Pakistan vs Australia first day analysis: Pakistani seamers deliver telling blows at Lord's
Pakistan put itself into a good position as Australian bats collapsed towards the end of the first day of the first match in their two-test cricket series at Lord’s in England.
The first day of the first Test match at Lord’s was greeted with wet and overcast conditions, a perfect set-up for the faster bowlers to generate some swing. It was probably these conditions which made Pakistan elect fielding after winning the toss. Australia sent in the trusted pair of Shane Watson and Simon Katich to open the innings. As predicted, the Pakistan bowlers were able to generate enough movement off the pitch and did not allow the batsmen settle down.
Pakistan drew first blood in the fifth over when Mohammad Aamer got the wicket of Shane Watson. The movement defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 once again as he trickled the ball down to the stumps. He was out, scoring just four runs.
The Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, walked in to replace Watson. Ponting and Katich were bravely fighting the bowling attack of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. But this battle did not last long, as Ponting became Mohammad Aamer’s second scalp of the morning.
Debutant Umar Amin took a brilliant reflex catch at short leg to send the Australian captain back in the dressing room.
In came Michael Clarke, promoted to the number four position for Australia. Clarke has been one of the best performers for Australia for quite some time now. He had provided some startling performances and had taken the responsibility of holding together the Australian batting line up. And that is exactly what his team needed him to do after going down at 51-2.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 and Katich put the Australian innings back in order, protecting their wicket and at the same time, playing some sensible strokes. They put up a partnership of 120 runs before Clarke was trapped in front by Mohammed Asif only a ball before the tea break.
How often have we seen in international cricket that after a long partnership, a team loses multiple wickets in quick succession? Australia maintained the tradition. Within a matter of 10 deliveries, Australia lost Simon Katich as well, who had scored a vital 80 off 138 balls.
Once Katich was out, the entire Australian batting fell apart. When Katich got out, Australia was 174-4. However, no Australian batsman could hold his guard and build a partnership with Michael Hussey. Marcus North, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus did not manage to score in double digits. These five wickets fell within a matter of 48 runs, leaving http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 shattered at 222-9.
Michael Hussey was the only batsman who looked like sticking around for a while and scoring some runs. But, unfortunately, he kept running out of partners at the other end. Australia was staring at a disastrous first innings score of under-300 on day 1 itself with only 62 overs bowled in the day. However, the weather played a saviour as bad light had to stop play.
At stumps, Australia was 229/9 with Hussey and Bollinger remaining unbeaten. Hussey was on 39.
The Pakistani opening bowlers, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammed Asif, did the job for their captain, taking three wickets each. Once the top order was removed, Umar Gul picked up the single wicket of Tim Paine and left it for Kaneria to come in and pick the remaining two wickets for the day.
Plenty of history between the two teams
Pakistan went into the first day of the first test against Australia with a high morale and boosting confidence, following their 2-0 record over the Aussies in the Twenty20 matches.
However, the Aussies might argue that those results hardly matter now that the two teams are in a new series.
On the other hand, the wounds of the Pakistanis may not be completely healed yet from six months earlier when Australia humiliated them in front of a global audience.
The whitewash in Australia created an outcry in Pakistan and has today changed the face of Pakistan cricket. Under the captaincy of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482, youngsters like Umar Akmal and Mohammed Aamer have booked a regular spot in the team with the help of some consistent performances.
On the other hand, Australia will play with a relatively young side with two debutants, Tim Paine and Steven Smith. A lot is expected of the Steven Smith who is primarily been selected as a spinner. However his batting records in First-class cricket, where he averages around 56, adds a new dimension to this dashing, young 21-year-old.
Tags: