Frustrating Pakistan Sinks Again
2nd Test
Soundly beaten in the first Test, Pakistan faced severe injury problems heading into the second match of the 3-Test series. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Sami and Abdur Razzaq all sat out, with Mohammed Asif making his Test debut and Asim Kamal and Shahid Afridi coming into the team.
Things started brightly with Youhana winning the toss and electing to bat on a good surface. Salman Butt (87) and Imran Farhat (51) both looked in top form and the score was 97/0 at lunch. Almost immediately after, Farhat flicked across the line to Warne and was easily pouched by Damien Martyn at midwicket. Hameed (11), Yousuf Youhana (13) and Younis Khan (3) came and departed with little ease in their stints, the last being Shane Watson's first Test wicket. Watson returned to get topscorer Butt and Pakistan was made to settle for just 274 all out, after being 100/0.
This mostly due to scores of 44 and 41 from Kamal and Afridi respectively, as the tail was bundled out cheaply. Glenn McGrath continued his fine form by grabbing 6/67, while Watson took 2/50.
Code:
Pakistan 1st Innings
Imran Farhat ct Martyn b Warne 51 94 7 1
Salman Butt b Watson 87 221 12 0
Yasir Hameed ct Kasprowicz b McGrath 11 37 0 0
Yousuf Youhana ct Gilchrist b McGrath 13 50 2 0
Younis Khan ct Martyn b Watson 3 18 0 0
Asim Kamal ct Martyn b Gillespie 44 104 5 0
Shahid Afridi ct Langer b McGrath 41 60 4 0
Kamran Akmal b McGrath 1 8 0 0
S. Akhtar lbw b McGrath 0 4 0 0
Moh'mad Asif not out 1 12 0 0
D. Kaneria lbw b McGrath 5 3 1 0
Extras (byes 5 leg byes 9 no balls 3 wides 0) 17
Total (10 Wkts 101.2 Overs) 274
Fall of Wkts 100 138 165 173 182 253 259 259 269 274
Gillespie 21 3 66 1 2 0
McGrath 27.2 9 67 6 1 0
Kasprowicz 19 7 40 0 0 0
Watson 12 0 50 2 0 0
Warne 22 10 37 1 0 0
Unlike Pakistan's, Australia's innings started very poorly. Langer (8), Hayden (8), Clarke (1) and Martyn (1) perished early, with the latter 3 being Mohammad Asif's first Test wickets. Australia was struggling at 22/4 and Pakistan in full control. It was then that the other debutant, Shane Watson stepped in. Dropped on 4 by Afridi, Watson played for an impressive 67 not out, supporting the more experienced captain Ricky Ponting (44) and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist (28) as Australia reached 182 all out.
Code:
Australia 1st Innings
J.L. Langer b Akhtar 8 15 1 0
M.L. Hayden lbw b Asif 8 13 2 0
R.T. Ponting ct Kamal b Kaneria 44 68 5 0
M.J. Clarke ct Akmal b Asif 1 4 0 0
D.R. Martyn ct Akhtar b Asif 1 4 0 0
S.R. Watson not out 64 121 8 0
A.C. Gilchrist ct Kamal b Afridi 28 26 3 0
S.K. Warne ct Akmal b Akhtar 1 7 0 0
J.N. Gillespie lbw b Kaneria 3 11 0 0
M.S. Kasprowicz ct Akmal b Akhtar 19 26 3 0
G.D. McGrath lbw b Kaneria 0 3 0 0
Extras (byes 1 leg byes 1 no balls 2 wides 1) 5
Total (10 Wkts 49.2 Overs) 182
Fall of Wkts 16 18 20 22 85 126 128 137 172 182
Akhtar 14 1 46 3 1 1
Asif 13 2 48 3 1 0
Kaneria 14.2 1 46 3 0 0
Afridi 8 0 40 1 0 0
Still in control with 92 runs in the bank, Pakistan began its second innings. Disaster immediately and Imran Farhat (0) was caught behind to the first ball from Gillespie. Further trouble when Hameed met the same fate two balls after and it was suddenly 0/2 after 3 balls. It would have been worse though, had Martyn held Butt's chance off McGrath before he had scored. Indeed, Martyn then dropped the same man off the same bowler 8 overs later.
