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| November 16, 2005 | Wednesday | Shawwal 13, 1426 |
Salman’s gutsy century may prove futile
MULTAN, Nov 15: A mixture of rank bad batting and probing England pacemen have put Pakistan in danger of defeat on a fluctuating penultimate day of the first Test at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Even a fine, gutsy century by opener Salman Butt and a determined innings from skipper Inzamamul Haq were not enough to prevent England from chasing a modest target of 198 after Pakistan were dismissed for 341 in the second innings.
Despite losing their stand-in captain Marcus Trescothick cheaply after his first innings heroics, England require 174 runs more to chase on a last-day pitch that has nothing in it for the bowlers.
The credit for putting the tourists in such a happy state of mind goes to Andrew Flintoff, whose zealous drive for excellence has turned this England outfit into a unit oozing with camaraderie and self-belief.
The big all-rounder got wickets when England needed them and together with Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard has been responsible for garnering 18 of the wickets that fell to the pacers.
However, at one stage during the day, which was curtailed by nine overs again because of indifferent light conditions, England were not expected to start their second innings on the fourth evening and had anticipated a far bigger run-chase on Wednesday’s final day.
The reason for England feeling apprehensive was the manner in which Salman and Inzamam led Pakistan’s domination of the bowling in the 150-minute first session.
The fourth-wicket pair looked in control of the situation as they combined to add 135 in three hours and 13 minutes of resolute defiance after England had picked up Mohammad Sami early in the day.
The start of play on Tuesday couldn’t have been more dramatic when a well-directed bouncer forced Salman to glove the ball to Andrew Strauss at second slip.
But England’s rejoice was muted within seconds by Billy Bowden’s extended right arm to signal that Andrew Flintoff had over-stepped by a few centimeters with Salmam still on his Monday score of 53.
Sami was not so fortunate as Flintoff had him caught behind in his next over after the home side had added six runs to the overnight 125 for two.
Inzamam arrived to a rapturous welcome from the small crowd that gradually started to increase as the day progressed.
So did the Pakistan captain as he calmly took Pakistan into the lead with a effortless flick to the mid-wicket boundary.
Salman continued from where he had left off last evening. The diminutive 23-year-old left-hander from Lahore came of age in this match with an array of attractive strokes and shot selection.
The partnership blossomed as the overs ticked by. And soon both Inzamam and Salman were on threshold of personal milestones.
Inzamam, after a scoreless 14 minutes and 12 balls period, became the sixth Pakistani to score 1,000 or more runs against England in the final over before lunch with his 26th run.
The 35-year-old thus joined an exclusive group of former skippers and batting greats Mushtaq Mohammad, Salim Malik, Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas and Hanif Mohammad.
Salman, who made his Test debut on this same ground against Bangladesh in 2003, was left to contemplate on 99 when players headed back for lunch. But he duly got to a second century in his ninth Test appearance on the first ball of the afternoon period of play. By then Salman had been in the middle for five hours and 17 minutes and stroked nine boundaries.
In the same over Salman had a narrow escape when third umpire Asad Rauf adjudicated him not out at the striker’s end. TV replays, however, suggested the batsman had not reached the crease when the stumps were broken by Geraint Jones, the England wicket-keeper.
But just as Pakistan looked secured and England downcast, the rot set in. In a 44-minute period England roared back with four wickets for 34 runs in 50 balls with the second new ball.
Hoggard won a leg-before-wicket verdict from umpire Bowden when Inzamam chose not to offer any stroke. The skipper’s association with Salman yielded 135 runs in 193 minutes while his 72 off 147 balls were laced with seven fours.
Pakistan yearned in desperation for a long innings from Mohammad Yousuf, the team’s second most experienced batsman after Inzamam, to build on the foundation provided by the captain and Salman.
But he was in no mood to show stomach for a fighting contribution.
Having slapped four boundaries, he then slashed Flintoff to Ian Bell in the gulley. This kind of dismissal was shocking from a senior stalwart.
Hasan Raza, the prolific scorer in domestic cricket, never found his comeback match a moment of celebration as Trescothick held a low chance as the batsman fished at a Flintoff delivery.
England finally nailed the man who had kept them at bay for 10 minutes under seven hours in this innings and 11 hours and 47 minutes during the course of the Test when Hoggard induced a nick from Salman to Jones.
Salman, who made 108 in the Sydney Test last January, negotiated 256 deliveries while striking 12 of them to the fence.
The end of the innings was briefly held up by a breezy 33 from wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal who was last out to give Harmison his third wicket.
Prior to that Ashley Giles, the slow left-armer, claimed his only wicket of the match. Bell took an excellent catch inches off the turf just after Shoaib Akhtar heaved Giles into the stand over mid-wicket.
Scoreboard
Pakistan (1st innings) 274 (Salman Butt 74, Inzamamul Haq 53; A. Flintoff 4-68)
England (1st innings) 418 (M. Trescothick 193, I. Bell 71; S. Ahmed 4-54)
Pakistan (2nd innings) (Overnight: 125-2)
Shoaib Malik c Trescothick b Harmison 18
Salman Butt c G. Jones b Hoggard 122
Younis Khan c Trescothick b Flintoff 48
M. Sami c G. Jones b Flintoff 3
Inzamamul Haq lbw b Hoggard 72
M. Yousuf c Bell b Flintoff 16
Hasan Raza c Trescothick b Flintoff 1
Kamran Akmal c Pietersen b Harmison 33
Shoaib Akhtar c Bell b Giles 11
Shabbir Ahmed c G. Jones b Harmison 0
D. Kaneria not out 1
Extras (lb-6 nb-10) 16
Total (all out, 105.5 overs) 341
Fall of wkts: 1-31, 2-124, 3-131, 4-266, 5-285, 6-291, 7-295, 8-331, 9-332, 10-341
Bowling: M. Hoggard 27-2-81-2 (nb-1), A. Flintoff 25-3-88-4 (nb-9), S. Harmison 19.5-3-52-3, S. Udal 12-1-47- 0 A. Giles 22 - 2 - 67 - 1
England (2nd innings) (Target: 198 runs)
M. Trescothick b Shabbir 5
A. Strauss not out 7
I. Bell not out 12
Extras 0
Total (for 1 wickets, 9 overs) 24
Fall of wkt: 1-7
To bat: K. Pietersen, P. Collingwood, A. Flintoff, G. Jones, A. Giles, S. Udal, M. Hoggard, S. Harmison
Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 4-0-15-0, Shabbir Ahmed 4-0-6-1, D. Kaneria 1-0-3–0.
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