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***Official*** England in Pakistan
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Tony Blade
U19 Cricketer
Well played. England sneak home
Barney Rubble
International Coach
Good victory for England, pleasing to end the tour on a high note, although our batting was once again poor.
Blackwell 10-3-29-3 - I would hope that has secured him a place in the Test squad for the India tour. He's bowled well all tour, and got a bad lbw decision today by all accounts, when he could have been in for some runs following a decent (and responsibly-played) knock on Monday. Good on him.
Good on Plunkett, too - some more good batting at the end of our innings, he's had a good tour. Fred's injury was worrying, but it was good to see Jimmy A get some wickets in his place. A few positives to take from this one, which was needed after the amount of negatives we have to take from this tour.
All in all a great tour for Pakistan and a bad one for England - congratulations to Pakistan and to Inzy, a very good team led by a truly great player.
Blackwell 10-3-29-3 - I would hope that has secured him a place in the Test squad for the India tour. He's bowled well all tour, and got a bad lbw decision today by all accounts, when he could have been in for some runs following a decent (and responsibly-played) knock on Monday. Good on him.
Good on Plunkett, too - some more good batting at the end of our innings, he's had a good tour. Fred's injury was worrying, but it was good to see Jimmy A get some wickets in his place. A few positives to take from this one, which was needed after the amount of negatives we have to take from this tour.
All in all a great tour for Pakistan and a bad one for England - congratulations to Pakistan and to Inzy, a very good team led by a truly great player.
Neil Pickup
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Suggest Pakistan are stripped of International status for losing to a team with Shaun Udal in it.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
Barney Rubble said:All in all a great tour for Pakistan and a bad one for England - congratulations to Pakistan and to Inzy, a very good team led by a truly great player.
Neil Pickup
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Not been paying attention of late, Fishy?Samuel_Vimes said:
no1_gangsta_786
U19 Cricketer
Yay.....Pakistan won the series but Younis Khan neds to be dropped. Only one significant innings in the whole tour(as i remember) the 60 in the first ODI... and nothing else. Vital mistake today in bringing himself in when Yasir Hameed got out.......should have been Afridi and poor captaincy in the 4th ODI nearly lost us the game by keeping the field back.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
I was more referring to the inadvertent innuendo.Neil Pickup said:
Neil Pickup
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Innuendo? Did you check that last batch of whale meat for barnacles properly?Samuel_Vimes said:I was more referring to the inadvertent innuendo.
Magrat Garlick
Rather Mad Witch
Clearly you have not inherited the English sense of a truly awful pun.Neil Pickup said:
great = voluminous
Barney Rubble
International Coach
That would all be well and good, if it weren't for the fact that the word "innuendo" usually implies some sort of ***ual connotation.Samuel_Vimes said:
And believe me, where Inzy's involved, that's the last thing I want.
Jungle Jumbo
International Vice-Captain
CW Full Report
With the series secure, Pakistan took an opportunity to rest three key players, captain Inzamam ul-Haq and pacemen Shoaib Ahktar and Mohammad Sami, offered vital chances to Yasir Hameed and Arshad Khan, and blood a debutant in Mohammad Asif. Marcus Trescothick, having eyed up a turning pitch in Rawalpindi, replaced Ian Bell with Shuan Udal, who had played his last ODI ten years ago.
Perhaps a little fearful of offering the Pakistani spinners last bowl on a rough surface, Trescothick won the toss and chose to bat. He might soon have regretted it: firstly he dragged on to give Asif a wicket inside his first over, before Matt Prior clipped a half-volley to mid-wicket to leave England in deep water at 21 for two.
One of the few positives to have come out of this series for England appears to be how comfortably Andrew Strauss has settled into his new role in the crucial number three position. Coming into a backs-to-the-wall situation today, he instantly put his foot on the brake and neutered the rampant Pakistani seamers. Together with Vikram Solanki he consistently punctured the screen of fielders in the covers. Having seen the pair settle in, Younis Khan, the stand-in captain, soon changed tack, introducing Arshad Khan, the tall off-spinner, into the attack. Soon strangled by spin and with the runs evaporating fast, Strauss, whilst on 26 attempted the predictable Stalingrad-style breakout to lift the siege, and was left marooned in no-man's land; the ball gripped and deviated sharply past Strauss' outside edge as Akmal completed a simple stumping.
Andrew Flintoff, who has spent much of the tour suffering from the post-Ashes hangover and was unable to bowl today, scratched around against the spinners at first and left the majority of the strike to Solanki. The fans, baying for the usual Flintoff carnage were left slightly disappointed, as the England batsmen became more and more constricted as Pakistan turned the screw. One short of his half-century, Solanki also attempted to break the shackles imposed by the spinners and drove low to extra-cover off Afridi, who finished with the economical figures of one for 37. Paul Collingwood, the ideal man for the situation, was the new batsman, and he and Flintoff gradually brought the tourists back into the game as they sought to up the run-rate.
