Related Links : Pakistan in England 2006 : Scorecard
England finally tasted some one day success through a professional 8-wicket win over Pakistan in the Fourth One Day International at Trent Bridge. The hosts successfully chased 236 with 22 deliveries to spare. The foundation for England was laid by a 110-run stand for the second wicket between the Captain, Andrew Strauss (78) and Ian Bell (86*). The 5-match Series is now at 2-1 in favour of Pakistan with the first match at Cardiff abandoned due to rain. The last match of the series is on the 10th at Edgbaston which would decide if England can draw the series or not.
Pakistan won the toss yet again and this time they chose to bat first. There were a couple of changes in the England Side with Marcus Trescothick asked to sit out giving way to Ed Joyce. The other change was the axing of Rikki Clarke and giving debut for Michael Yardy, the left handed middle order bat who could chip in with some useful left arm spin. Pakistan side remained unchanged, there was just the change in the batting order with the struggling Shoaib Malik pushed down the order and in his place, Shahid Afridi came at the top. The visitors were in dire straits losing their top three batsmen – Hafeez, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi within 11 overs. The repair work was then carried out by Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq who were batting quite cautiously. As a result, Pakistan could never get going and were further reduced to 117 for 6 with Yousuf, Malik and Inzamam falling in the space of 2 runs. Mohammad Yousuf had laboured to an 80-ball 29 while Skipper Inzamam made a 56-ball 47.
Abdul Razzaq had to work out some magic in the fag end of the innings to take Pakistan to a fighting total of 235 for 8. Razzaq had smashed an unbeaten 75 coming in 72 balls with the help of 5 fours and 5 sixes. The ninth wicket unbroken stand for the 9th wicket between Razzaq and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (9*) was 70 runs worth in just 32 deliveries! For England, Michael Yardy was impressive in applying the brakes on the Pakistani innings with his 3 for 24 in 10 overs. Jon Lewis was the other impressive bowler who provided the early inroads, he finished off with 2 for 49 in 10 overs.
England in their chase lost Ed Joyce in the 10th over edging Mohammad Asif behind the stumps. Ed Joyce struggled to find the gaps in the 13 runs he scored. Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell then played well to keep the bowlers at bay. The support seamers for Pak, Rana Naved and Abdul Razzaq failed to find any rhythm to help England gain the momentum for marching towards the victory. The only other wicket that Pakistan could get was that of Strauss who was dismissed for 78 by Mohammad Hafeez. Strauss’s runs had come in 100 balls with the aid of 10 fours. Ian Bell remained unbeaten in the end on 86 off 111 balls with 10 fours. Kevin Pietersen was his partner making a strokeful 48-ball 41 with six fours. Ian Bell was named as the Player of the Match.