Pakistan beat England by 38 runs in 4th ODI to level the series 2-2
Pakistan completed another remarkable win over England in the 4th ODI at Lords. The odds were once again against the men in green and by the half way mark it did look as if England were not going to have much of a problem
chasing down the target of 266. England’s innings started in dominating fashion and the home side looked well on course for a comfortable win. Pakistan fast bowlers once again relied on reverse swing and brought the match back. It was the old warhorse Shoaib
Akhtar alongside Oval’s hero Umar Gul who ripped apart the English batting line up with some great use of the old ball.
The momentum is now with the visitors and despite all that has been going on in the background it has to be rated as one of the biggest wins for Pakistan in recent times. None of the players in either team would have experienced
such a tense atmosphere surrounding the match, with the spot fixing controversy followed by allegations of more fixing in the last ODI at Oval.
To add to the miseries, the Pakistan Cricket board chairman did not make things any easier for his team by giving some bold statements that ECB and ICC had been involved in a conspiracy against Pakistan cricket.
However Pakistan captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 after winning the toss elected to bat first on a track that looked suitable to bat. At the toss, Afridi had made it clear that his team was not bothered by anything that has been going on
in the background, and all they wanted to do is play some good cricket. That is exactly what Pakistan did. The start for Pakistan was a bit cautious and the English bowlers did make good use of the Lords slope.
Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez did not find things easy but made sure there were no easy and early wickets for England. They mixed caution with aggression putting on 62 runs for the first wicket. Kamran Akmal was dismissed for
28 runs, when he skied one on a short ball from Stuart Broad.
Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Yousuf left early; Asad was cleaned up by Swann and Yousuf was caught behind off the same bowler.
Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal put on a partnership in the middle overs, but the pair seemed apprehensive and the scoring rate was less than ideal. After Fawad was dismissed for 29, Shahid Afridi came in and took the initiative. The
captain kick started his innings with a six off Swann and went on to make 37 from 22 balls. In the end of the first inning, Abul Razzaq smashed 44 runs from 22 balls with 8 fours and a six to propel the Pakistan score to 265.
On the contrary, England innings started with a bang; Andrew Strauss and Steven Davies took the Pakistan attack on, and Shoaib Akhtar in particular was taken to the cleaners. The match and the series looked to be heading England’s
way. The opening duo put on 113 in 20 overs. Saeed Ajmal made the first break through and sent back Davies for 49. Shahid Afridi then got Trott to chop one onto his wickets and Pakistan started sensing a comeback. Afridi brought back his strike bowler Shoaib
Akhtar and he obliged by taking the wicket of Andrew Strauss for 68.
By that time the ball had started to reverse and Umar Gul was itching to get his hands on it, the captain did not wait long and Gul did what was expected of him. A big in-swinger got rid of Paul Collingwood. Saeed Ajmal got the
wicket of Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan was the only man standing between Pakistan and a win by that time. Shoaib Akhtar came back for his 3rd spell and once again got the breakthrough. Morgan was caught brilliantly form an unlikely candidate, Mohammad
Yousuf, who got underneath a skier and caught it safely.
The cornered Pakistani tigers could smell the blood and went for the kill. Umar Gul did the rest and before Morgan he had knocked over Bresnan with a beauty that moved miles in the air. He produced 2 more priceless jewels to get
rid of Graeme Swann and James Anderson to clean up the innings and level the series at 2-2. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 won the match by 38 runs and now has the momentum to go on and win the series. It will be a much needed win if Pakistan can actually do it as considering what
has been going on off the field the men in green need this win more than they have wanted anything. Abdul http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421 was given man of the match for his all round performance. The final of the series will be played at Southampton on Wednesday.
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