|
Mohammad Yousuf
carries Pak to near safety with a big hundred |
July 15, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
The Lord's Test has gone into the fourth day and
still the first innings of both the sides
haven't been done and dusted out of the
equation. Well the last two days have seen
plenty of sunshine which has meant that there
has been hardly anything for the seam and swing
bowlers. Although the bright sunshine has helped
in developing the cracks, the pitch has helped
only the wrist spinners Danish Kaneria and
Shahid Afridi. There hasn't been any joy
whatsoever for England's lone spinner Monty
Panesar who happens to be a finger spinner and
not a wrist spinner. Pakistan coming into Day 3
needed a big hundred from one of its batsmen and
they required a big partnership from their two
most experienced batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and
Skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. Both things had happened
for Pakistan and they are sitting in a
relatively safe position at 409 for 7 at stumps
on Day 3 with Mohammad Yousuf still batting on
185! And he has the no.9 as company and this
no.9 doesn't know much about blocking, but he
has the reputation of being the crowd's darling
with his big hitting whether it is One Day
Cricket or Test Cricket. He is Boom Boom Afridi
who has been dropped down the order at no.9 and
Pakistan therefore have a lot more to offer in
their first innings on the fourth day before
England can really bowl them out.
The Tale of the Morning Session
England took the second new ball as expected in
the 81st over and Matthew Hoggard wasted
absolutely no time in dismissing the night
watchman Mohammad Sami and Pakistan had to bring
in Inzamam-ul-Haq early into the middle. Inzy
was attacked with the short pitched deliveries
onto his rib cage by Harmison and Hoggard. The
start was a bit nervous but Inzamam started to
show why he is one of the greatest batsmen as he
played those nasty ones down after getting on
top of the bounce and it looked like Inzy had
all the time in the world despite Harmison
clocking regularly over 90mph. Mohammad Yousuf
and Inzamam then provided the counter attack
with their brilliant strokeplay and they were
helped by some loose deliveries in particular
from Liam Plunkett. As both these batsmen went
along with their partnership, it looked very
difficult for the English bowlers to find a
breakthrough. There was no stopping for this
partnership as they saw Pakistan through for
Lunch with just the loss of the night watchman.
Pakistan scored 99 in this morning session 29
overs bowled with Yousuf taking his score to 66
and Inzamam batting on 44.
The Tale of the Afternoon Session
The afternoon session should only be better than
the morning session with the bright sunshine
making batting conditions look much better.
Inzamam who has always been a thorn in the flesh
for the English brought up his 9th Test fifty
against them and this was incredibly his 8th one
in a row against the same opposition! Mohammad
Yousuf meanwhile notched up his 17th hundred in
his career and like Inzy, he has always got the
big ones against them consistently. However he
lost his partner Inzamam who got out after
seeing almost an hour after the lunch break as
he got one that kept low and skidded through off
short of length from Liam Plunkett. Inzamam was
gone for 69 after shuffling way too across his
stumps and in doing so had no second line of
defence in protecting his furniture; he was
bowled round his legs in simple words! Abdul
Razzaq, the next man showed good technique
against the fast bowlers and knowing that he
wasn't a good starter against spin, Strauss
brought in Monty Panesar. That didn't stop
another partnership from blossoming and Pakistan
saw yet another session gone by without much
damage and at Tea they were 291 for 5 with
Mohammad Yousuf taking his score to 132 and
Razzaq on a neat 21.
The Tale of the Final Session
Harmison provided the much needed breakthrough
for England after Tea by forcing Razzaq to nick
his seaming delivery to Geraint Jones and after
a long time today, it looked as if Pakistan were
back in a spot of bother. This time it was 300
for 6 and Shahid Afridi was held back in the
batting allowing the more disciplined Kamran
Akmal to join the centurion in the middle. The
short Kamran Akmal was getting plenty of rising
deliveries from the giant Harmison, but again
the class of the batsman had ensured that he
could prevail over such hostile bowling spells.
Almost every time Harmison pitched the ball up
to Kamran Akmal, the ball raced away to the
boundary as the pocket size dynamite was ever
ready to cash in on the scoring opportunities.
Like always once Harmison had finished off a
spell, things become very easy for the Pakistani
batsmen with the support bowlers lacking the
penetration to trouble the batsmen and they were
also spraying the ball around to give away free
runs. Mohammad Yousuf was going along with his
innings at the other end and he was keen on
getting his second double hundred against
England. Kamran Akmal at the other end raced
away to his 3rd Test Match fifty and he was
finally removed in the final overs of the day to
a part time off spinner. It was Kevin Pietersen,
who got the wicket of Akmal as the dasher was a
touch lazy in his cut shot and the result was an
edge to the keeper to give Pietersen, his first
Test Match wicket. At no.9, came Shahid Afridi
and he had no choice of having a night watchman
and had to see the last few balls before stumps
were called after the completion of the 109th
over. Pakistan closed the day at 409 for 7 with
Mohammad Yousuf still batting on 185 and Afridi
was yet to open his account.
Pakistan would hope for Afridi to bat for
atleast more than an hour tomorrow morning and
they would expect Mohammad Yousuf to continue
from where he has left. England attack has been
very disappointing one must say, especially Liam
Plunkett who looked ordinary bowling too many
boundary balls.
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