Pakistan vs England, 2nd Test, Day 2: http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Face Uphill Struggle despite Stunning Saeed Ajmal Spell
An outstanding bowling effort by spinner Saeed Ajmal brought Pakistan back into the second Test match of their four match series against England being played at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
The visitors rolled over the hosts for 251 in their first innings, making a strong comeback after England were placed at a commanding 177 for 2.
The hosts resumed from their overnight position of 112 for 2 with Trott and Pietersen at the crease. The two right-handers found the going tough once again at the start of the innings, yet they were thrown life-lines by their gracious visitors who perhaps wanted to see the duo stay at the crease long enough and learn some batting tips!
The two added 65 more runs in their partnership, and the association was broken in the unlikeliest of circumstances when Trott attempted a cut shot that went in the air towards the gully region, and finally a Pakistani fielder (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Hameed-c2811) pounced onto the ball diving in front to bring an end to an agonising 133-run stand.
Jonathan Trott scored 55 runs with the help of 7 fours off 125 balls; his departure gave Pakistan reason to breathe again, and they finally succeeded in getting rid of Pietersen in the 64th over, after half a dozen chances were spilled by the visiting fielders.
The right-hander was dismissed by Saeed Ajmal as he misread a “doosra”, the ball that spins the other way, handing a simple return catch to the bowler.
Pietersen might have played a match-winning innings for his team, as 80 runs on the track are worth 150 on placid ones.
KP struck 12 fours off 147 balls in his stay of more than four hours. After his departure, the rest of the batting caved in as the hosts lost seven wickets for only 45 runs in the last session of the day.
Ajmal ran through the lower order through his bowling variety that saw the clueless batsmen struggling.
He first snared Matt Prior (15 off 21 balls) via an lbw decision that was upheld by the Umpire Decision Review System; the wicketkeeper had arrived at the crease when first test centurion Eoin Morgan (6 off 15 balls) fell to a late swinging delivery from Mohammad Asif that he edged to wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider.
Paul Collingwood (28 off 70 balls) was taken by Imran Farhat in the slips of Ajmal (in the 78th over), who then accounted for Stuart Broad (0) in the same over; the left-hander glided the ball into the hands of Yasir Hameed.
James Anderson was out for a duck lbw by Mohammad Aamer, and after another comedy of errors that saw another easy catch being dropped, this time by the captain Salman Butt at mid-on, Ajmal removed Graeme Swann (4) as he attempted to launch his delivery into the stands; his shot landed in the hands of Ajmal.
England gathered a substantial lead of 179 runs, with Asif and Aamer claiming two wickets apiece besides the five claimed by Ajmal.
The English team got off to an outstanding start with the ball, as James Anderson bowled an absolute peach of a delivery in the 3rd over to get rid of Pakistani captain Salman Butt (for a duck), who continued his dismal run feathering a catch to Andrew Strauss in the first slip after having been squared by the vicious late swing.
Imran Farhat and Azhar Ali then survived some anxious moments, yet were content simply on blocking as the visitors crawled to 19 for one at close of play, after batting for 17 overs at a dawdling rate of 1.2 runs per over.
They trail by 160 runs (with 9 wickets remaining), and would need a miracle to survive against the English bowlers all day tomorrow.
Meanwhile, their camp has been jolted further by the news that fast bowler Umar Gul has injured his hamstring and is set to miss the remainder of the match and possibly the series.
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