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Mohammad Asif
returns with a bang to put Pak on top at The
Oval |
August 17, 2006 (Link to
Scorecard)
Pakistan who have already lost the 4-Tests
Series 0-2 have bounced back to take the honours
on the opening day of the fourth and final Test
at The Oval. Inzamam-ul-Haq had won the toss and
had asked England to bat first. Mohammad Asif
making his comeback in the team after recovering
from an elbow injury took four wickets to help
his side bundle out England for just 173. Umar
Gul also picked up four wickets but much of the
damage was done at the top by Asif in his first
spell. In reply, Pakistan closed the day at 96
for 1 losing just the wicket of Younis Khan, who
had come in for the retired hurt Mohammad Hafeez.
Imran Farhat has kept the momentum going for
Pakistan with his strokeful unbeaten half
century. Pakistan are in a great position to
push forward and put themselves in a winning
position. England will be trying their best to
make quick inroads tomorrow or they would be in
an unrealistic position of having to pile up a
huge total in their second innings.
There were as many as three changes from the
Pakistan camp with a new opening combination in
Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat replacing
Salman Butt and Taufeeq Umar. The other change
was that of Mohammad Asif coming in for Mohammad
Sami and what a change it proved out to be with
Asif tearing apart the England batting. The
conditions were cloudy and with just two balls
bowled by Asif, the rain came down bringing a
halt to the play for about 20 minutes. Play
resumed but after some time, what started out as
a drizzle turned out to be a heavy shower
forcing the players to remain indoors for most
part of the morning session. An early lunch was
taken with England at 27 for no loss in 8 overs.
Once play had resumed after lunch, it was all
Pakistan as they got wickets at regular
intervals. The struggling Marcus Trescothick was
the first to go, out to a scratchy knock of 6
after fighting hard for 43 balls, he was forced
to edge one away going delivery to gully by Umar
Gul. In the 19th over, Mohammad Asif took the
wickets of the inform Strauss (38) and Pietersen
(0) in consecutive deliveries. Cook however
ensured that Asif did not get a hat-trick in the
next over, but that didn't matter much for
Pakistan as Asif rapped up Collingwood (5) on
his pads right back in the crease with his
indipper. England were in all sorts of problems
at 64 for 4. This was the time when Ian Bell,
another batsman in prime form had tried to put
on a partnership with Cook and England started
to put up a mini fightback. But with the
introduction of spin in the form of Danish
Kaneria, England lost Ian Bell with the right
hander falling to a bat pad catch off Kaneria
for 9. It was then Shahid Nazir who delivered
the knock out punch with an inswinging yorker
that had crashed onto the toes of Cook before
the left hander could get his bat down. Alastair
Cook made 40 and this turned out to be the
highest score in this innings for England. Chris
Read, the wicket keeper was left with the tail
and England in the end managed to get to 173. It
was a 46-run stand between Read (33) and Mahmood
(15) for the 7th wicket that eventually got some
respectability to the English total. England's
tail couldn't wag long enough as the tail enders
found the reverse swing from Asif and Umar Gul
too tough to handle. England were bowled out
just over 53 overs leaving Pakistan to bat for
32 overs in the day.
Mohammad Hafeez had to retire hurt when he was
on 8 after the right hander had to retire hurt
following a likely calf muscle pull. Younis Khan
who had replaced him helped Pakistan gain the
momentum along with Imran Farhat. It was in the
15th over that Sajid Mahmood could find a
breakthrough for England by removing Younis Khan
who had gloved a rising delivery onto his body
to the wicket keeper. There weren't any more
alarms in the Pakistan innings and they ended
the day at 96 for 1 in 22 overs. Imran Farhat
was the first opener for Pakistan to score a
half century in this series and giving him
company is Mohammad Yousuf who is on 12.
England's bowling looked thin with the wicket
getting easy for the batsmen in the latter half
of the day. Tomorrow's morning session could be
different as there could be a cloud cover that
would help the ball in moving around.
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