ATHERTON STANDS FIRM AS THE MATCH ENDS IN A DRAW

Seasoned England opener, Michael Atherton, stuck well to his task as he denied the home side a possible chance of going one up in the series, before the third and the last Test starts at Karachi on Thursday.

Shahid Afridi, the part-time leg spinner, struck twice in three overs just when it seemed that Atherton and Alec Stewart would carry England safely through to the close.

They added 51 for the fourth wicket before Afridi had Stewart caught by Youhana at silly point. He made 22 from 76 balls and hit the fence on four occasions. The fall of this wicket took place with the total on 108.

Graeme Hick, badly in need of runs to keep his palce for the final Test, gathered just two more runs as he was completely undone by a faster delivery from Afridi, which struck the middle stump. The England middle order batsman failed to open his account despite facing 10 balls.

Earlier, Atherton reached his 43rd Test half-century, his second of the present series, as he steered Wasim Akram to fine leg for a single. He took 123 balls and struck five fours in completing his fifty.

Craig White, coming to the crease after the fall of Hick’s wicket, joined forces with Atherton to ensure that England did not encounter any collapse in the closing moments.

England reached 125 for five when Pakistan skipper Moin Khan decided to call it a day. Atherton and White remained unbeaten on 65 (178) and nine (26), respectively.

For Pakistan, Afridi and Arshad Khan took two wickets each for 21 and 31 runs. Saqlain, the wily off spinner, failed to repeat his Lahore performance taking just one wicket for 26.

Abdur Razzaq was awarded man-of-the-match award for his magnificent efforts both with bat and ball. He took three wickets in England’s first innings and scored an unbeaten hundred in Pakistan’s second innings.

Both teams now fly to Karachi for the third and last Test match of the series, starting on Thursday.

THREE QUICK WICKETS GIVE PAKISTAN HOPE OF VICTORY

Pakistan, on the other hand, were looking to make further inroads into the England batting line-up after seeing off Marcus Trescothick, Hussain and Graham Thorpe in quick succession an hour or so after lunch.

The England openers, Mike Atherton and Trescothick, saw off safely the first hour after lunch until a slight lapse in the concentration of the otherwise composed Trescothick brought first success for Pakistan. The left-handed opener was bowled off a wrong one from Saqlain Mushtaq as he was trying to run the ball away through covers. He made 10 as the first wicket fell six short of the fifty-run mark.

Horrors for the England captain continued, as he became the victim of yet another poor umpiring decision thirteen runs later. The memories of his dismissal in the first innings when he was given out caught behind by Mian Aslam off the bowling of Arshad were still haunting him and television replays clearly showed that the ball had brushed the pad, and not the bat, before going into the gloves of Moin.

Hussain had made five from nine balls but the cruel nature of his departure, coming on top of the other poor decisions he has had on this tour, must be making him wonder what powerful spirits he has crossed while he has been in the Punjab.

However, there was little doubt about the dismissal of Thorpe in Arshad’s next over with the lanky off spinner disturbing his off stump. Thorpe, the highest scorer for England so far during the current series, misjudged the conventional off break from Arshad, as he tried to leave the ball pitched on the middle. Thorpe faced two balls without opening his account.

While wickets were tumbling at one end, Michael Atherton, the experienced campaigner, stood firm his ground on the other, as he remained not out on 45 at tea. He was positive in his approach throughout the innings and found runs with relative ease against all bowlers. Stewart remained unbeaten on 17 as England finish the session on 88 for three.

ENGLAND SET 244 FOR VICTORY AFTER RAZZAQ SCORES FIRST TON

The crowd at Faisalabad was compensated for some listless display of cricket on the previous days as the young all-rounder and Inzamam, looking for acceleration on the fifth morning, played some fine shots around the wicket.

These two batsmen showed aggression from the outset, as Razzaq hit his first boundary of the morning in the fourth over bowled by Giles, tempting Hussain to bring on Caddick in the spinner’s place. However, the Somerset paceman couldn’t stop the flow of runs as Inzaman, opening his shoulders, drove him for a well timed four through the covers.

The next over from Caddick saw Razzaq hitting him for two fours – the first over long on and the second over extra cover, shots that prompted Hussain to spread his field.

Inzamam was less explosive as he approached his half-century. The burly man faced 104 balls and hit two fours before he swept Giles very fine to bring up his fourth fifty against England – 29th overall – in Test cricket. He went for his shots more freely immediately after completing his half-century.

The biggest moment of the morning came when Razzaq nudged Gough through mid wicket to bring up a well-deserved first century, allowing Moin to declare Pakistan’s second innings with half an hour to go before lunch.

Razzaq faced 225 balls and hit twelve fours as he reached his highest score in Tests. His previous best was 87 scored against the West Indies at Georgetown, earlier this year.

Ian Salisbury picked up his first Test wicket of the tour when Inzamam, after hit a huge six over mid wicket, went for a lofted drive two balls later, only to give a simple catch to Hick fielding at long off. He hit three fours and one six in his innings spanning 122 balls.

Wasim Akram, coming to the crease after the dismissal of Inzamam, faced 17 balls to remain unbeaten on four. England's leg spinner finished with figures of one for 32.

England openers, Atherton and Trescothick, required to negotiate five overs before the lunch interval, played cautiously to reach 10 without loss before the interval. Atherton, hit on the jaw by the fiery Akram in his third over, faced 24 balls to score three runs and Trescothick remained not out on five from eight balls.

It will not be an easy task for the England players as they face an all-out spin attack after lunch. However, it is still to be seen that whether they will go for the target set by Pakistan or they aim to bat out the remaining 57 overs with safety as their priority.

© CricInfo

Date-stamped : 03 Dec2000 - 22:28