England pacers destroying hopeless Pakistan batting!
Pakistan has got off to a poor start on Day 1 of their second test match against England at Edgbaston in Birmingham. After winning the toss in overcast conditions, Pakistan captain Salman Butt elected to bat first. However, his decision back fired big time as the top three batsmen were wiped out with only 12 runs on the board.
It was an abject display once again by the poor Pakistani batsmen who were totally at sea against the moving ball. Imran Farhat was the first one to go he perished to a perfectly pitched delivery from Stuart Broad that he edged behind the stumps in the hands of wicket keeper Matt Prior. The opener struck around for 24 deliveries, yet failed to score a single run in what was an inexplicable display of opening batting by an experienced batsman.
The second wicket to fall was that of Captain Salman Butt who edged the ball into the hands of Graeme Swann in the slips off Steven Finn. The situation became more precarious for the tourists when Shoaib Malik perished after edging the ball into the hands of wicket-keeper Matt Prior for a mere 3 runs off 4 balls.
The fourth wicket to fall was of Azhar Ali who battled ungainly for 32 balls but failed to score a run. The right-hander was dismissed by Stuart Broad when he was nipped out by a vicious in swinger.
Umar Akmal and Umar Amin then tried to resurrect the situation, but on the eve of the lunch break, Umar Akmal was dismissed by Steven Finn who was hit plumb in front of the stumps for 17 runs.
Debutant Zulqarnain Haider was rolled over on his first ball in test cricket, edging a delivery from Stuart Broad into the hands of Matt Prior.
Meanwhile the tourists have given a test cap to wicket-keeper Zulqarnain Haider who has replaced by Kamran Akmal. Meanwhile off spinner Saeed Ajmal has been brought in place of Danesh Kaneria who was released from the squad after his unimpressive performance in the first test match in Nottingham.
A baffling decision by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s tour management was the retention of Umar Amin, who has struggled badly in the Australian series as well as the first match against England. The left-hander has scored at an average of 10 runs per innings in the first three matches of his career.
England on the other hand has retained an unchanged team for the match, as they aim for the jugular and gain a two-nil lead in the four match series. Pakistan is struggling at 63/7 in a dismal opening session.
Tags: