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England struggle
to press forward for the victory despite
Strauss' century |
July 16, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
England's charge towards pressing forward for a
victory seems to be seriously hampered, they are
still batting in their 2nd innings and they
could put up a lead of 341 so far, which was
largely due to their skipper Andrew Strauss'
century. Pakistan should be happy with the way
things had gone by on the fourth day, they now
have the final day to negotiate to secure a draw
in this Lord's Test. This was despite the
visitors being bowled for 445 in the morning
session. Danish Kaneria and Shahid Afridi were
too difficult for the English batsmen to score
freely and they were caught in the web. Looking
to score at a healthy run rate and declare the
innings in the final session, England failed
miserably piling up just 258 runs in the 77
overs with the runs coming at 3.35 only. And
now, that has left England with the option of
batting for some more time in the morning of the
final day's play. Even though Pakistan have
successfully chased a target of 300+ only once
in the history, England would be worried about
the dashing strokeplayers in the Pakistani line
up and also with the pitch looking absolutely
flat for its seamers.
The Tale of the Morning Session
Pakistan started off the fourth day at an
impressive 409 for 7 and they still had two
specialist batsmen at the crease in Mohammad
Yousuf and Shahid Afridi. Mohammad Yousuf was
looking to get to his double hundred and Afridi
on the other end was struck on his thumb by a
rising delivery from Steve Harmison. Afridi was
in discomfort and he went for the big shots and
in one of the attempts, he holed onto long off
fielder Ian Bell with Matthew Hoggard being the
bowler. Umar Gul, the no. 10 couldn't survive
Hoggard's late outswinger and that left Mohammad
Yousuf still in search of his double ton and he
just had the no. 11 with him now. Danish Kaneria
managed to survive four balls that were bowled
at him and that helped Yousuf reach his 4th
double century which had come through a streaky
boundary through the slips. Harmison soon
managed to produce a gem to force Mohammad
Yousuf to nick behind and that was the end of
the Pakistani innings, all out for 445 which
gave a lead of 83 for England. Mohammad Yousuf
was the last man out scoring 202 which had 26
fours and a six. Pakistan had lost their three
wickets in just over 10 overs. Harmison's
figures were 4 for 94 and he had bowled almost
30 overs for that, Hoggard had taken three
wickets but not before giving more than 100 runs
for the opposition.
England in their second innings were looking for
a rapid start with 77 overs to go in the day's
play and they lost Marcus Trescothick (18) in
the 10th over. The left hander had played onto
his stumps driving away from his body to an away
going seamer from Umar Gul. Strauss and Cook
then batted out for lunch and England went for
the break with a score of 51 for 1 in 14 overs,
a lead of 134.
The Tale of the Afternoon Session
Umar Gul struck once again this time removing
the first innings centurion, Alastair Cook who
fell trying to play an ambitious pull shot. That
brought in Kevin Pietersen and he was the danger
man for Pakistan as he could score his runs at a
blazing rate. Pietersen couldn't break free with
the Pakistanis bowling a tight line and length.
Strauss and Pietersen had to wait before
launching into their big strokes which they
couldn't. Both batsmen then played their strokes
all along the ground and Pietersen was getting
few boundaries to mid wicket by flicking the leg
spinners against the break. Andrew Strauss,
meanwhile got to his fifty which took him 69
balls and he had hit 8 fours already. The runs
weren't coming at the expected rate with Inzamam
employing Kaneria and Afridi to bowl in tandem.
Pietersen was getting frustrated with the things
and he gave the charge to Shahid Afridi a bit
early and the leg spinner fired a quicker one
which beat Pietersen and the big man was stumped
by some distance. Pietersen fell for a 70
ball-41. The next man in, Paul Collingwood fell
to Danish Kaneria trying to hoik him against the
leg break after making just 3 and that brought
in Ian Bell. Strauss at the other end couldn't
get the big shots going with the ball gripping
the surface and making it tough and Bell was
bogged down completely hampering England's
progress. They went for Tea at 154 for 4 in 42
overs with Strauss moving onto 74.
The Tale of the Final Session
Even after the Tea Break, England couldn't break
the shackles and they had to first bat towards
getting a safe total on the board as Pakistan
looked good to bowl them out. Bell finally
started to get few boundaries with his ground
strokes but he was unlucky to be run out with
Strauss forcing him for a single after pushing
straight to Inzamam at short mid wicket. Andrew
Strauss was on 99 then and Inzamam's direct
throw found the diving Bell short of his crease
at the striker's end. Ian Bell was left
disappointed at his fate and he was out for 28
which had taken 61 balls. Andrew Strauss did get
to his century after a while, which had come in
168 balls and this was his 9th in his short
career. Geraint Jones who had played a cameo in
the first innings decided to bat defensively and
England were going nowhere. Poor Jones fell in
the 75th over poking at Kaneria's leg break. He
made an indifferent 16 having faced 54 balls.
Next to go was Andrew Strauss after being forced
to nick Kaneria's googly to Imran Farhat at
slip. The next pair of Plunkett and Hoggard
played for the day and England ended at 258 for
7.
All eyes will be on Steve Harmison and Matthew
Hoggard if they can produce their magic and bowl
England to a victory tomorrow. For that to
happen, England will have to take 10 wickets in
less than 90 overs most probably and that looks
a tough task with the way Pakistan batted in
their first innings and looking at the pitch. Of
course, the story could be different if there is
a cloud cover over Lord's tomorrow morning.
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