Trott and Broad spearhead England revival at Lord’s
After Mohammad Amir tore though England’s top order on his way to becoming the youngest player to reach 50 Test wickets, Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad spearheaded an England fightback at Lord’s today.
With the first day of the final Test of the series near enough to a write-off in soggy London yesterday, with only 12.3 overs bowled and Andrew Strauss’ wicket taken, Amir saw to it that Pakistan made the most of the bowling-friendly conditions this morning, with the 18-year-old’s left-arm swing yielding four wickets before lunch and two more soon after as no less than four England batsmen departed for ducks today.
That Kevin Pietersen, whose Test century drought has now lasted since http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 2009, was one of those players will surely not have gone unnoticed either by team director Andy Flower, or indeed, any of those involved in the selection process although Trott and Broad’s rescue of England’s innings will have perhaps saved KP from some of the media spotlight that may have ensued had England’s collapse continued apace.
However, out of the wreckage that was fast becoming England’s innings, which at its nadir had seen the home side slump to 47-5, it was Trott who first emerged as the potential match-saver.
First came a half-century partnership with Matt Prior, whose departure handed Amir his five-fer, and then a record eighth wicket partnership against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in conjunction with Broad.
Not long after that record had fallen, Trott added his name to the Lord’s honours boards for the second time this summer, after reaching a career-high Test score of 226 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 at the ground at the end of May.
After coming together with England precariously poised on 102-7 and with 200 looking as though it was a worthy target for the home side, the pair frustrated the Pakistan bowlers as they pushed the total past that mark and kept the scoreboard ticking over past the 250-run mark.
For his part, Broad was playing much more than just a supporting role to the No. 3 batsman as his previous Test high score of 76 faded into the distance and he brought up his maiden first-class century to engrave his name of the batting honours board at Lord’s.
The pair then took England past the 300-run mark, a double century patnership and a record unbroken stand of 244 - the best by country for the eighth wicket against Pakistan - with Trott (149 not out) and Broad (125 not out) for a stumps total of 346-7.
Tags: