Related Links : Pakistan in England 2006 : Scorecard
England’s charge towards pressing forward for a victory seems to be seriously hampered, they are still batting in their 2nd innings and they could put up a lead of 341 so far, which was largely due to their skipper Andrew Strauss’ century. Pakistan should be happy with the way things had gone by on the fourth day, they now have the final day to negotiate to secure a draw in this Lord’s Test. This was despite the visitors being bowled for 445 in the morning session. Danish Kaneria and Shahid Afridi were too difficult for the English batsmen to score freely and they were caught in the web. Looking to score at a healthy run rate and declare the innings in the final session, England failed miserably piling up just 258 runs in the 77 overs with the runs coming at 3.35 only. And now, that has left England with the option of batting for some more time in the morning of the final day’s play. Even though Pakistan have successfully chased a target of 300+ only once in the history, England would be worried about the dashing strokeplayers in the Pakistani line up and also with the pitch looking absolutely flat for its seamers.
The Tale of the Morning Session
Pakistan started off the fourth day at an impressive 409 for 7 and they still had two specialist batsmen at the crease in Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi. Mohammad Yousuf was looking to get to his double hundred and Afridi on the other end was struck on his thumb by a rising delivery from Steve Harmison. Afridi was in discomfort and he went for the big shots and in one of the attempts, he holed onto long off fielder Ian Bell with Matthew Hoggard being the bowler. Umar Gul, the no. 10 couldn’t survive Hoggard’s late outswinger and that left Mohammad Yousuf still in search of his double ton and he just had the no. 11 with him now. Danish Kaneria managed to survive four balls that were bowled at him and that helped Yousuf reach his 4th double century which had come through a streaky boundary through the slips. Harmison soon managed to produce a gem to force Mohammad Yousuf to nick behind and that was the end of the Pakistani innings, all out for 445 which gave a lead of 83 for England. Mohammad Yousuf was the last man out scoring 202 which had 26 fours and a six. Pakistan had lost their three wickets in just over 10 overs. Harmison’s figures were 4 for 94 and he had bowled almost 30 overs for that, Hoggard had taken three wickets but not before giving more than 100 runs for the opposition.
England in their second innings were looking for a rapid start with 77 overs to go in the day’s play and they lost Marcus Trescothick (18) in the 10th over. The left hander had played onto his stumps driving away from his body to an away going seamer from Umar Gul. Strauss and Cook then batted out for lunch and England went for the break with a score of 51 for 1 in 14 overs, a lead of 134.
The Tale of the Afternoon Session
Umar Gul struck once again this time removing the first innings centurion, Alastair Cook who fell trying to play an ambitious pull shot. That brought in Kevin Pietersen and he was the danger man for Pakistan as he could score his runs at a blazing rate. Pietersen couldn’t break free with the Pakistanis bowling a tight line and length. Strauss and Pietersen had to wait before launching into their big strokes which they couldn’t. Both batsmen then played their strokes all along the ground and Pietersen was getting few boundaries to mid wicket by flicking the leg spinners against the break. Andrew Strauss, meanwhile got to his fifty which took him 69 balls and he had hit 8 fours already. The runs weren’t coming at the expected rate with Inzamam employing Kaneria and Afridi to bowl in tandem. Pietersen was getting frustrated with the things and he gave the charge to Shahid Afridi a bit early and the leg spinner fired a quicker one which beat Pietersen and the big man was stumped by some distance. Pietersen fell for a 70 ball-41. The next man in, Paul Collingwood fell to Danish Kaneria trying to hoik him against the leg break after making just 3 and that brought in Ian Bell. Strauss at the other end couldn’t get the big shots going with the ball gripping the surface and making it tough and Bell was bogged down completely hampering England’s progress. They went for Tea at 154 for 4 in 42 overs with Strauss moving onto 74.
The Tale of the Final Session
Even after the Tea Break, England couldn’t break the shackles and they had to first bat towards getting a safe total on the board as Pakistan looked good to bowl them out. Bell finally started to get few boundaries with his ground strokes but he was unlucky to be run out with Strauss forcing him for a single after pushing straight to Inzamam at short mid wicket. Andrew Strauss was on 99 then and Inzamam’s direct throw found the diving Bell short of his crease at the striker’s end. Ian Bell was left disappointed at his fate and he was out for 28 which had taken 61 balls. Andrew Strauss did get to his century after a while, which had come in 168 balls and this was his 9th in his short career. Geraint Jones who had played a cameo in the first innings decided to bat defensively and England were going nowhere. Poor Jones fell in the 75th over poking at Kaneria’s leg break. He made an indifferent 16 having faced 54 balls. Next to go was Andrew Strauss after being forced to nick Kaneria’s googly to Imran Farhat at slip. The next pair of Plunkett and Hoggard played for the day and England ended at 258 for 7.
All eyes will be on Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard if they can produce their magic and bowl England to a victory tomorrow. For that to happen, England will have to take 10 wickets in less than 90 overs most probably and that looks a tough task with the way Pakistan batted in their first innings and looking at the pitch. Of course, the story could be different if there is a cloud cover over Lord’s tomorrow morning.