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Pakistan handed England a rude 2-0 defeat that jolted the visitors after their
euphoric Ashes triumph. Quite simply, Pakistan rose to the occasion and put up
a stiff battle when it mattered most. England suffered due to a combination of
complacency and probably an inability to adapt to foreign conditions.
England suffered the early loss of their skipper Michael Vaughan, to injury. It
gave Marcus Trescothick the opportunity to lead England in the first Test at
Multan. The course of the Test would prove to be the turning point for the
hosts, who were given a huge scare before they regained their composure and
achieved a commendable series win. Apart from Slaman Butt's seventy-four and
Inzamam-ul-Haq's half century, Pakistan seemed susceptible against the
confident Andrew Flintoff, whose four wickets led the way for his team,
alongside fine bowling contributions by Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison.
Trescothick revelled under the pressures of captaincy by scoring a majestic
193. Shabbir Ahmed's four wickets along with Shoaib Akhtar's four were only
minor dents on the English scorecard. Ian Bell's seventy-one and Flintoff's
rearguard heroics helped propel England to 418 and a sizeable lead of 144, a
daunting enough scenario even on a flat belter like the one at Multan.
But this was where Pakistan dug in their heels and staged a brilliant fightback
to not only save face, but to have England on the ropes and gasping for air. In
Pakistan's second innings, Butt improvised, as did Inzamam, and the result was
a century for the young opener and seventy-two valuable runs against the
skipper's name. Pakistan's gritty effort paid off as England were set a
competitive target of 197 to go one-up in the series.
After the batting came some lion-hearted bowling. The fact that no English
batsman apart from Geriant Jones and Ian Bell crossed the thirty run-mark was a
tribute to the brilliance of the Pakistani bowling. Danesh Kaneria's four
wickets helped, as did Shoaib's unrelenting hostility. The tide had turned and
England's stunning defeat by twenty-two runs did little to boost their morale.
Vaughan came back, but his return did nothing for England's prospects.
Pakistan were in command throughout the second Test, with Inzamam scoring twin
hundreds. Mohammad Yousuf's exemplary seventy-two and Shahid Afridi's
mesmerizing ninety-two took the hosts to an impregnable position. Kevin
Pietersen and Ian Bell counterattacked with centuries of their own, but England
still fell marginally short of Pakistan's score of 462.
Afridi's strike of four wickets kept the match on an even keel. But from
England's point of view, it needed the hard work and immense patience on the
part of Flintoff and Pieterson and later Jones and Ashley Giles, to halt the
Pakistani juggernaut. With Akhtar and Rana Navel-ul Hasan both grabbing three
wickets apiece, England staved off Pakistan's crusade, but only barely.
The third Test proved just as fascinating. Shoaib Akhtar played no mean role in
swinging the game in his side's favour. He finished the series with seventeen
wickets, a performance that has to be applauded considering the criticism that
has come his way in the recent past, and the doubts expressed by all and sundry
over his commitment to the game and his team.
Batting first, England fell way short and only Paul Collingwood's inclusion
ahead of Andrew Strauss, who flew home, bolstered an otherwise weak scorecard.
Like Collingwood who fell four short of a hundred, Trescothick and Vaughan both
crossed the fifty-mark but failed to capitalize.
Pakistan's massive first innings score of 636 said it all. If the skipper
missed out on yet another Test century by three runs courtesy a run out, the
home team had enough ammunition to bat England out of the match. Mohammad
Yousuf forged a long partnership with Kamran Akmal. While Yousuf registered a
tremendous double century, Akmal was not far behind, with 154 runs to his name.
England were always going to struggle to make up the deficit and then set a
decent target. Collingwood made his presence felt yet again with eighty runs to
his name, and batting well along with Bell, who made ninety-two. England were
in a reasonably comfortable position at lunch on the final day and fancied
their chances of saving the game. But Kaneria spun his magic and ensnared the
batsmen. Bell's wicket began a collapse, with Kaneria picking up three wickets
in the blink of an eye to set up a fascinating victory for Pakistan by an
innings and 100 runs. While England were forced to take the humble road,
Pakistan climbed to the fourth spot in the ICC Test ranking. |