Mahmood Ahmad
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1st Test: England v Pakistan at Lord's, 17-21 May 2001 Mahmood Ahmad |
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Pakistan 1st innings:
Pakistan 2nd innings: |
Wasim Akram and Rashid Latif added 25 for the eighth wicket before Wasim (12) became Thorpe’s third victim of the innings, the bowler on this occasion being Gough. The former Pakistan captain showed clear signs of distress on his face as he walked back to the pavilion, knowing perhaps that his last innings at cricket’s headquarters lacked a lot in fulfilment.
The next over brought up the 150, as Rashid Latif sliced a rising ball from Caddick over the slip arc for a boundary. However, the Pakistani stumper didn’t stay long after that. Playing a lazy shot off Gough, he offered a simple catch behind the stumps, where Stewart snapped up his third victim of the innings and sixth of the match.
The veteran wicket-keeper did have his seventh victim but not before the last-wicket pair of Waqar and Shoaib had seen off about four overs of hostile bowling, during which the Pakistan captain was seen pulling Cork for the only six in Pakistan’s two innings.
Cork, however, gave a fitting reply two overs later by having him caught by Stewart, triggering hearty celebration in the English camp for a comprehensive innings victory.
Waqar made 21 off 32 balls, whereas Shoaib Akhtar remained not out on two off 14 balls.
For England, Caddick bowled his heart out. He took four for 54 in the second innings to have match figures of eight for 106, a performance sufficient enough to earn him the man of the match award.
He was ably supported by Gough and Cork, who took three each for 40 and 41, respectively.
Younis Khan, the highest scorer in the first innings, could score just one this time, before unluckily being given out lbw. The bowler on this occasion was Dominic Cork.
There was a similar appeal in Cork’s next over, but Azhar was lucky that this time around Umpire Willey had made no mistake in noticing the inside edge on to the pad, otherwise his fate wouldn’t have been different from Younis’s.
Gough, who opened the bowling after tea along with Cork, threw in some unproductive overs from the Nursery End before being replaced by Caddick. The lanky Somerset paceman was greeted by a four to long on by Azhar Mahmood, the all-rounder opening his account with that shot.
The following few overs were barren, as both Razzaq and Azhar preferred to play safe. The break came only in the 33rd over, bowled by Cork, when Razzaq steered him to third man for four, bringing up his fifty and the hundred of the Pakistan innings. Razzaq took 92 ball and hit nine boundaries to get to his third half-century in Test cricket.
England had almost got their man shortly afterwards, when Caddick produced another gem of a delivery, found the outside edge of Razzaq’s bat and Stewart completed a fine one-handed catch. Yet the ball was not legitimate for the bowler had marginally overstepped; the outstretched arm of Peter Willey, thus, cut short the England celebrations, as it did Razzaq’s march back to the pavilion.
Obviously frustrated by this, Caddick charged in with added venom in the next over. He tried Azhar with a sharp bouncer, hitting him on the side of the helmet and then saw a confident caught-behind appeal turned down.
However, his diligence soon paid off. After getting rid of Razzaq for 53, caught behind by Stewart, he found the outside edge of Azhar’s bat as well and the wicket-keeper completed yet another fine catch. Azhar made 24 off 45 ball.
Rashid Latif and Wasim Akram are now at the crease and it is to be seen how long it takes before the inevitable happens. Barring some miracle the defeat is very much on cards for the visitors.
The ball from Dominic Cork was drifting down the leg side and Inzamam tried to nudge at it. The ball missed the bat, brushed the pad, and was taken by Alec Stewart. Inzamam was clearly not happy with the decision. Action replays also confirmed that the ball had brushed the pad rather than the bat before going to the 'keeper. The Pakistan vice-captain got 20 off 33 balls.
Yousuf Youhana’s stay at the crease was brief. He added 17 for the fourth wicket before offering an easy catch to Vaughan at mid-wicket.
Caddick, the most successful bowler, has two wickets for 15 in seven overs, whereas Cork has one for 10 in four overs.
For Pakistan, Abdul Razzaq has so far batted with confidence, having hit Michael Vaughan for three fours in the only over that the off spinner bowled. The right-hander is batting with 43 against his name, with eight boundaries.
