrew Strauss and second-gamer Davies.
While for Pakistan Shoaib Akthar was tight early, sending the ball past the edge of the bat on several occasions, Shahid Afridi struggled to find a bowler to hold up the other end, with 7ft 1in debutant dispatched for 15 in his first over of the day (the second of the match).
Eventually though, he landed upon Saeed Ajmal, who drew first blood when he rattled Strauss’ stumps to send the England skipper back to the pavilion for a well-made 41.
Davies, replacing wicketkeeper-batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Craig-Kieswetter-c51708 in the squad, stuck around longer and brought up his maiden ODI half-century before he was caught behind off Ajmal’s bowling to finish with 87 runs from 67 balls.
Jonathan Trott played a steadying role for the home side through the middle overs of the match, before he was finally bowled for 69 in the penultimate over, Ajmal again doing the damage as he finished with figures of 4-58.
Ravi Bopara, gaining another chance to represent his country as Kevin Pietersen does his penance for poor Test form with a stint in county cricket, provided some quick fire runs at the death to finish unbeaten on 35 from 27 balls as England set Afridi’s side what was ultimately an unreachable 275-run target.
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