England in Pakistan

[m_vaughan]

I would settle for a draw in this series. But England can win both of the remaining tests. It was just the final day when England dint perform, and we know how difficult it is to bat on a day five wicket.

Having said that, full credit to the home side for coming back into the game. Congratulations on the win.

 

[Sureshot]

Wait, wait, wait... England have spinners now?

Don't let Andrew see this.

Giles was poor unlike last Pakistan tour.

 

[Pak_cricketer]

I wouldn't shange Sami, afterall he struck for us. Our bowling was okay but it was that lower middle order which didn't turn on. Changes i would make::

Raza= Razzaq (if fit) or Asim Kamal

 

[Indiangod]

First blood to Pakistan!, England had the match in the bag, but Pakistan fought back well, nervous moments in the end, but Pakistan took it well, full credit to the Pakistani bowlers ecspeccialy ( exuse my spelling) Kaneria. I think Pakistan will win the series 2-0.

 

[m_vaughan]

To be honest, England just had one bad day, and lost the game then. They were definately the better side for most of this game. But yes, no excuse is acceptable for the 2nd innings collapse. England blew it away!

But Im gonna back the boys to come back and win it 2-1!

Hopefully Vaughan will be fit for the remaining 2 games!

 

[aditya123]

before everyone gets too excited ...

didn't England loose the 1st Test in the ashes?

1.)The point is that the ashes being a 5 test series, a side has time to recover from early setbacks .
2.) The Ashes was played on English soil this year and not in the subcontinent !

 

[m_vaughan]

1.)The point is that the ashes being a 5 test series, a side has time to recover from early setbacks .
2.) The Ashes was played on English soil this year and not in the subcontinent !

1) India came back from 1-0 down to beat the Aussies 2-1 in the year of 2001.
2) England have won test series in the subcontinent with wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan during 2000-01. And though it doesnt really matter, you can add Bangladesh to that list.

There is no reason why England cant come back in this series. They just had one bad day in this first game.
A drawn series would be an acceptable result for the visitors, but I am certain they will be gunning for a series win.

 

[angryangy]

To be honest, England just had one bad day, and lost the game then. They were definately the better side for most of this game. But yes, no excuse is acceptable for the 2nd innings collapse. England blew it away!

But Im gonna back the boys to come back and win it 2-1!

Hopefully Vaughan will be fit for the remaining 2 games!

To be fair to Pakistan, you can't count on double-century-ish scores every match. If Tresco had only scored 100 odd, the first innings total would be quite modest and the game would have certainly been in Pakistani hands for the last day.

 

[m_vaughan]

To be fair to Pakistan, you can't count on double-century-ish scores every match. If Tresco had only scored 100 odd, the first innings total would be quite modest and the game would have certainly been in Pakistani hands for the last day.

If England dint have to bat last on a day 5 pitch then it would have been a completely different result.

Unfortunately, IFs and BUTs have no meaning in life!

 

[aditya123]

1) India came back from 1-0 down to beat the Aussies 2-1 in the year of 2001.
2) England have won test series in the subcontinent with wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan during 2000-01. And though it doesnt really matter, you can add Bangladesh to that list.

There is no reason why England cant come back in this series. They just had one bad day in this first game.
A drawn series would be an acceptable result for the visitors, but I am certain they will be gunning for a series win.

I agree that England can come back and win this series but the fact is that it will be very difficult indeed . The example which you gave of India beating Australia 2-1 after being down 1-0 is not quit applicable because India were playing at home and also it took some very very special performances to win them the series .
Pakistan will be high on confidence after this win though they are one of the sides who can be great on some days and very ordinary on others .

For England this is just a beginning of what will be a tough 4 months tour to India and Pakistan . If they come out unscathed , I will agree that they are the best in th world . Till then , they will have to forget the Ashes heroics quickly and get back to their best .

 

[Eddie]

To be fair to Pakistan, you can't count on double-century-ish scores every match. If Tresco had only scored 100 odd, the first innings total would be quite modest and the game would have certainly been in Pakistani hands for the last day.

errr.. Weren't Pakistan just as reliant upon Salman Butt? (72+122 =194 = same as Tresco!). Only other contributor in Pakistans 2 innings was Inzimam.


Both sides batting line-up look so out of form, that i think BOTH remaining matches will have results , and won't see any draws)

 

[Burma's Finest]

I can't believe all these posts about how great Kaneria and Akhtar were. Did anyone actually watch the match?! Akhtar got rid of Geraint Jones, Ashley Giles, and Steve Harmison - hardly spectacular batsmen. Kaneria did well to get rid of Strauss and Bell but getting rid of Udal is no great shakes and Flintoff threw his wicket away in an unbelievably stupid manner.

If I were a Pakistan fan I would be cheering about Shabbir Ahmed who is clearly their most dangerous bowler and the performance of Mohammad Sami who bowled with great pace and venom on the last day.

The fact remains that Flintoff and Pietersen could have quite comfortably seen England home if they hadn't batted like fairies. The fact that they batted like Steroid-filled baseball players is hard to understand given the circumstances.

 

[UsmanCHADDA]

Burma Kaneria and Shoaib were great in the fact that they provided Pakistan breakthroughs when we needed them the most. Its not who you remove, its how and when you remove them. If Shoaib hadnt struck when Jones and Udal were strolling along nicely, why we would have witnessed a different result. Shabbir and Sami no doubt bowled well but 60% of the credit goes to Akhtar and Kaneria just because they brought Pakistan into the game when it mattered the most to them.

I want to see Afridi back into the side now. Perfect time to unleash Afridi upon England and I hope the beast responds. Excluding Afridi was a big mistake as he adds so much to the team. Even though his batting is at times appalling, his bowling and fielding more than makes up for it. On the other hand, dropping Sami would be idiocity really as he has gained heaps of confidence through that short, fiery burst. Either Malik or Raza have to make way for Afridi.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Really, I would have thought Pak at home would have had a good record against the woeful English sides of the past. That is quite a surpising stat. But as the trend of the year, hoodoo are being broken in their masses.

You need to see a bit of the history between Pakistan and England: http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2005-06/ENG_IN_PAK/history.html

England didn't tour Pakistan since 1987 till 2000 for some reason. You can read there why in the Test Series of 1987.

In the Test series in England during that period Pakistan won the Test series, but they lost the ODI series.

And Akhtar and Kaneria really performed well. I remember Jones and Giles had a big contribution in winning some matches in the Ashes. They aren't that easy to get out. Just give contribution to the persons who won the game.

 

[SaiSrini]

Yay.... I am happy that Pakistan have won! Wasnt able to believe that they won! Anyways, credit to them! Kaneria continues to impress. Akthar was pretty good today and should make his confidence arise! Sami, Shabbir all bowled well. Finally, Inzy must be cheering now!