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Younis, Inzamam steer Pakistan to victory at Southampton

Related Links : Pakistan in England 2006 : Scorecard

Captain Cool Inzamam steered Pakistan through some anxious moments to take his side to a 2-wicket win with just seven balls to spare in the third ODI at Southampton. Inzamam had to see five wickets go down at the other end as England almost pulled out a remarkable victory. However Inzamam wasn’t the one succumbing to the pressure as he stayed right till the end to hit the winning shot through a boundary from a pull shot off Rikki Clarke. Inzamam once again played his shots at will showing the England bowlers who the boss was in the middle; he made a 33-ball 44. It was Younis Khan who was largely responsible for Pakistan’s successful chase of 272 as he stroked to a second ODI hundred. Younis got the support from Mohammad Yousuf (60) and the two put on a record 177 runs for the third wicket. England bowling lacked the experience in the end and was often shocking with its bowlers giving away extras and hit me deliveries when the equation was tough for Pakistan.

It was a bright and breezy day at The Rose Bowl, the pitch looked to be a belter for the batsmen. Inzamam once again was lucky with the toss and he put England to bat first. It was a dream start from Pakistan with Shoaib Akhtar starting the proceedings with an unexpected inswinging yorker at 84mph which was too good for the tall Marcus Trescothick. The left hander was beaten by the pace and the movement and the ball had hit his pads and then come onto the stumps. However, Pakistan were kept at bay by some attacking cricket from Andrew Strauss and the inform Ian Bell. Immediately Inzamam sensed that this pitch was for the batsmen and he got rid of the slips and went for a defensive field. Strauss was getting the boundaries rolling but Bell at the other end was more keen on staying at the wicket, so in the end not much of damage was being done by England. Strauss fell immediately after getting to his fifty as he charged down the track only to get a thin edge to the keeper off Razzaq. Strauss’ fifty had come in just 45 balls with 8 fours, he fell with England at 79 for 2 after 14.5 overs.
 
Kevin Pietersen continued to keep the momentum going but one clever shot too many had cost his wicket. He fell getting a leading edge after trying to work a short delivery from way outside the offstump off the bowling of Naved-ul-Hasan. Pietersen made a 22-ball 20. Bell after making 42 fell slashing Shoaib Akhtar to point in his second spell and England were spoiling the efforts of Strauss. Collingwood and Dalrymple defied any further damage by Pakistan and the two started off cautiously but then got the runs coming at a fair clip through some handsome shots. Both batsmen piled up the partnership and it was only in the 44th over that Pak could break this partnership of 101 with Rana Naved getting his reverse swinging inswinger to knock the stumps down of Dalrymple. By then Dalrymple had made 62 which came in 78 balls with 5 fours. Rikki Clarke was out in the next over in the first ball he had faced as he didn’t come in line to an inswinger from Razzaq. Collingwood perished failing to clear Shoaib Akhtar at short fine leg as he went for a paddle sweep off a slower one from Rana. Collingwood made a wonderful 62-ball 61 with the help of 5 fours. England were once again losing their way but Chris Read got some good shots to the pitched up deliveries to stretch the total to 271 for 9. Read remained unbeaten on a 20-ball 21. Rana Naved was the most successful bowler taking four wickets but he had conceded 57 runs in his 10 overs. Shoaib was expensive in the end going for two for 59 in his 10. England could get to a stiff total as Mohammad Asif for once had failed to make any inroads and was rather expensive having picked up for 51 in his 9 overs.

Pakistan in reply were off to a dismal start losing Shoaib Malik to an ambitious drive on the up to Jon Lewis. The bowling from Jon Lewis and Stuart Broad was very tight and Hafeez had to take quite some risks to give some kind of momentum for his side. He stepped down to Lewis to pick him up for a six over mid wicket but his cameo came to an end through an unfortunate run out. Hafeez fell short of his crease at the striker’s end as he failed to beat Strauss’ pick up and throw from covers after attempting a risky single called by Younis Khan. Hafeez fell for a 19-ball 20 which had two fours and a six. The two experienced batsmen, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf used their experience to calmly collect the runs and build up a huge partnership. Younis was the aggressor with some fierce square cuts and cover drives. Mohammad Yousuf was happy to drop anchor at the other end. It was only in the 37th over with the score at 196 for 2 that England could get the breakthrough with Younis lofting Broad’s slower one into the hands of the long on fielder. By then Younis had made 101 in 109 balls with 13 fours and a six. It was only his second ODI hundred; his first one was an insignificant one coming against Hong Kong! After Younis’s exit, England triggered a mini collapse with Mohammad Yousuf and Afridi falling in the space of two runs. Yousuf was bowled by Dalrymple through the gate after he was invited to play a cover drive. Yousuf made 60 which had come in 103 balls with the help of 5 fours. It was rather a slow innings from Mohammad Yousuf but he might have had lots of confidence that Pakistan would comfortably win despite his slow strike rate. Afridi who couldn’t pick the ball which was becoming a bit too dirty was given out caught behind as replays showed that Stuart Broad’s delivery had hit his sleeve and whether it has kissed the outside edge before that was doubtful. Razzaq was the next man in and he played his shots like Inzamam and Pakistan were almost there.

Stuart Broad brought England back in the game with two wickets in consecutive balls that of Razzaq and Kamran Akmal. After few deliveries, Jon Lewis got an off cutter to bowl Naved-ul-Hasan but England were left with just 7 runs with Inzamam still there at the crease. For England, Stuart Broad was the most successful with 3 for 57 in his 10 overs. Jon Lewis was the best with 2 for 32 in 9 overs whereas the other bowlers to the exception Dalrymple (10-0-44-1) got the stick for their shocking bowling. Inzamam was once again there till the end to see Pakistan finish the victory with seven balls to spare. It was Younis Khan though who got the Player of the Match.