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:
England 1st innings: |
Little before that the two Pakistani batsmen posted the fifty for the fifth wicket off 70 balls. It was the 30th over of the innings, bowled by Dominic Cork, when Younis Khan helped himself with the fifth boundary – a good looking drive through covers – and scampered for an easy single to square leg off the next ball.
Alec Stewart, the stand-in captain, brought Gough on for the 31st over and there was drama with the second ball. Yousuf Youhana tapped the ball to mid on and went for a single that wasn’t there. Scampering back to his crease, he lost hold of his bat and ran without it. Sidebottom, the fielder at mid on, aimed at the wicket but the throw was wide, otherwise it would have been all for Youhana.
There was one more over after that, out of a possible 17, as bad light intruded and made the further continuation of play impossible for the day.
At stumps, Youhana and Younis have taken their respective scores to 26 (67 balls) and 32 (41 balls). They have an uphill task tomorrow, with Pakistan still requiring 127 runs to avoid the follow on and two days’ play still to go.
Inzamam hit two boundaries in Gough’s one over to force the Yorkshire paceman out of the attack, having conceded 34 in eight overs for one wicket. He was replaced by the debutant Sidebottom at the Nursery End.
However, it was the opposite end, the Pavilion End, from which the damage was done. Caddick, firing in from his long run-up, produced a gem of a delivery to have big Inzi caught at the wicket for 13 (29 balls).
Razzaq and Yousuf Youhana brought up the fifty in the 16th over, the eighth after tea, bringing a handful of Pakistan supporters to their feet in a rare burst of enjoyment.
However, there was bad news in store for them as long as Caddick was in operation. The rangy Somerset paceman struck for the third time in his eighth over, getting rid of a hitherto confident Razzaq, caught again by Stewart. The Pakistani all-rounder collected 22 (45 balls) made with the help of three fours, as the wicket fell at 60 in the 18th over.
Younis Khan, coming to the crease after Razzaq’s fall, started off attackingly, realising perhaps that this could be a more appropriate approach to negate the Englishmen’s hostility. He hit three boundaries to race to 20 off just 17 balls, including two boundaries in Sidebottom’s one over.
Pakistan achieved their hundred in the 26th over, bowled by Cork, when Younis took his fourth boundary followed by a single to the leg side.
Youhana has also batted with the composure that is his hallmark. After 27 overs, he is not out on 24, having hit two fours. Younis Khan is batting on 26 off the same number of balls, with Pakistan standing still struggling at 104 for four.
The visitors lost their first wicket in only the second over when Saleem Elahi edged Caddick for a regulation catch to Atherton at first slip. The right-handed opener failed to open his account after facing three balls.
Newcomer Razzaq’s start was not a confident one. Caddick tried him with a ball identical to the one that accounted for Elahi. The result would have been the same had the ball not bounced before going into Atherton’s hands.
Yet Atherton didn’t have to wait too long for his second catch to capture the prized wicket of Saeed Anwar. Trying to steer Gough through the offside, the left-hander only managed to offer a thick edge to first slip, reducing Pakistan to 21 for 2 in five overs. Saeed Anwar made 12 off 15 balls, with all the runs coming in boundaries through the offside.
Gough welcomed Inzamam-ul-Haq with a short one and the burly man took the blow on his body. However, the Pakistan vice-captain held his nerve, ensuring no further casualty before the tea break, despite having a torrid time, especially at Caddick’s hands.
Earlier, England lasted just two more overs after drinks, as Azhar Mahmood unsettled Caddick’s off stump with a perfect in-dipper to finish with figures of four for 50. He almost had a fifth wicket with his next delivery when Darren Gough stopped an in-coming ball with his pad, but umpire Hair remained totally unmoved.
Gough retaliated with a thumping boundary in Waqar’s next over. He scored one more run in that over before offering the strike to Ward and it was all over on the sixth ball, with the left-hander skying the ball to mid-wicket for an easy catch to Razzaq. The Pakistan skipper finished with two for 77.
However, there was bad news for England as Hussain’s X-ray report arrived during lunch, revealing a fractured thumb, meaning that the skipper would be out of action for about a month.
England’s post-lunch progress was slow, with runs coming mainly in singles and, on rare occasions, in twos. The 350 didn’t arrive until the fifth over of the session, bowled by Wasim Akram. It was a short ball from the veteran left-hander and Cork wasn’t confident in fending it off to leg, yet a single was always in the offing, bringing about cheers from the sporting crowd.
There was little excitement whatsoever in the proceedings as both batsmen preferred to play safe. There was something for the crowd to cheer in the sixth over when Inzamam, fielding at first slip, tried to run Ward out at the bowler’s end, only to watch the ball race to the boundary for four overthrows.
In the next over, Wasim induced a top edge from Cork’s bat and to his frustration the ball fell between point and third man. However, his efforts paid off in the next over, when Cork sliced the ball straight to Younis Khan at point. The Derbyshire all-rounder made 25 (44 balls), as he added 51 with Ward for the eighth wicket.
Caddick and Ward have taken the score to 383 by the drinks interval, with Caddick on five, having hit one four. Ward has so far batted brilliantly on his debut, defying all bowlers with complete confidence to remain unbeaten on 36.
The visitors didn’t have to wait long for the first success. Wasim Akram, bowling from the Pavilion End, applied a string of six short balls to Sidebottom in the very first over of the day and then threw in the second ball of the second over at just the right length. The left-handed debutant could not avoid a thick outside edge, as it flew to first slip at a comfortable height. The wicket fell without any addition to the overnight score of 254.
Alec Stewart, the new batsman at the crease, however was not to be overawed by short-pitched balls. He opened his account with a boundary to mid-wicket off Wasim. In fact, the former England captain looked in a buoyant mood, extracting pure delight in cutting, driving and pulling the bowlers.
He greeted Shoaib, the fastest bowler in the side, with a sweetly timed flick that raced over the square leg fence in the blink of any eye and then punched Azhar Mahmood through covers for yet another boundary. The next over from Azhar saw Stewart bringing up the 300 of the innings with two consecutive boundaries – the first one to point and the second to square leg.
Despite this flurry of fours from one end, Nasser Hussain was still unable to shake off his wobbly posture, being plainly troubled by short ones. This shakiness probably reached its climax when a rising delivery from Shoaib took him nastily on the hand, leaving the skipper in agony. The physio’s spray did redress the physical injury but could do nothing so far as his psychological scar was concerned.
The skipper’s turbulent time at the crease ended in the next over, when he edged a simple catch to wicket-keeper Rashid Latif off Azhar Mahmood for 64 (193 balls).
The dismissal of Hussain allowed debutant Ian Ward to join his Surrey mate at the crease for a ten-run association. Stewart had made 44 off 54 balls, with the help of six fours, when he was deceived by a slow incutter from Shoaib, which took him right in front of the wicket.
Dominic Cork and Ward have added 24 for their unbeaten association for the eighth wicket, with individual score of 16 and 11 respectivley.
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Date-stamped : 19 May2001 - 22:29