After handing a pair to Saleem Elahi, brilliantly caught at third slip by Thorpe, Caddick struck in his fifth over to dispose off Saeed Anwar (eight off 27 balls), caught again by Thorpe in the gully.
This means Pakistan still need 161 to avoid an innings defeat, after starting their second innings with a 188-run deficit, their wrecker-in-chief being Gough, who took five for 61 and Caddick ably supporting him with four for 52.
What a day it has been for Darren Gough! Barely had he digested the delight of his 200th Test wicket with the third ball of the pre-lunch over, when he snapped up Waqar and Shoaib with the remaining three deliveries after lunch, bringing ecstasy in the England camp.
In fact, the last two wickets fell off consecutive deliveries, the first being fended away by Waqar. However, the Pakistan skipper could do nothing better than to poke at the next one, an away-swinger, and Thorpe took a fine catch at third slip.
This brought Shoaib Akhtar to the crease and he perished immediately after failing to read a perfect yorker, which was aimed at his leg stump. Pakistan, thus, were all out for 203, with Wasim Akram remaining stranded on his pre-lunch score of 19.
Earlier, Dominic Cork had taken the prize wicket of Younis Khan to force Pakistan further into trouble at 167 for seven.
Cork, coming on for Caddick from Pavilion End, struck with the seventh ball of his new spell, becoming the first bowler apart from the Caddick-Gough duo, to be among wickets for England. And what a wicket that was!
A well-set Younis Khan, who had hitherto played with a much straighter bat than most of his colleagues, made the first mistake of playing across the line to a fullish, almost yorker-length delivery by Cork. To the bowler’s pure delight, the ball struck the off stump, signalling Younis’s journey back to the pavilion after grafting 58 off 99 balls.
Wasim Akram, the new batsman, was greeted by a bouncer by Cork, and all that the veteran all-rounder could do was to take his eyes off the ball and watch it racing to the fine leg boundary, having ricocheted off his helmet.
However, there wasn’t any doubt about Wasim’s confidence as he handsomely drove Cork through the covers to get off the mark in the next over. This shot seemed to have incensed the bowler. He retaliated with a bouncer and Wasim hooked. Luckily for him, the ball fell just in front of the fine leg fielder, having gone miles up in the air. That interesting over concluded with a boundary to mid-wicket by Rashid Latif, the first for the Pakistani wicket-keeper.
The 56th over, the second last before lunch, heralded the 200 of the innings, as Wasim took eight runs from Cork’s over, all in boundaries. And the last one brought celebration for Gough, as he completed his 200 Test wickets by having Rashid caught down the leg side by Alec Stewart for 18.
Pakistan still need 39 to avoid follow on – the target having been raised by 50 runs due to the first day washout – and they have only Waqar and Shoaib left to assist Wasim who is on 19 off 25 balls.
Pakistan suffered the biggest blow in only the third over of the day when Youhana was adjudged lbw off the Yorkshireman without adding anything to his overnight 26, with two fours. The wicket fell at 116, an addition of just one on yesterday’s score.
Azhar Mahmood, arriving at the crease after Youhana’s dismissal, dispatched the first ball, a juicy full toss on leg, to the square leg boundary for the first four of the morning.
Undaunted by the fall of the wicket at the other end, Younis Khan carried on from where he had left off yesterday, cutting Caddick to point for his first boundary of the morning. He pulled Gough in the next over for a four to mid-wicket to race into his 40s.
The tenth over of the session, bowled by Caddick, saw Younis driving the lanky paceman for a classy four, bringing up the 150 of the innings. A misfield at mid on in the same over brought up the fifty for Younis off 78 balls, with the help of eight fours.
Younis and Azhar had added 37 for the sixth wicket and just when it had started to look like they would lead Pakistan out of trouble, Caddick struck for his fourth wicket, getting rid of the Azhar for 14. The Pakistani all-rounder top-edged a rising ball from Caddick and ended up offering a nice running catch for Trescothick at second slip.
At the end of 45 overs, Pakistan have reached 160 for six, still requiring 82 to avoid the follow-on. Younis Khan batting confidently has 57 against his name, while Rashid Latif is on two.
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Date-stamped : 20 May2001 - 22:40