Related Links : Pakistan in England 2006 : Scorecard
The Lord’s Test has gone into the fourth day and still the first innings of both the sides haven’t been done and dusted out of the equation. Well the last two days have seen plenty of sunshine which has meant that there has been hardly anything for the seam and swing bowlers. Although the bright sunshine has helped in developing the cracks, the pitch has helped only the wrist spinners Danish Kaneria and Shahid Afridi. There hasn’t been any joy whatsoever for England’s lone spinner Monty Panesar who happens to be a finger spinner and not a wrist spinner.
Pakistan coming into Day 3 needed a big hundred from one of its batsmen and they required a big partnership from their two most experienced batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq. Both things had happened for Pakistan and they are sitting in a relatively safe position at 409 for 7 at stumps on Day 3 with Mohammad Yousuf still batting on 185! And he has the no.9 as company and this no.9 doesn’t know much about blocking, but he has the reputation of being the crowd’s darling with his big hitting whether it is One Day Cricket or Test Cricket. He is Boom Boom Afridi who has been dropped down the order at no.9 and Pakistan therefore have a lot more to offer in their first innings on the fourth day before England can really bowl them out.
The Tale of the Morning Session
England took the second new ball as expected in the 81st over and Matthew Hoggard wasted absolutely no time in dismissing the night watchman Mohammad Sami and Pakistan had to bring in Inzamam-ul-Haq early into the middle. Inzy was attacked with the short pitched deliveries onto his rib cage by Harmison and Hoggard. The start was a bit nervous but Inzamam started to show why he is one of the greatest batsmen as he played those nasty ones down after getting on top of the bounce and it looked like Inzy had all the time in the world despite Harmison clocking regularly over 90mph. Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam then provided the counter attack with their brilliant strokeplay and they were helped by some loose deliveries in particular from Liam Plunkett. As both these batsmen went along with their partnership, it looked very difficult for the English bowlers to find a breakthrough. There was no stopping for this partnership as they saw Pakistan through for Lunch with just the loss of the night watchman. Pakistan scored 99 in this morning session 29 overs bowled with Yousuf taking his score to 66 and Inzamam batting on 44.
The Tale of the Afternoon Session
The afternoon session should only be better than the morning session with the bright sunshine making batting conditions look much better. Inzamam who has always been a thorn in the flesh for the English brought up his 9th Test fifty against them and this was incredibly his 8th one in a row against the same opposition! Mohammad Yousuf meanwhile notched up his 17th hundred in his career and like Inzy, he has always got the big ones against them consistently. However he lost his partner Inzamam who got out after seeing almost an hour after the lunch break as he got one that kept low and skidded through off short of length from Liam Plunkett. Inzamam was gone for 69 after shuffling way too across his stumps and in doing so had no second line of defence in protecting his furniture; he was bowled round his legs in simple words! Abdul Razzaq, the next man showed good technique against the fast bowlers and knowing that he wasn’t a good starter against spin, Strauss brought in Monty Panesar. That didn’t stop another partnership from blossoming and Pakistan saw yet another session gone by without much damage and at Tea they were 291 for 5 with Mohammad Yousuf taking his score to 132 and Razzaq on a neat 21.
The Tale of the Final Session
Harmison provided the much needed breakthrough for England after Tea by forcing Razzaq to nick his seaming delivery to Geraint Jones and after a long time today, it looked as if Pakistan were back in a spot of bother. This time it was 300 for 6 and Shahid Afridi was held back in the batting allowing the more disciplined Kamran Akmal to join the centurion in the middle. The short Kamran Akmal was getting plenty of rising deliveries from the giant Harmison, but again the class of the batsman had ensured that he could prevail over such hostile bowling spells. Almost every time Harmison pitched the ball up to Kamran Akmal, the ball raced away to the boundary as the pocket size dynamite was ever ready to cash in on the scoring opportunities. Like always once Harmison had finished off a spell, things become very easy for the Pakistani batsmen with the support bowlers lacking the penetration to trouble the batsmen and they were also spraying the ball around to give away free runs. Mohammad Yousuf was going along with his innings at the other end and he was keen on getting his second double hundred against England. Kamran Akmal at the other end raced away to his 3rd Test Match fifty and he was finally removed in the final overs of the day to a part time off spinner. It was Kevin Pietersen, who got the wicket of Akmal as the dasher was a touch lazy in his cut shot and the result was an edge to the keeper to give Pietersen, his first Test Match wicket. At no.9, came Shahid Afridi and he had no choice of having a night watchman and had to see the last few balls before stumps were called after the completion of the 109th over. Pakistan closed the day at 409 for 7 with Mohammad Yousuf still batting on 185 and Afridi was yet to open his account.
Pakistan would hope for Afridi to bat for atleast more than an hour tomorrow morning and they would expect Mohammad Yousuf to continue from where he has left. England attack has been very disappointing one must say, especially Liam Plunkett who looked ordinary bowling too many boundary balls.