Pakistan defeat England in a First Test thriller
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. In other words, I've been a huge Pakistan supporter this week as they took on Ashes winners England in the First Test in Multan. And to my great joy, Pakistan clinched the First Test by a mere 22 runs. What is it with England and Test matches going right down to the wire in nail-biting thrillers? I didn't watch this game on TV or even listen to it on the radio - I monitored the score via Cricinfo's live score update every couple of minutes. Even then, it was thrilling to watch the score progress and wickets fall, especially in the dying moments. By rights, England should have romped this match in. From late Day One, they dominated. Day Two was a disaster as the Pakistan innings ended in a heap then Trescothick led England to a huge first innings lead. It was last summer all over, as Pakistan competed for several sessions with Australia before falling away to crushing defeat. This time, however, they fought back magnificently on the third day as Salmon Butt and Inzy grafted a huge 3rd wicket partnership to give England a substantial total to chase in the last innings. It was great watching the innings build - as each run was scored, not only did it give England more to chase but significantly, took the match further into the 5th day on a wearing pitch. Even on the last day, England seemed to be cruising to victory until Danish Kaneria fulfilled all hopes and expectations as he destroyed the middle order. But again I lost hope as Jones and Udal's eighth wicket partnership looked to drag England over the finish line. Finally though, something happened that I didn't see coming - Shoaib Akhtar broke the partnership and ultimately took the match winning final wicket. What this result means, I'm not sure just yet - things will be clearer after the series is over. One difference between England and Australia is that when Australia do get into a dominant position, they rarely take their foot off the opposition's neck. England let Australia off the hook too many times when they should've won comfortably. They did it again here in Multan. It remains to be seen whether Pakistan can take the series (I still favour England) but for the moment, England's pain is Australia's gain so I will savour this one.
| Posted by JC on Wed 16 Nov |  3 comments |
Post New Comment
You need to be logged in to post a comment. If you're new, register here. Existing users, login via the right margin.
