Story England's International Season [c2005] - Eng's tour of Pak

[m_vaughan]

Tea - Day TWO

Aggressive start by the Pakistani openers
Salman Butt and Taufeeq Umar has got the home side off to a good start in this second test match against England. Earlier England were bowled out for 487 in their first innings, with Geraint Jones topscoring with 141.

But both the openers for Pakistan have looked very good and aggressive so far, smashing 67 runs in just 14 overs. Salman Butt particularly is looking in good form, and has hit five boundaries already in his innings of 40.

The England bowlers have yet to taste success. Harmison, Anderson and Hoggard werent able to get a breakthrough for the visitors.

This is a much better start from Pakistan, who only managed scores of 109 and 149 in the first test. But there is still lot be done as they still trail England by 420 runs.

Match Summary
Pakistan (1st Innings) 67-0
Salman Butt 40*
Taufeeq Umar 27*

England (1st Innings) 487
Geraint Jones 141
Andrew Strauss 76
Marcus Trescothick 68
Kevin Pietersen 62

Shoaib Akhtar 4-93
Salman Butt 2-30
Abdul Razzaq 2-75


Pakistan trail by 420 runs

 

[BigCrickNan]

Good start from Pakistan, but I hop[e England take a few wickets before the close .

 

[jazz]

excellent start by pak the should build on this partnership and dont give away silly wickets

 

[James219]

With such low scores in the previous match, if england break this good opening stand and take a few middle order wickets before the close and early on Day 3, Pakistan may be out of their depth in chasing down 487 and any hopes of a lead...

 

[m_vaughan]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try and post an update tonight, if I get the time, otherwise definately tomorrow.

 

[m_vaughan]

Salman Butt 50

Salman Butt storms to 50

Salman Butt has raced to his 50 in no time, smashing 7 boundaries in the process. He has shown a nice blend of strokeplay and aggression, and has really taken on the England bowlers. Well done, Salman Butt, a truly fine half century!

 

[m_vaughan]

Hoggard cleans up Butt

Hoggard gets the breakthrough
Just when we were talking all so highly about Salman Butt's strokeplay and aggression, the Pakistani opener has gone a bit too far, and in the process, and has lost his wicket. Playing across the line to Hoggard and missing the ball completely. A rush of blood to the head surely.

Butt was really looking good, causing a lot of problems for England and their captain Michael Vaughan. I am sure they'll be relieved to see his back now.

Pakistan FOW 87-1
Salman Butt b Matthew Hoggard 59

 

[m_vaughan]

Hoggard strikes twice!

Second wicket for Hoggard, as Taufeeq departs
Matthew Hoggard might have received some punishment early on, but he has picked two wickets already, the latest one being of Taufeeq Umar. Taufeeq like Salman went for a rather rash shot when it was absolutely unnecessary from him to do so. Andrew Strauss took a comfortable catch in the end.

Pakistan FOW 96-2
Taufeeq Umar c Andrew Strauss b Matthew Hoggard 35

 

[m_vaughan]

Inzy is back!

Inzamam's 50 strengthens Pakistan's position
Pakistan lost their two openers after a good start, and it was important the middle order dont lose their way at that time. Following a disappointing performance in the first test, Inzamam stormed back to form, with a well made 50. And with Younis also looking good in his thirties, this partnership can really turn dangerous for Michael Vaughan's team.

 

[m_vaughan]

End of Day TWO

Aggressive Pakistan end day two on a high
So at the end of day two, Pakistan are looking very good at 193-2. They've played aggressive cricket right from the starting with both the openers Salman Butt and Taufeeq Umar not wasting any time. And after both of them were dismissed, Inzamam and Yousuf have pretty much maintained the quick scoring rate.

England will again need someone to step up and break this partnership which is just three runs short of 100.

The star performers of the day have been Geraint Jones and Salman Butt. Jones scored a fine hundred early on during England's innings and helped his team post a massive total of 487. Salman Butt surprisingly picked up two wickets with the ball, and then went on to score a quickfire 59 runs in just 61 balls to kickstart the Pakistani reply.

Match Summary
Pakistan (1st Innings) 193-2
Inzamam-ul-Haq 57*
Mohammad Yousuf 40*
Salman Butt 59

Matthew Hoggard 2-55

England (1st Innings) 487
Geraint Jones 141
Andrew Strauss 76
Marcus Trescothick 68
Kevin Pietersen 62

Shoaib Akhtar 4-93
Salman Butt 2-30
Abdul Razzaq 2-75


Pakistan trail by 294 runs

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Nice match going on here

 

[S_Harmison]

Yup, very interesting!

 

[m_vaughan]

Yeah and I am really struggling to keep the CPU's scoring rate down at the moment. And add to that lots of dropped catches!

 

[cricket doctor]

Nice match going on, but few questions:
Why Taufiq is in the team?? :
Why Inzi at 3??

 

[m_vaughan]

Nice match going on, but few questions:
Why Taufiq is in the team?? :
Why Inzi at 3??

Well I tried my best in editing the lineup. Basically I wanted to have Salman Butt in the team instead of Taufeeq Umar, but he replaced Mohammad Sami. This was really sad since Sami was Pakistan's best bowler in the first test. So I gave the reason behind Sami's absence from the team as an injury and decided to allow Pakistan play both Salman Butt and Taufeeq Umar. Taufeeq, mind you played well in the 2nd innings of the first test though.

Inzi at number 3....computer controlled...cant do anything about that!