Pakistan consolidated to stumps on day two at 25/2. Rains troubled the morning session, but Australia managed to prize out Youhana (15), Butt (18) and Younis Khan (2) between showers. When an early lunch was taken, Pakistan was 48/5, effectively 140/5 in the context of the match. Afridi (4), Akmal (0) and Akhtar (0) lasted less than 3 overs among after lunch and it was a devastating 55/8. Gillespie made Asif (0) his sixth wicket and McGrath had Kamal LBW for 12 to leave Pakistan battered and broken - 61 all out. Only two Australian bowlers and 26 overs were needed.
Code:
Pakistan 2nd Innings
Imran Farhat ct Gilchrist b Gillespie 0 1 0 0
Salman Butt ct Warne b McGrath 18 50 1 0
Yasir Hameed ct Gilchrist b Gillespie 0 2 0 0
Yousuf Youhana ct Hayden b Gillespie 15 38 1 0
Younis Khan ct Gilchrist b McGrath 2 15 0 0
Asim Kamal lbw b McGrath 12 24 1 0
Shahid Afridi b Gillespie 4 13 0 0
Kamran Akmal ct Gillespie b McGrath 0 4 0 0
S. Akhtar ct Gilchrist b Gillespie 0 3 0 0
Moh'mad Asif ct & b Gillespie 0 1 0 0
D. Kaneria not out 5 8 1 0
Extras (byes 0 leg byes 2 no balls 3 wides 0) 5
Total (10 Wkts 26.0 Overs) 61
Fall of Wkts 0 0 27 38 39 49 54 55 55 61
Gillespie 13 2 30 6 1 0
McGrath 13 3 29 4 2 0
Thus Australia prepared to chase 154 runs for victory with more than half the match remaining time-wise. Justin Langer (34) was the only casualty before tea, as Australia progressed smoothly to 81/1 in 25 overs. Hayden reached a less-than-fluent half century off 107 balls and was out just 15 runs short of victory. Kaneria was the successful bowler, removing his legstump. One more success came 5 balls after and Clarke was caught close in without scoring. Thus it was left to Ponting (46 not out) and Martyn (5 not out) to see the home team to victory.
Code:
Australia 2nd Innings
J.L. Langer ct Hameed b Afridi 34 52 6 0
M.L. Hayden b Kaneria 64 137 3 1
R.T. Ponting not out 46 135 0 0
M.J. Clarke ct Khan b Kaneria 0 5 0 0
D.R. Martyn not out 5 31 0 0
S.R. Watson
A.C. Gilchrist
S.K. Warne
J.N. Gillespie
M.S. Kasprowicz
G.D. McGrath
Extras (byes 0 leg byes 4 no balls 1 wides 0) 5
Total (3 Wkts 59.5 Overs) 154
Fall of Wkts 52 139 139
Akhtar 13 1 29 0 1 0
Asif 11 1 34 0 0 0
Kaneria 18.5 4 43 2 0 0
Afridi 17 3 44 1 0 0
The Man of the Match was predictably Glenn McGrath.
2nd Test played at MCG.
Pakistan 1st Innings 274 all out
Butt 87, Farhat 51, McGrath 6-67, Watson 2-50
Australia 1st Innings 182 all out
Watson 64*, Ponting 44, Kaneria 3-46, Akhtar 3-46
Pakistan 2nd Innings 61 all out
Gillespie 6-30, McGrath 4-29
Australia 2nd Innings 154 for 3
Hayden 64, Ponting 46*, Kaneria 2-43, Afridi 1-44
Australia won by 7 wkts.
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