Pakistan Tour of England, 3rd Test: Pakistan Beat England by 4 Wickets at The Oval
Pakistan won the 3rd Test against England at the Oval in typical green-shirt fashion, taking a modest chase right down to the wire. The 4-match series is now led by England 2-1 with one more game to go in the series.
The final session was extremely tense for Pakistan, even though they needed just 33 runs with 7 wickets in hand. However, once again Pakistan managed to make an easy target look monumental. Pakistan lost 3 wickets and with 16 runs left, it looked ominous for the visitors and it was difficult to see where the last few runs were going to come from. However, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Akmal managed to knock off the final runs and win a Test at the Oval after 9 years.
Pakistan started the day looking for one more wicket to wrap up the English innings. Mohammad Aamer completed his 5-wicket haul early in the day when he got Stuart Broad out. He was caught by Mohammad Asif after scoring 6 runs. England ended their innings at 'double nelson' at 222. Pakistan was handed a target of 148 runs. Given http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s recent fragile history in the 4th innings, it was still a bit of an in between targets.
However, the start for Pakistan would have done no favours to the fans or the dressing room of the team. Imran Farhat, after getting a boundary in the first over, handed over the strike to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Hameed-c2811 and edged the very first ball he faced and was out in the slips for naught. Young captain Salman Butt was in next, and given his poor run it was no surprise that the nerves all around did not settle for a while. Butt, though, showed good confidence and stability; he looked like a man in control and was determined to lead his side home. After a shaky and hesitant start, he did start to time the ball from the middle of the bat.
England Captain Andrew Strauss knew that his best chance on a flat track was to get wickets from his off-spinner Graeme Swann. He kept the off-spinner on from one end and Imran Farhat, for one, looked under pressure and unsure against Swann. And eventually, while trying to sweep a full pitch ball, Farhat was given out LBW against Swann. After discussion with the captain, Farhat did ask for a referral; however, it was more in hope than expectation, and he was given out by the 3rd umpire as well. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-c88163 Butt was joined by the experienced Mohammad Yousuf, and the two started to solidify the chase. With some support from the other end, Butt started to get more shots away on the off-side. Swann, however, persisted from one end and his nagging length outside the off-stump and got his just reward. Salman, two short of his 50, went for a drive and edged one to slips. Azhar Ali came in before the break and was 4 not out while Yousuf was unbeaten at 22. Pakistan was at 115 for the loss of 3 wickets, and need 33 more runs to win.
The 3rd session did not start on an ideal note for the visitors, as Azhar Ali was the victim of a suicidal run out; he scored just 5 runs and Pakistan were at 124 for 4. Mohammad Yousuf soon fell victim to one of the deliveries of the series; James Anderson got the ball to angle in and moved it away off the pitch to knock back Yousuf’s off-stump. He scored 33 runs off 56 balls with 5 boundaries. Kamran Akmal was in next, and his poor run with the bat continued, as he misjudged one and let it hit his pads off the bowling of Graeme Swann. Kamran did refer it but was given out still.
With 16 runs to get and 4 wickets in hand, it was up to Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer. After 4 consecutive maiden overs, it was hard to imagine how the last 16 runs were going to be scored. Aamer finally got a boundary away, and Umar followed it up with a late cut and then a clip off his legs to get 2 boundaries. Pakistan finally got the target and won the match by 4 wickets. The series is now 2-1 in favour of England with one Test to go at Lord's. Mohammad Aamer was named man of the match.
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