England fight back to a position of strength after Pakistan dominated at Lord’s
The World of cricket has seen one of the finest comebacks of all-time at Lord’s in the fourth and final Test match of the Pakistan and England’s series. England after being 102/7 made it to 346/7, thanks to Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott.
England was 39/1 after the first day of the Lord’s Test match was called off because of rain. But shortly after play began on the second day, Mohammad Amir took four wickets without giving a single run. Shortly after lunch he added two more wickets to his tally of four, becoming the youngest bowler to claim five-wickets at Lord’s. England were reeling at 102/7, but Jonathan Trott along with Stuart Broad saved the day by adding a record unbeaten partnership of 244 runs for the eighth wicket and pushed the total to 346/7.This is so far the highest partnership for England against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, and if the pair add 3 more runs they will be setting a new record for the eighth wicket against any opposition.
Jonathan Trott scored his 3rd Test century and was followed by Stuart Broad’s first first-class century. Stuart Broad scored 125 not out as he went passed Gubby http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Allen-c43742’s 123, a 79-year record of highest individual score batting at number 9 for England.
The conditions weren’t easy for batting early on. Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook started the day. Amir went through England’s batting and removed 3 top order batsman for 3 ducks. But Trott showed no signs of pressure as wickets fell around him. He went on to score his first 50 runs under the shadow of collapse, conditions still in favour of the bowlers. He showed great technique against the moving ball. He also displayed methods of building a Test innings when the ball is moving.
He used his feet against Mohammad Asif to negate his swing. The drives he played were a treat to watch as his placement was excellent. His on-side play was a real hallmark of his calmness, punishing balls that were on his pads. He reached his century with a tight single, and celebrated the event without much excitement. The partnership with Broad was a great relief to the dressing room after the early collapse. Both the batsman made it hard for the bowlers and fielders as fatigue soon slowed the Pakistanis down.
Stuart Broad was equally good. No one can take away the credit for the innings he played at Lord’s. He carried on his batting form at The Oval and took it to new heights at Lord’s. Broad started his innings quietly and wasn’t finding the gaps, but he remained calm building his innings like a top order batsman. After spending some time at the crease, he started to find boundaries with some glorious cover drives and a pulled Mohammad Amir for a six. He made full use of the tired attack later in the day by scoring more runs than his partner.
Broad’s previous best was 76 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 in 2008, which was also made at Lord’s. Broad was into the nineties not having got to a first-class century before, but he concentrated hard and whipped Wahab Riaz on the leg side to score his first Test century.
Salman Butt’s tactics raised a few questions. He was defensive after having England 102/7. The support bowlers weren’t up to the mark as they were at The Oval. The Pakistani camp thought the eighth wicket stand could have been shattered if http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 had taken the referral on Saeed Ajmal’s lbw appeal against Stuart Broad
It has been a great fight back by England, after being thrown into the darkness of defeat by devastating bowling spells from Mohammad Amir. The middle order crumbled under the overcast conditions at Lord’s as they went down to 47/5. Three English batsmen came and went without adding a single to the score this included Kevin Petersen’s golden duck.
Most batsmen have struggled in these overcast conditions, but both Trott and Broad have shown batsman from both teams.
When England fell away to 102/7 no one expected them to end the day at 346/7.
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