Salman Butt dedicates Oval victory to flood victims of Pakistan
Keeping its tradition of unpredictability, Pakistan surprised every cricket fan on the planet as they fought back form 2-0 down in the series to win the third Test at The Brit Insurance Oval, London. This victory also provided some relief to Pakistanis who have been recently ravaged by floods. As a result, Pakistan’s new Test captain Salman Butt has dedicated his team victory at Oval to the millions of flood victims. He also assured that he and his team-mates will do anything in their capacity to bring joy and relief to the affected.
Pakistan finally overcame their nerves as they won the thrilling Oval Test by four wickets. Pakistan’s bowling unit provided them the leverage which enabled to reduce the series deficit. In the end, it was the duo of Umar Akmal and Mohammad Aamer who steered Pakistan to a much needed victory. This victory also enabled Pakistan to forget the painful memories of Oval four years ago. In 2006, Pakistan walked out of a match under the leadership of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Inzamam-ul-Haq-c64383 over a ball tampering row with Australian umpire, Darrell Hair.
In addition to dedicating this victory to flood victims, Butt and his team has also donated a certain percentage of their match fee to the relief fund. Butt said, “The only thing we could do is win a good game to bring some cheer to them. We name this victory to the victims. It is like a national disaster. We have already donated percentage of our match fees. This is the only way we can give back to the Pakistan people if we perform well.” England also intends to replicate Pakistan’s effort and as a result will be participating in various events during the tour to raise money for the victims. England captain Andrew Strauss said, “We're donating a proportion of our match fee to the fund. It's a massive humanitarian catastrophe.”
Oval Test was full of ups and downs as the pendulum continuously kept on swinging on either side. With just a target of 148, Pakistan were determined to chase it without any major difficulty. Nonetheless like the Sydney Test, a small chase turned out to be a daunting task for Pakistan. Pakistan started the match confidently as Imran Farhat steered http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the initial phase of their chase. At lunch, they had a simple task ahead of them as they just needed 33 runs with seven wickets left. However, since Pakistan is a master at complicating smaller things and they exactly did that. With the dismissal of Azhar Ali, panic crept in the Pakistan batting order as they started losing wickets regularly. Additionally, tight bowling on England’s behalf resulted in drying up of the runs. However in the end, it was the young duo of Aamer and Umar Akmal who guided Pakistan to victory. Even Salman Butt admits of the pressure of that moment. He said, “Chasing low totals there is always pressure. England faced the same in the last match where they showed a lot of nerves. But I thought there was one mistake which was the run out [of Azhar Ali]. There was no need for that. But this kind of thing happens in these sorts of finishes.”
It was also great achievement for Pakistan to win at a venue where England had not lost since 2001. Butt is relishing the fact that his young side was able to achieve such a feat, he said, “It is terrific because I've always been saying this is http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 side and now the England side.”
Butt also praised the return of Yousuf and termed him as the ‘catalyst’ for the victory. He also praised his team for a collective and much disciplined display than their previous two outings. He especially praised bowlers who were phenomenal throughout the series and were particularly instrumental for Pakistan at The Oval.
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