Pakistan shown the door at Lord's
Pakistan had shown promise and intent at the start of their second innings in the first test match against Australia at Lord’s. Chasing a target of 440, Pakistan had reached an overnight score of 114/1.
With Salman Butt and Azhar Ali playing well towards the end of the day, everyone believed that Pakistan stood a chance. The only point of concern was the rather inexperienced batting line-up of Pakistan.
Could they sustain the pressure of chasing such a huge target in the second innings of the match?
Salman Butt and Azhar Ali continued their sensible style of play and put up over 100 runs together. But the partnership did not last much beyond that. Ali could only manage a thick edge on a delivery jagging away from the stumps by Hilfenhaus.
The debutant scored a patient 42 and surely deserved a pat on the back given that it was his first game and that, against a strong opposition.
Ali was replaced by Umar Amin, the second player making a debut in this match for Pakistan.
Amin showed no signs of nervousness on debut and he too played a patient innings. The debutants would have profited a lot in batting with a senior member of the team, Butt. Butt had the responsibility of being at the heart of this run-chase and guide the younger players in the team in playing a good supporting role.
But when Pakistan lost his wicket after Tim Paine had stumped Salman Butt, the hopes of a successful, record-making chase started fading away. Salman Butt was only eight runs short of what would have been a crucial century, considering the circumstances. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Following his wicket, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 was unable to post a big partnership. They just went kaput. Umar Akmal walked in with an aggressive mindset, smashing the bowlers for boundaries and even a six. This tactic of his surely baffled a few as one was trying to understand the rationale behind this approach. Maybe it was just a way of Akmal settling down in the game. But it was a strategy that was not going to last long. With his dismissal, Akmal left Pakistan worried at 216/4. This was the second wicket for Marcus North who was bowling well so far.
Soon, it was Umar Amin to follow, who bat-padded a North delivery to Simon Katich at short-leg. Katich took a brilliant reflex catch to send Pakistan sliding down at 227/5. Katich, who already had a brilliant test match with the bat, went on to show how clinical the Australians are on the field.
Shahid Afridi, who has today declared that the Leeds Test will be his last, played a needless shot, trying to heave the ball into the stands. He could only hit it as far as Michael Hussey, who took a good catch. Pakistan was struggling at 229/6.
With the kind of shots that the Pakistanis were playing, it almost seemed like they had given up the chase a long time back.
Pakistan was 211 runs behind the target at this point, and some sensible batting would have definitely made the chase look more possible.
The remaining part of the innings seemed almost like a formality now. However, Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Aamer did attempt to slow things down in the centre. The two batsmen put up a partnership of 54 runs in almost 19 overs. Akmal was finally bowled by Steven Smith for 46 runs, breaking the partnership and opening the flood gates.
Pakistan slipped from 283/7 to 289 all out, losing it all in a matter of five overs. Umar Gul became the third victim for Smith who finished with figures of 51/3 in 21 overs. But the man who did the major destruction for Australia was Marcus North, picking up six wickets and only conceding 55 runs.
Simon Katich was adjudged as Australia’s Man-of-the-Match whereas Salman Butt won the equivalent award for Pakistan. At the end of the day, one can safely say that the team that played better cricket won the match.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 announcing his retirement following the Leeds test, let’s hope that we have some fireworks in those five days from his bat.
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