In the 42nd over, Younis Khan played his unexpected joker card: amongst England's gradual suffocation the presence of another spinner, Danish Kaneria, had gone unnoticed as the Super Sub. He replaced Mohammad Asif, who ened with figures of two for 14. With the slow bowlers still operating a substantial distance into the final ten overs, Flintoff had little choice but to chance his arm against the wily Naved-ul-Hasan who returned to bowl the 45th over. His loose drive met only air, and he lost his middle stump to a cleverly bowled inswinger. Ian Blackwell fell next ball, trapped flat-footed on the crease, and England were wobbling once more with very little on the board. Collingwood remained his usual cool self, aptly manoeuvring the ball around the outfield and running aggressively. His exuberant pushes into the gaps proved his partner's downfall: Geraint Jones was just inches short of his ground after swift fielding from Yasir Hameed and nimble glovework from Kamran Akmal. Collingwood himself fell in the next over amid constant referrals to the third-umpire, attempting a touch-and-go two to long-on. Shaun Udal then dollied a catch to mid-on as England were left contemplating being bowled out yet again.
Liam Plunkett though provided the surge of adrenaline for England to carry over into the Pakistani innings. Clobbering the final three balls of the 50th over, bowled by Razzaq, for four, four, six, he gave England a lethal shot of impetus with which to drive home as he plundered twenty-four off twelve balls and the tourists closed on 206 for nine in their stipulated fifty overs.
It had been mooted that perhaps Pakistan would twist and open with Shahid Afridi, but instead they stuck with Salman Butt and the in-form Kamran Akmal. Like their English counterparts they both fell early, as Salman dragged on Butt, mirroring Trescothick's dismissal, while Kamran swished to slip.
From then on, Mohammad Yousuf and Yasir Hameed provided the mainstay of the innings, with knocks complete with classically sub-continental wristy strokes and elegant cover glides. England seemed consigned to waiting for a breakthrough, but neither Blackwell nor Udal had the potency of the Pakistani spinners.
Eventually Hameed lost his nerve, and Udal snared him, stumped, looking to go over the top for a laboured 67 off 105 balls. Yousuf, now joined by his captain, Younis Khan, continued to manipulate the field, even as the run rate gradually crept up towards five and over. Yousuf appeared to be in total control; how many times had he done this job for Pakistan, in Pakistan? Possibly he was, a little like Anderson, still weary after the drama of Monday night, for he too fell upon reaching his fifty, skying an innocuous Blackwell delivery to Anderson in the deep, only an over after the same bowler had dismissed Younis.
The cork then truly flew out of the bottle, and a sticky mess of wickets was spilt all around the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Shoaib Malik's heave at Blackwell only fell into the safe hands of Vikram Solanki; Shahid Afridi was castled as he fell away, attempting to dig out a superb Anderson yorker which spiralled back into his stumps. Abdul Razzaq departed similarly, and then the Pakistani task then monumental, with the run rate rocketing whilst the wickets tumbled. Even the late efforts of Naved, who throttled a six over mid-wicket, proved belated as the last pair of Danish and Arshad failed to muster eleven from the final over. Anderson completed the job, and picked up the match award to boot; Anderson + Pakistan = carnage.
England 206 for nine (50 overs)
Vikram Solanki 49, Andrew Flintoff 39; Paul Collingwood 33
Pakistan 200 for nine (50 overs)
Yasir Hameed 57, Mohammad Yousuf 54; James Anderson four for 48; Ian Blackwell three for 29
With the series secure, Pakistan took an opportunity to rest three key players, captain Inzamam ul-Haq and pacemen Shoaib Ahktar and Mohammad Sami, offered vital chances to Yasir Hameed and Arshad Khan, and blood a debutant in Mohammad Asif. Marcus Trescothick, having eyed up a turning pitch in Rawalpindi, replaced Ian Bell with Shuan Udal, who had played his last ODI ten years ago.
Perhaps a little fearful of offering the Pakistani spinners last bowl on a rough surface, Trescothick won the toss and chose to bat. He might soon have regretted it: firstly he dragged on to give Asif a wicket inside his first over, before Matt Prior clipped a half-volley to mid-wicket to leave England in deep water at 21 for two.
One of the few positives to have come out of this series for England appears to be how comfortably Andrew Strauss has settled into his new role in the crucial number three position. Coming into a backs-to-the-wall situation today, he instantly put his foot on the brake and neutered the rampant Pakistani seamers. Together with Vikram Solanki he consistently punctured the screen of fielders in the covers. Having seen the pair settle in, Younis Khan, the stand-in captain, soon changed tack, introducing Arshad Khan, the tall off-spinner, into the attack. Soon strangled by spin and with the runs evaporating fast, Strauss, whilst on 26 attempted the predictable Stalingrad-style breakout to lift the siege, and was left marooned in no-man's land; the ball gripped and deviated sharply past Strauss' outside edge as Akmal completed a simple stumping.
