England vs Pakistan at The Oval – day three report
A middle-order batting collapse from England has given Pakistan the edge going into day three of the third Test at the Oval.
The hosts, spearheaded by a magnificent 110 from a rejuvenated Alastair Cook, seemed to be cruising towards a big total until a devastating bowling spell from Mohammed Aamer (4-51) and Saeed Ajmal (4-71) after tea swung the match back in Pakistan’s favour leaving England 221-9 and ahead by only 146 runs.
In what was billed as his last-chance saloon, Cook must have endured a sleepless night beforehand knowing that another failure with the bat could have cost him his seat on the plane to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 for the Ashes series this winter, and he started tentatively, edging two through the slip cordon’s early on.
Night-watchman Jimmy Anderson gave a solid resistance but was finally dismissed for 12 as the introduction of spinner Saeed Ajmal broke the deadlock. The on-looking Graeme Swann would have been l*****g his lips as Ajmal sharply turned one out of the rough which Anderson followed and edged behind to Kamran Akmal.
Cook was in the thick of the action for much of the morning as he showed some exquisite touches through the leg side, where he hit some nice boundaries, but continued to look nervous at anything that moved around off stump. He had the slip fielders to thank in the 13th over, as Pakistan kept up their questionable fielding exploits this series by letting another wild edge from Cook through for four.
But as the morning moved on, Cook grew in stature and in confidence. He progressed to his fifty pretty comfortably in the end as he started to caress the ball to all corners of the ground, racking up 10 boundaries in the process.
Alongside the steady play of Jonathan Trott, Cook started to flourish and he started to look like the man who averages over 40 in Test match cricket. The http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783 opener reached his century 40 minutes after lunch and it came in extraordinary circumstances.
On 97, Cook pushed a ball back to Mohammed Asif, who then gifted him his century by launching the ball over his wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal’s head and for four runs.
His innings came to an end on 110 as he was caught down leg side off the bowling of Wahab Riaz. It was a pretty ordinary delivery from the seamer but Cook’s luck from earlier in the day ran out as he tickled one behind and was caught by Akmal. He looked distraught on his way back to the pavilion but he received a standing ovation from a sell-out crowd, and his place in the side looks stable once again.
The dismissal of Cook, seemed to breathe life into a defensive Trott who started to attack along with new batsman Kevin Pietersen. The mini fireworks display didn’t last long though as both fell in quick succession after tea, which triggered the collapse, with England seemingly cruising to a big score.
Ajmal, who was Pakistan’s most dangerous bowler throughout the day, bowled Pietersen through the gate for a quick-fire 23 with a fantastic ball that completely deceived the batsman.
The dismissal of Pietersen moved the tourists up another gear and it wasn’t long before Trott, who had occupied the crease for over three hours and 130 balls for the measly total of 36, played an out of character shot that wasn’t in keeping with his defensive approach as he lazily drove a shot straight to Azhar Ali at gully off the bowling of Aamer.
Paul Collingwood is usually a man for a crisis, but he could only make three as Aamer struck again with an identical delivery that got rid of Trott. This time Collingwood failed to connect with the cut shot, as it tickled off the bottom edge of the bat and was taken behind the stumps by a jubilant Akmal.
Pakistan weren’t finished there as Ajmal picked up his side’s fourth wicket in eight overs, with yet another fantastic piece of spin bowling that totally deceived Eion Morgan. Ajmal fired in the doosra, which Morgan failed to pick and the ball straightened to clean bowl Morgan for five.
If the panic bells weren’t going off after Morgan’s dismissal they surely were 24 balls later as first-innings saviour Matt Prior was undone by a corker of a delivery by Aamer for only five runs. In true http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292 style, Aamer got one to nip away from Prior at the last minute which left Akmal with his eighth successful catch of match.
Swann was the next man to depart for hosts, as once again Ajmal mesmerised the England batsman with some world-class spin bowling. This time Swann expected the straight delivery, but the ball spun back sharply to crash into middle stump and to leave England 221-9 at the close of play with a mountain to climb.
England had gone from 194-3 to 221-9 in a space of 50 crazy minutes.
Advantage http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
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