Pakistan stutter after positive start; Razzaq blows England all over the park
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 once again failed to make use of perfect batting conditions for the second time in the running as they fail to post a big total in the crucial fourth match of the five match ODI series against England being played at the
home of cricket at Lords.
The visitors won the toss and opted to bat first for the third time in a row in the series; the right handed opening duo of Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez posted their third fifty plus partnership in the series adding 62 runs
for the opening wicket inside thirteen overs.
The first wicket to fall was that of Kamran Akmal who fell for the umpteenth time attempting a pull short. He was taken by Strauss off Broad; the wicket keeper scored 28 runs off 32 balls, his innings included four 4’s and one
huge six over mid-wicket that was easily the shot of the morning session.
Next to go was the bright star for Pakistan in the series, the right handed Asad Shafiq. He fell to England’s best bowler of the day, Graeme Swann. He scored 11 runs off 18 balls before succumbing to a beauty that rattled the stumps.
The next to go was the veteran Mohammad Yousuf who continued his dismal run in the ODI series, scoring only 3 runs before his attempted cut short off Swann ended in the hands of wicket keeper Davies.
Hafeez completed his fifth ODI half century; he scored 64 runs off 100 balls striking 5 fours and a beautiful 6 that was clipped off his legs.
Fawad Alam was joined by Umar Akmal at this stage. The southpaw Alam was in woeful touch and one felt that he was batting with a hockey stick rather than a cricket bat as he stuttered for 29 runs off 52 balls.
He struck a solitary boundary and was finally put out of his misery by Swann who claimed his fourth wicket in his last over by bowling him.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 struck some lusty blows in his quick fire 37 that included two big sixes yet he was dismissed at an important stage when he skied the ball in the air just before the power play started.
Umar Akmal followed his brother’s dismissal skying an attempted pull short that landed safely in Davies gloves.
At the end of the innings http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Razzaq-c84421 and Umar Gul added to their fans misery as they looked clueless against the guile of their opponents bowling, yet all of a sudden the all-rounder Razzaq exploded taking 21 runs of the penultimate
and the last over of the innings propelling them to a total of 265/7.
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