Andrew Flintoff, who has spent much of the tour suffering from the post-Ashes hangover and was unable to bowl today, scratched around against the spinners at first and left the majority of the strike to Solanki. The fans, baying for the usual Flintoff carnage were left slightly disappointed, as the England batsmen became more and more constricted as Pakistan turned the screw. One short of his half-century, Solanki also attempted to break the shackles imposed by the spinners and drove low to extra-cover off Afridi, who finished with the economical figures of one for 37. Paul Collingwood, the ideal man for the situation, was the new batsman, and he and Flintoff gradually brought the tourists back into the game as they sought to up the run-rate.
In the 42nd over, Younis Khan played his unexpected joker card: amongst England's gradual suffocation the presence of another spinner, Danish Kaneria, had gone unnoticed as the Super Sub. He replaced Mohammad Asif, who ened with figures of two for 14. With the slow bowlers still operating a substantial distance into the final ten overs, Flintoff had little choice but to chance his arm against the wily Naved-ul-Hasan who returned to bowl the 45th over. His loose drive met only air, and he lost his middle stump to a cleverly bowled inswinger. Ian Blackwell fell next ball, trapped flat-footed on the crease, and England were wobbling once more with very little on the board. Collingwood remained his usual cool self, aptly manoeuvring the ball around the outfield and running aggressively. His exuberant pushes into the gaps proved his partner's downfall: Geraint Jones was just inches short of his ground after swift fielding from Yasir Hameed and nimble glovework from Kamran Akmal. Collingwood himself fell in the next over amid constant referrals to the third-umpire, attempting a touch-and-go two to long-on. Shaun Udal then dollied a catch to mid-on as England were left contemplating being bowled out yet again.
Liam Plunkett though provided the surge of adrenaline for England to carry over into the Pakistani innings. Clobbering the final three balls of the 50th over, bowled by Razzaq, for four, four, six, he gave England a lethal shot of impetus with which to drive home as he plundered twenty-four off twelve balls and the tourists closed on 206 for nine in their stipulated fifty overs.
It had been mooted that perhaps Pakistan would twist and open with Shahid Afridi, but instead they stuck with Salman Butt and the in-form Kamran Akmal. Like their English counterparts they both fell early, as Salman dragged on Butt, mirroring Trescothick's dismissal, while Kamran swished to slip.
From then on, Mohammad Yousuf and Yasir Hameed provided the mainstay of the innings, with knocks complete with classically sub-continental wristy strokes and elegant cover glides. England seemed consigned to waiting for a breakthrough, but neither Blackwell nor Udal had the potency of the Pakistani spinners.
Eventually Hameed lost his nerve, and Udal snared him, stumped, looking to go over the top for a laboured 67 off 105 balls. Yousuf, now joined by his captain, Younis Khan, continued to manipulate the field, even as the run rate gradually crept up towards five and over. Yousuf appeared to be in total control; how many times had he done this job for Pakistan, in Pakistan? Possibly he was, a little like Anderson, still weary after the drama of Monday night, for he too fell upon reaching his fifty, skying an innocuous Blackwell delivery to Anderson in the deep, only an over after the same bowler had dismissed Younis.
The cork then truly flew out of the bottle, and a sticky mess of wickets was spilt all around the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Shoaib Malik's heave at Blackwell only fell into the safe hands of Vikram Solanki; Shahid Afridi was castled as he fell away, attempting to dig out a superb Anderson yorker which spiralled back into his stumps. Abdul Razzaq departed similarly, and then the Pakistani task then monumental, with the run rate rocketing whilst the wickets tumbled. Even the late efforts of Naved, who throttled a six over mid-wicket, proved belated as the last pair of Danish and Arshad failed to muster eleven from the final over. Anderson completed the job, and picked up the match award to boot; Anderson + Pakistan = carnage.
England 206 for nine (50 overs)
Vikram Solanki 49, Andrew Flintoff 39; Paul Collingwood 33
Pakistan 200 for nine (50 overs)
Yasir Hameed 57, Mohammad Yousuf 54; James Anderson four for 48; Ian Blackwell three for 29
SpeedKing
U19 Vice-Captain
About time the torture ended. It hurts being a bowlere when our bowlers work the socks off [ apart from the game where the put 350 past us] and the batters go and mess it up. To measure just how happy i am about this tour coming to an end,the last time i was this happy cricketwise was when Afridi was banned from the last test and the 2 ODIs [didn't really make much difference, but ii could have been even worse]. Merry christmas to the bowlers but for the batters, a few nem year resolutions should be sorted out before the Indian tour.