Mahmood Ahmad
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2nd npower Test: England v Pakistan at Manchester, 31 May - 4 Jun 2001 Mahmood Ahmad |
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England 2nd innings:
Pakistan 2nd innings: |
Having dispatched for two boundaries on either side of the wicket in the very first over, Mike Atherton inspired his left-handed partner to drive Waqar through covers for his first boundary.
Trescothick then pulled the skipper to fine leg for the first six of the innings, with England reaching into the 20’s by only the 4th over.
Waqar bowled one more unsuccessful over after that before bringing Saqlain into the attack. The right-arm off spinner, bowling around the wicket to the left-handed Trescothick, found considerable turn to unnerve the batsman. Yet wicket eluded him despite beating Trescothick’s bat on a number of occasions.
Atherton, however, was surer than his partner in facing Saqlain. He drove the very first ball from off spinner’s third to deep cover for a boundary. A single in that over brought up the fifty of the innings.
Wasim bowled 6 overs, three each from either end, before being replaced by Razzaq. When Atherton sliced him to a boundary to deep point, he became the second highest scorer at Old Trafford with 702 runs, at the top of the list being Dennis Compton.
Trescothick, after having regained his composure, dealt effective blows to Razzaq in the last over, thus, finishing the day just two of his fifty. Atherton, composed and solid as always, has 30 against his name when stumps were drawn.
Wasim carried his aggressive approach into last session, smashing three powerful boundaries in one over, the second after tea, from Hoggard, thus racing into his 30’s off just 25 balls.
However, both Hoggard and Gough bowled a lot more sensibly after that, applying a nagging off-stump line. They got instant reward for that.
Pakistan had just reached 300 when Rahsid, not having the most comfortable of times in the middle, poked at an out-going Hoggard delivery and was well taken by Atherton in th slips. He made 25 off 58 balls and hit 2 boundaries.
Gough accounted for Wasim (36 off 41) in the very next over. After frustrating the batsmen with a string of short deliveries, he pitched one up and found the stumps. The veteran all-rounder received a standing ovation from a sporting crowd, as he made his way back into the pavilion after probably playing his last innings at Old Trafford, his home ground for more than a decade.
Waqar and Saqlain added 17 for the last wicket in quick time, as the skipper hit one four and a magnificent six off Gough, in his 7-ball unbeaten innings of 14. Saqlain also tried to emulate his skipper but managed only to sky a Gough-delivery for Stewart to take an easy catch.
Gough finished with 3 for 85. Caddick and Hoggard also claimed 3 wickets each for 92 and 93 respectively.
Younis had added 24 for the 6th wicket with Azhar and was beginning to look good when given lbw out by Sheppard, the bowler on this occasion being Cork.
After conceding a boundary off the first ball, Cork brought the ball considerably in. Younis missed the line and it rapped on his front pad. However, the replays clearly showed that the ball had taken the inside edge of the bat before hitting the pad. Younis made 17 off 37 and hit one four.
Azhar and Rashid, the latter coming to the crease after Younis’s dismissal, added 9 for the 7th wicket, taking the score to 241 by the 80th over.
The new ball having become due, Stewart promptly accepted it and handed it over to probably his best man – Andrew Caddick. And the first ball worked wonders!
Azhar Mahmood was probably expecting a short one, as one could see him moving back a bit even before the ball was delivered. However, it turned out to be of yorker length, which found enough gap between bat and pad to hit the stumps.
Wasim Akram, playing on his birthday, slammed a stylish boundary through covers in the same over, implying he didn’t intend to give up easily. A single in the next over, by Gough, brought up the 250 of the innings. There were two more boundaries in Caddick’s next over, the first one through covers and the other a swot to mid wicket.
Rashid and Wasim have added 33 for the unconquered 7th wicket and are looking very positive. They have 18 (33 balls) and 17 (18 balls), respectively, against their names.
Inzamam was first to go. The Pakistan vice-captain started off belligerently after the break, hitting Caddick for a six and a four in one over, yet the very thing led to his own demise. Trying to mete out the same treatment to Hoggard, he offered a simple catch to Trescothick at mid wicket.
He missed out what would’ve been his second century in the match by just 15 runs. His 186-ball innings contained 10 fours and a six. The 4th wicket partnership produced 141 runs.
Youhana was helpless when adjudged out by umpire Nicholls only three balls later. No doubt, it was a quality delivery from Caddick, a bouncer that rose sharply off the pitch, taking the batsman completely by surprise. It brushed the peak of Youhana’s helmet before flying to Atherton at first slips. However, Nicholls was convinced it had touched the gloves, and it was all over for Youhana.
He made 49 off 157 balls and hit 7 fours, as the wicket fell at 208 in the 69th over.
The fall of two quick wickets has understandably put breaks on the scoring rate, Younis Khan and Azhar Mahmood having added just 14 in 6 overs since Youhana’s departure.
England bowlers are doing a commendable job by applying a tight line and length, allowing minimum of width to the batsmen to score runs freely. Who knows, a few more wickets at this stage might completely change the situation!
The fact, however, remains that there are no demons whatsoever in the wicket, the batsmen apparently finding no difficulty in coping with the four-pronged English attack led by Caddick and Gough.
Pakistan achieved the 150 of the innings in the 52nd over. Stewart replace Gough by Hoggard at the Stretford End and the youngster bowled some fine deliveries to shake the batsmen a bit, before being driven for an off side boundary by Inzamam.
Next over saw Youhana also coming into the act, driving Cork straight down the ground for a four. Another boundary in the next over by Youhana, this time to third man, brought up the 100 of the partnership off 205 balls, a timely effort by the two most reliable batsmen.
At lunch, the scoreboard shows Pakistan sitting pretty at 181 for 3, these two having already added 118 for the unbeaten 4th wicket. Inzamam, batting with complete control, has 70 (173 balls) against his name, while Youhana is 8 short of his fifty.
Pakistan had a slow start in the morning with no run coming off the first 12 balls. The drought was broken by Inzamam as he worked Caddick down to leg for two.
The big man then got two boundaries off the next over bowled by Hoggard – first a sweetly timed cover drive and the second a pull to mid-wicket.
Youhana, who had been very quiet having scored just three off 51 balls, also got into the act as he cut Caddick to deep point for his first boundary, bringing up the hundred of the innings.
In the same over Youhana tapped the ball to mid-wicket and ran for the single. Vaughan, who otherwise is a very fine fielder, missed the stumps at the bowler’s end, otherwise Youhana would have been back in the pavilion.
However, it was Caddick’s next over when a more costly fielding lapse was witnessed. Inzamam, batting on 36, edged the ball just to the right of Knight at second slip, who failed to grab the chance. This was the third dropped catch by Knight in the match, having let off Saqlain and Rashid Latif in the first Pakistan innings.
Both batsmen have since batted with a lot more caution, but without missing any scoring opportunity. It was just such a loose one from Gough which Inzamam dispatched through extra covers to reach his fifty off 121 balls, having hit six boundaries.
Youhana is ably supporting his senior partner, having scored 22 (84 balls) with three beautifully executed boundaries.
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Date-stamped : 03 Jun2001 - 23:12