Pakistan vs. England: Day One, 1st Session
The first test match of the Npower Test Series between England and Pakistan has kicked off today at the scenic Trent Bridge Ground in Nottingham, England. The host team won the toss and decided to bat first. The ball jagged around a great deal under overcast conditions at the venue, yet the tourists struggled for an early wicket.
Their worries were further compounded when English captain Andrew Strauss was dropped by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal of an absolute beauty from Mohammad Aamer with England's score on 22 and the England captain batting at 15.
Jonathan Trott and Alastair Cook then steadied the English ship, defending their wickets stoutly yet mixing caution with aggression. In a bid to break this partnership, Pakistan captain Salman Butt brought in leg-spinner Danesh Kaneria in only the 17th over of the match.
The move did not pay any dividends as Kaneria looked extremely rusty, bowling long hops and full-tosses which hardly trouble the batting duo. Kaneria claimed an lbw decision against Trott which was immediately referred to the third umpire as the Umpire Decision Review System is being implemented in the series.
Replays showed that the batsman had clearly edged the ball. Once the decision was reversed by the third umpire, Trott and Strauss continued merrily as they were rarely troubled on an easy paced pitch which made batting easier as the session progressed. The two completed their fifty run stand in the 22nd over of the innings. Just when it looked like that the two were settling in for big scores, Mohammad Aamer gave http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 a big breakthrough as Kamran Akmal held onto another edge of Andrew Strauss.
Strauss was dismissed for 45 off 75 balls, which included 7 fours. Pakistan retained the team that defeated http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Yasir-Hameed-c2811 and Saeed Ajmal respectively in the place of the duo.
England left out Tim Bresnan from their 12 man squad for the match apart from Tim Bresnan who replaced the injured http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ajmal-Shahzad-c42489 in the line-up on the eve of the match.
The Umpire Decision Review System returns to test cricket for this series and the fans and critics of the game hope that there would not be any contentious decisions in the series, and the first such decision was rightly overturned when Trott was ruled not out.
This was the sixth time in as many tests that the Pakistanis have bowled first and once again they had overcast conditions in their favour. England was 103 for 2 at lunch in 27 overs.
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