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| November 7, 2005 | Monday | Shawwal 4, 1426 |
England batting crumbles against rampaging Asif
LAHORE, Nov 6: Promising youngster Mohammad Asif produced a lethal burst of pace bowling to ruin England’s hopes of gaining much-needed batting practice ahead of the Test series on an eventful opening day of the three-day match against Pakistan ‘A’ at the Bagh-i-Jinnah on Sunday.
Generating great pace and movement off the pitch, Asif exploited the early moisture to send England crashing to a miserable first-innings total of 126 inside 36 overs exactly an hour after the lunch interval after Michael Vaughan won the toss and opted to bat first.
Asif returned remarkable analysis of seven for 62 – his second best haul in a first-class innings – as none of the top-order England batsman managed to bat for a substantial period.
England bowlers, led by Matthew Hoggard and Ashley Giles, however, wasted little time in reducing Pakistan ‘A’ to 127 for eight by close of play.
Asif, who boasts a career-best seven for 35 while playing for Sialkot in a Quaid-i-Azam Trophy fixture against Multan, claimed five of the seven wickets which England lost before lunch while scoring only 76 runs in the two-hour session.
England batting, which crumbled twice in the opening tour match against PCB Patron’s XI in Rawalpindi earlier in the week, was once again disappointing.
Shahid Nazir, who shared the new ball with Asif, had Andrew Strauss taken at third slip by Shahid Yousuf for five with the total on 13. Without any addition, Marcus Trescothick, the only bright spot for the tourists in the Pindi game, was then clean bowled by Asif for eight.
Kevin Pietersen and Vaughan were out with the score on 34. Pietersen was caught behind for four after wicket-keeper Aminur Rahman had dropped him earlier.
Vaughan, needing a big innings to boost his confidence for the Tests, hit three boundaries before Asif forced him to edge one to Shahid Yousuf in the slips for 17.
Paul Collingwood, who failed to score, lasted only four balls before Asif struck again with the ever-alert Shahid Yousuf taking his third catch in the slips.
Geraint Jones became the second man to be dismissed for a duck with Asif cleaning bowling the wicket-keeper.
All-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who played vital role in England’s victory in the Ashes, was in dire need of practice after missing the first three-day at Rawalpindi because of his late arrival, lost the opportunity as Asif had him caught by Arshad at mid-off for nine.
At 53 for seven, England were in danger of being bowled for under 100. But Giles and Shaun Udal came together in the biggest stand of the innings as they 34 for the eighth-wicket with some dogged batting.
Giles scored a 40-ball 21 with two boundaries before left-arm paceman Mohammad Khalil uprooted his off-stump with the score on 87. Udal, who was the top-scorer with 23, was held at second slip by Taufiq Umar off Asif after the ball had rebounded off Shahid Yousuf’s grasp. Udal hit three fours during his 28-ball knock.
Hoggard and Stephen Harmison added 25 precious runs in a last-wicket stand which could have been ended at the total of 121 had Shahid Nazir not dropped Harmison on the boundary.
However, Asif ensured the damage was minimal when Harmison mistimed a rising delivery and offered Amin a catch as the entire innings folded up in 35.1 overs.
Shahid Nazir ended up with two for 18 and Khalil one for 40.
Then it was the turn of Pakistan ‘A’ batsmen to face the music as Hoggard made up for his wicketless performance in Pindi by removing the first batsmen with only 46 runs on the board.
Taufiq missed another golden chance to play a big innings when he offered a return catch to Hoggard for six. In the same over, Faisal Athar edged one to wicket-keeper for a two-ball duck.
Shahid Yousuf, who was shaping up well, then became Hoggard’s third victim, bowled for 10.
Imran Farhat, who made 23 off 25 balls with three fours, was trapped LBW by Hoggard. Collingwood got rid of Mansoor Amjad for seven to have Pakistan ‘A’ reeling at 58 for five.
Hasan Raza, a strong candidate to play in the Multan Test, had his first look at the England bowling a composed innings of 34. The Pakistan ‘A’ skipper looked solid as he combined with Aminur Rahman to put on 60 for the sixth-wicket in 72 minutes.
Amin struck four fours in making 32 off 46 balls, was caught by Flintoff off Giles, who had Arshad LBW off the very next ball.
In the closing overs, Giles snared the prized scalp of a well-set Hasan. The right-hander’s 67-ball innings in 115 minutes included four boundaries.
Scoreboard
ENGLAND (1st Innings):
M.E. Trescothick b Asif 8
A.J. Strauss c Shahid Yousuf b Shahid Nazir 5
M.P. Vaughan c Shahid Yousuf b Asif 17
K.P. Pietersen c Amin b Shahid Nazir 4
P.D. Collingwood c Shahid Yousuf b Asif 0
A. Flintoff c Arshad b Asif 9
G.O. Jones b Asif 0
A.F. Giles b Khalil 21
S.D. Udal c Taufiq b Asif 23
M.J. Hoggard not out 11
S.J. Harmison c Amin b Asif 18
EXTRAS (LB-4, W-5, NB-1) 10
TOTAL (all out, 35.1 overs) 126
FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-13, 3-34, 4-34, 5-40, 6-44, 7-53, 8-87, 9-101.
BOWLING: Shahid Nazir 10-5-18-2; Mohammad Asif 16.1-2-62-7 (5w); Arshad Khan 1-0-2-0; Mohammad Khalil 8-1-40-1 (1nb).
PAKISTAN ‘A’ (1st Innings):
Imran Farhat lbw b Hoggard 23
Taufiq Umar c and b Hoggard 6
Faisal Athar c Jones b Hoggard 0
Shahid Yousuf b Hoggard 10
Hasan Raza lbw b Giles 34
Mansoor Amjad Collingwood 7
Aminur Rahman c Flintoff b Giles 32
Arshad Khan lbw b Giles 0
Shahid Nazir not out 6
Mohammad Asif not out 1
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-4) 8
TOTAL (for eight wkts, 30 overs) 127
FALL OF WKTS: 1-9, 2-9, 3-29, 4-46, 5-58, 6-118, 7-118, 8-124.
TO BAT: Mohammad Khalil.
BOWLING (to-date): Hoggard 8-0-39-4 (3nb); Harmison 9-0-44-0; Collingwood 4-1-14-1; Flintoff 5-1-12-0; Giles 4-1-14-3.
UMPIRES: Mian Aslam and Salim Badar.
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