Story Pakistan's International season [BLIC]

[nightprowler10]

Pakistan vs England - 1st Test (Lahore)

Preview:

The first test, that will be played in the historic Qaddafi Stadium, will be the first test played between the two countries since November of 2000. In that series, neither one of the teams got a single win until the 3rd test, when England pulled off a 6-wicket win, taking the series 1-0. One player that troubled England throughout that tour more than anybody else was Saqlain Mushtaq, who took 15 wickets in the series. He will be playing in the test today after being gone due to an injury since last year.

Statistically, the numbers don't really favor either one of the teams. Pakistan and England have played 7 tests on this ground of which both teams won one each and the rest were draws.

Line-ups:




Pakistan win the toss and decide to field:

A strange decision by Inzamam-ul-Haq. This is without a doubt a batsman's pitch. But then again, it does help the bowlers out earlier on with the new ball, and with Shoaib Akhter and Mohammad Sami bowling with that shiny ball, Pakistan might be able to pick up a couple of early wickets.

 

[nightprowler10]

England off to a shaky start

The match started with both of Pakistani strike bowlers bowling maidens. Both English openers were defending against all sorts of attacks with ease and started getting aggressive when the time was right. The real eye-opener for Inzi came when Trescothick hit Akhter for 13 runs in the 9th over. England were looking good until one of Sami's off-cutters hit Strauss's pad in front of the leg stump, taking Strauss out of the inning after he scored just 6 runs.

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This was a big set back for England, but unfortunately, it wasn't the last one. The next man in, Butcher, played away 30 balls before taking a single, and lost his wicket to one of Saqlain Mushtaq's "doosras". England 43/2.

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With the captain's arrival, Trescothick got even bolder and hit Amir for 8 runs in the 23rd over, getting himself close to the very first half-century of the series. But England suffered another loss in the next over when Trescothick ran to get his final run in order to get his 50, and then ran for a second one, but the captain was too slow and got runout thanks to a direct hit by Sami.

At lunch time, England were 58/3.

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England 58/3 at Lunch (Day 1):
M. Trescothick 50* (83) | G. Thorpe 0* (6)​

 

[The Champ]

Trescothick 50 off a Eng total of 58 great going by the opener

 

[m_vaughan]

Disappointing start by England. Need a partnership now.

 

[gold639]

Yep if Trescothick failed England would be in a terrible situation.

 

[The Champ]

Yep if Trescothick failed England would be in a terrible situation.

thats what i said buddy if u remove trescothick's 50 they are 8-3, well bowled pak

 

[jazz]

good inngs by trescothick and good bowling by pakistan

 

[gold639]

Trescothick holds the key to this England Innings...if he fails now..England will collapse.

 

[nightprowler10]

Yes, Trescothick has given Pakistanis hell, too bad he's the only one. I will be playing the next session of the game later on in the night (or should I say morning). Right now I have to study for a big test that I have to take tomorrow morning, wish me luck.

 

[nightprowler10]

England's troubles deepen

In the first over after lunch, Trescothick showed off his form by hitting Kaneria for six runs. But in his next over, he was able to deliver England a huge blow by taking Trecothick's wicket, who was surprised by a misplaced googly when he went for a sweep.

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England's troubles were far from over. Flintoff, the next man in, played some great cricket defending against Saqlain's attacks, but wasn't able to put up any runs due to tight fielding by Pakistan. Saqlain got his second break through when Flintoff edged a delivery and sent it crashing into the stumps. Flintoff was bowled out for duck.

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With Thorpe still batting defensively and Jones fending off the spinners' attacks, things weren't looking too hot for England. But an expensive over by Akhter kick started a stable partnership.

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Unfortunately for England, a sharp-turning off-spinner by Shoaib Malik deceived Thorpe and bowled him crushing England's hopes of putting up a big total.

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At the end of the second session, England were 109/6.

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England 109/6 at Tea (Day 1):
G. Jones 8* (59) | A. Giles 0* (8)​

 

[The Champ]

ENG in deep trouble there mate, Well done Pak there on their way to a big innings lead here

 

[nightprowler10]

England succumb to a low total

After tea, even though Jones and Giles held off Pakistani bowling attack as much as they could, the bowlers were eventually able to get through them. Amir in specific went on a rampage after drinking his special tea (he will be tested later for steroid use) picking up three wickets in just two overs, getting rid of Jones, Giles, and Harmison, leaving England 118/9.

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With Hoggard and Anderson left from the troubled English line-up, Amir shared the ball with Saqlain Mushtaq who picked up Hoggard's wicket on the third ball of his second spell, ending the inning for England for a low total of 120 all out.

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The English bowlers will need to work hard if they plan to even draw the match from here on. The Pakistani spinners did great so Vaughan will have to use his spinners wisely. Here are the stats from the first inning.

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England All Out for 120 runs
M. Trescothick 56 (91) | S. Mushtaq 11.3-7-9-3 | M. Amir 14.0-4-29-3​

 

[m_vaughan]

Good bowling by Pakistan. I think England still havent managed to play spin on subcontinental wickets.

 

[The Champ]

Poor batting from eng and i would say they need to be a more positive

 

[nightprowler10]

Pakistan lose an early wicket as Hoggard strikes

Pakistan started off slow as expected, and a consistently good line and lenght from Hoggard and Harmison kept the Pakistanis in check. At the ten over mark, openers Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed were able to put up just 18 runs. In the 12th over, an impatient Butt hit Hoggard for a big six before edging a delivery back to the keeper.

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At the end of the day, Pakistan were 32/1 in 13 overs. Here are the stats from the inning so far:

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Pakistan 32/1 at Stumps (Day 1):
Y. Hameed 9*(24) | S. Malik 8*(4)​