Pakistan vs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, 2nd Test: Pak Bowlers Pulverise Aussies; All Out for 88 in 1st Innings
Not even in his wildest dreams would Salman Butt, the new Pakistan Test captain, have dreamt that the opening day of his first Test as skipper would see his bowlers demolish the Aussie batting line-up for just 88 runs.
Now, unless his batsmen surrender the easiest of opportunities that they will get in Test cricket to shut out a team, the left-handed opener is set to lead his team to a historic triumph which will bring a halt to the winning streak of the Aussies against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, which at the moment stands at a staggering 13 tests on the bounce.
By the time the day’s play ended, the Pakistan batsmen had taken their score to 148 for 3, and despite losing three relatively quick wickets in the last session of the day (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Irfan-c64444 Farhat, Salman Butt and Azhar Ali), they have accumulated a 60 run lead already.
The millions of cricket-crazed fans in the country are now hoping that somehow the batsmen stick it out for one day at the wicket and add around 200-250 runs more, putting the Australians under immense pressure in their second innings.
One thing that they can simply not afford is complacency, since they blew away a similar opportunity in the second test of the ill-fated series Down Under, when they ended up on the losing side despite rolling over the hosts for 127 runs in the first innings. They built a 200 run lead, yet somehow lost the match by 36 runs with a day to spare, in what will go down in the annals of the game as a truly insipid batting performance after complete domination by the bowlers.
Meanwhile, the opening two sessions simply belonged to the hosts of the two-match series that is being played at a neutral venue.
The Australian top order caved in like a pack of cards in front of the Pakistan pace trio of Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul. The trio shared eight wickets amongst them with a high quality seam and swing display that knocked the stuffing out of the Australian batsmen, who cut a sorry figure throughout their innings (that lasted a mere 34 overs).
The much vaunted batting line-up was totally at sea in overcast conditions, and one wondered what prompted Ricky Ponting into batting first in extremely challenging conditions.
The hero of the first test, Simon Katich, was the first one to go; he was sent packing by Mohammad Aamer after scoring 13 off 21 balls, while Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 (5 off 19), Ricky Ponting (6 off 21) and Michael Hussey (5 off 13) were all dismissed in a jiffy either lbw or bowled as the late swing at high pace did them in.
Perhaps Ponting’s dismissal was the most embarrassing of them all, and reminded of his poor judgement to a Mohammad Asif in dipper in the second innings at Lord’s, as he once again fell prey to an incoming delivery and started his walk back to the pavilion even before the umpire had raised his finger.
Marcus North was the last man to be dismissed in the opening session, caught behind off an Umar Amin delivery as the part timer celebrated his first wicket in Test cricket.
After the break, the Aussies folded up for 88, with Aamer starting the rot by bowling http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stephen-Smith-c91222 (10 off 8) and Mitchell Johnson (duck) off two consecutive deliveries in the 26th over that moved late at very high speeds.
The innings ended with the run out of Ben Hilfenhaus, quickly followed by Tim Paine edging a Mohammad Asif delivery into the hands of Kamran Akmal behind the stumps. A fantastic bowling display by the mercurial Pakistan, this was.
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