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Younis, Inzamam
steer Pakistan to victory at Southampton |
September 05, 2006 (Scorecard)
 Captain
Cool Inzamam steered Pakistan through some
anxious moments to take his side to a 2-wicket
win with just seven balls to spare in the third
ODI at Southampton. Inzamam had to see five
wickets go down at the other end as England
almost pulled out a remarkable victory. However
Inzamam wasn't the one succumbing to the
pressure as he stayed right till the end to hit
the winning shot through a boundary from a pull
shot off Rikki Clarke. Inzamam once again played
his shots at will showing the England bowlers
who the boss was in the middle; he made a
33-ball 44. It was Younis Khan who was largely
responsible for Pakistan's successful chase of
272 as he stroked to a second ODI hundred.
Younis got the support from Mohammad Yousuf (60)
and the two put on a record 177 runs for the
third wicket. England bowling lacked the
experience in the end and was often shocking
with its bowlers giving away extras and hit me
deliveries when the equation was tough for
Pakistan.
It was a bright and breezy day at The Rose Bowl,
the pitch looked to be a belter for the batsmen.
Inzamam once again was lucky with the toss and
he put England to bat first. It was a dream
start from Pakistan with Shoaib Akhtar starting
the proceedings with an unexpected inswinging
yorker at 84mph which was too good for the tall
Marcus Trescothick. The left hander was beaten
by the pace and the movement and the ball had
hit his pads and then come onto the stumps.
However, Pakistan were kept at bay by some
attacking cricket from Andrew Strauss and the
inform Ian Bell. Immediately Inzamam sensed that
this pitch was for the batsmen and he got rid of
the slips and went for a defensive field.
Strauss was getting the boundaries rolling but
Bell at the other end was more keen on staying
at the wicket, so in the end not much of damage
was being done by England. Strauss fell
immediately after getting to his fifty as he
charged down the track only to get a thin edge
to the keeper off Razzaq. Strauss' fifty had
come in just 45 balls with 8 fours, he fell with
England at 79 for 2 after 14.5 overs.
Kevin Pietersen continued to keep the momentum
going but one clever shot too many had cost his
wicket. He fell getting a leading edge after
trying to work a short delivery from way outside
the offstump off the bowling of Naved-ul-Hasan.
Pietersen made a 22-ball 20. Bell after making
42 fell slashing Shoaib Akhtar to point in his
second spell and England were spoiling the
efforts of Strauss. Collingwood and Dalrymple
defied any further damage by Pakistan and the
two started off cautiously but then got the runs
coming at a fair clip through some handsome
shots. Both batsmen piled up the partnership and
it was only in the 44th over that Pak could
break this partnership of 101 with Rana Naved
getting his reverse swinging inswinger to knock
the stumps down of Dalrymple. By then Dalrymple
had made 62 which came in 78 balls with 5 fours.
Rikki Clarke was out in the next over in the
first ball he had faced as he didn't come in
line to an inswinger from Razzaq. Collingwood
perished failing to clear Shoaib Akhtar at short
fine leg as he went for a paddle sweep off a
slower one from Rana. Collingwood made a
wonderful 62-ball 61 with the help of 5 fours.
England were once again losing their way but
Chris Read got some good shots to the pitched up
deliveries to stretch the total to 271 for 9.
Read remained unbeaten on a 20-ball 21. Rana
Naved was the most successful bowler taking four
wickets but he had conceded 57 runs in his 10
overs. Shoaib was expensive in the end going for
two for 59 in his 10. England could get to a
stiff total as Mohammad Asif for once had failed
to make any inroads and was rather expensive
having picked up for 51 in his 9 overs.
 Pakistan
in reply were off to a dismal start losing
Shoaib Malik to an ambitious drive on the up to
Jon Lewis. The bowling from Jon Lewis and Stuart
Broad was very tight and Hafeez had to take
quite some risks to give some kind of momentum
for his side. He stepped down to Lewis to pick
him up for a six over mid wicket but his cameo
came to an end through an unfortunate run out.
Hafeez fell short of his crease at the striker's
end as he failed to beat Strauss' pick up and
throw from covers after attempting a risky
single called by Younis Khan. Hafeez fell for a
19-ball 20 which had two fours and a six. The
two experienced batsmen, Younis Khan and
Mohammad Yousuf used their experience to calmly
collect the runs and build up a huge
partnership. Younis was the aggressor with some
fierce square cuts and cover drives. Mohammad
Yousuf was happy to drop anchor at the other
end. It was only in the 37th over with the score
at 196 for 2 that England could get the
breakthrough with Younis lofting Broad's slower
one into the hands of the long on fielder. By
then Younis had made 101 in 109 balls with 13
fours and a six. It was only his second ODI
hundred; his first one was an insignificant one
coming against Hong Kong! After Younis's exit,
England triggered a mini collapse with Mohammad
Yousuf and Afridi falling in the space of two
runs. Yousuf was bowled by Dalrymple through the
gate after he was invited to play a cover drive.
Yousuf made 60 which had come in 103 balls with
the help of 5 fours. It was rather a slow
innings from Mohammad Yousuf but he might have
had lots of confidence that Pakistan would
comfortably win despite his slow strike rate.
Afridi who couldn't pick the ball which was
becoming a bit too dirty was given out caught
behind as replays showed that Stuart Broad's
delivery had hit his sleeve and whether it has
kissed the outside edge before that was
doubtful. Razzaq was the next man in and he
played his shots like Inzamam and Pakistan were
almost there.
Stuart Broad brought England back in the game
with two wickets in consecutive balls that of
Razzaq and Kamran Akmal. After few deliveries,
Jon Lewis got an off cutter to bowl
Naved-ul-Hasan but England were left with just 7
runs with Inzamam still there at the crease. For
England, Stuart Broad was the most successful
with 3 for 57 in his 10 overs. Jon Lewis was the
best with 2 for 32 in 9 overs whereas the other
bowlers to the exception Dalrymple (10-0-44-1)
got the stick for their shocking bowling.
Inzamam was once again there till the end to see
Pakistan finish the victory with seven balls to
spare. It was Younis Khan though who got the
Player of the Match.
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