England vs Pakistan at Lord’s – day two lunch report
Mohammad Amir wreaked havoc on England’s batsmen early in the morning session on day two of the Test at Lord’s, taking four wickets in three overs as the home side struggled to cope with his consistent line and swing in overcast conditions at the home of cricket.
It took just three balls of the morning session before Amir struck to dismiss Alastair Cook (10), as the teenage paceman just got the ball to move away from the left-hander to find the edge of the bat and provide Kamran Akmal with a straightforward catch behind the stumps.
Cook may have ridden his luck yesterday, as a dropped catch in slips denied Amir his man within three overs of the match’s delayed start before a review of a caught behind dismissal allowed the batsman to remain at the crease a while longer, but it was to be Amir’s morning today.
Next to fall victim to the 18-year-old was Kevin Pietersen, who departed for a golden duck to continue his batting woes as his last Test century (against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 2009) becomes an ever more distant memory.
KP’s 80 in the first innings against Pakistan in Birmingham is his one saving grace this series, just as Cook’s ton at The Oval is his, but both must be sorely testing team director Andy Flower’s patience as he seeks to mastermind an Ashes defence in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 this winter.
Paul Collingwood is another batsman who has failed to shine since his first innings 82 in Nottingham in the opening Test against Pakistan (scores of one, 28, five and three had followed before this match), and his growing reputation for middle-order reliability suffered another blow today, as in the same over as Pietersen, the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s lbw appeal.
That was Amir’s third wicket of the morning and he didn’t have to wait long for number four as Eoin Morgan obligingly sent an edge of his own to the slip cordon as Amir got a full-length ball to move away from the batsman and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Hameed-c2811 did his job at second slip to leave England in trouble at 47-5 after starting the day on 39-1.
Five balls later and a fifth wicket for Amir, and fourth duck for England, looked to be on the cards as Matt Prior sent a fast-moving ball to Umar Amin in gully, but with the fielder unsure whether or not it was a bump ball and replays unable to provide a definitive answer either, the England wicketkeeper had a reprieve.
Having survived that, Prior teamed up with Jonathan Trott to staunch the flow of wickets as the latter moved his career Test total past the 1000-run mark and the partnership ticked past the 50-run mark on the cusp of lunch.
England headed to lunch with the score on 97-5, with Trott unbeaten on 41 and Prior 21 not out.
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