Second Day of Lords Test: Amir Tears through England Batting
Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan fall for a golden duck as the in-form Mohammad Amir tore through the English batting line up with England losing four quick wickets in what could be described as a sensational morning of the final test at Lords cricket ground today. This has to be one of the most underprepared pitches Lords has ever seen, without having enough sunlight to bake it for a good 12 days. The overcast conditions have not provided the most promising of conditions to the English batsmen who, despite having a decent start lost one wicket on the first day until match was stopped due to bad light.
Mohammad Amir, who began his test yesterday with 5 wides, was under scrutiny by the critics for not being at his best, and bowling a little wide where he could not make the most out of the conditions. However, Amir seemed to have taken the criticism a little too grudgingly and came back in the opening few spell of the second day to bowl a fiery spell that saw the veteran English batsmen walk back to the pavilion in quick succession.
The first two days at Lords will be the most challenging, with the conditions favoring the bowling side and Pakistan need to ensure that they do not let the juggernaut Amir and the splendid Asif down, by living up to their reputation of bad fielding. As it is, Pakistan have not been at their best in fielding as they were at Oval with a few dropped catches.
Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior have seemed in good form with Trott crossing the 1000 test runs mark in this match, and Prior who has troubled http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 throughout the test series. Wahab Riaz is bowling around the wicket and being a left arm seam bowler, it leaves little room for the batsman. In doing so, he is eliminating every chance of getting the batsman out, except getting caught off the edge which with the angle, seems highly unlikely.
Mohammad Amir has made a brilliant comeback in the second day of the final test at lords, and with the opening spell of Saeed Ajmal, one can hope that he manages to trouble the English batsmen as much as he did in the last few matches with his ‘doosra’ and off spin, however at present Trott and Prior have found their rhythm and are batting well in challenging conditions.
It is a pity that Pietersen, Morgan and Collingwood have failed to contribute much to the first innings of the final clash against Pakistan with a disappointing display of batting from Cook. Strauss however, fell prey to a genuinely good ball where there was little he could do about it.
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