Pakistan vs http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 at Headingley – day one report
Pakistan have backed up an imperious bowling performance with some solid batting to move to a 60-run lead over Australia at stumps on the first day of the Test at Headingley.
Led by swing duo Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif, Pakistan’s pacemen tore the Australia batting line-up to shreds as they were dismissed for a paltry 88, the team’s worst Test score against Pakistan since 1956.
Pakistan, who came into the match smarting from a 150-run drubbing at Lord’s and with a new captain (Salman Butt) after http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 relinquished the post one match into his tenure, were the picture of discipline with their bowling as they maintained the required line and length and generated enough movement to cause migraine headaches for Ricky Ponting’s side.
The teenaged Aamer, who missed out on a hat-trick but still finished with team-best figures of 3-20, led the way but Asif (3-30) and Umar Gul (2-16) were similarly impressive.
Picking over the bones of the Australian innings there is precious little to get excited about. Four lbw dismissals – only Michael Hussey (five) can regard himself as being a touch unlucky – and three innings that ended when the ball crashed into the stumps are an indicator of just how much trouble the batsmen were having connecting with ball.
Ricky Ponting (six) brought his poor Lord’s form with him to a ground where he’d previously averaged a touch over 105; Marcus North (16) failed to shake the habit of boom or bust Test match scores; while Tim Paine top-scored with 17 before he was the last man out.
As http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 began their short chase, Australia’s fast bowlers struggled to emulate the consistency of their opposition counterparts as Butt’s team threatened to sail past the Australian total without losing a wicket. But with eight runs to go, Ben Hilfenhaus saved that particular embarrassment as he shattered the Pakistan skipper’s stumps to dismiss him for 45, the Tasmanian making amends for putting down a caught and bowled chance to claim Butt’s wicket in his previous over.
Still though, the Australian attack remained too inconsistent, their nightmare start to the Test with both bat and ball brought rudely into focus when the extras conceded by their bowlers surpassed the highest score made by any of their batsmen earlier in the day.
Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326’s re-introduction into the attack after drinks in the final session, however, paid immediate dividends as Imran Farhat was trapped lbw after amassing a patient 43. He was followed back to the pavilion by Azhar Ali (30) a few overs later as Paine gloved a diving catch behind the stumps to hand Watson his second wicket of the innings.
It was to be the 13th and final wicket of the day, which ended with Pakistan on 148-3 and well on their way to building a comfortable lead over Australia.
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