The sight of Shoaib Akhtar steaming in and delivering 90mph thunderbolts struck fear in the hearts of the greatest of modern-day batsmen.
When England toured Pakistan in 2005, however, it was Akhtar's slow, looping 'magic' deliveries which left Michael Vaughan's side dumbfounded.
Akhtar, who revealed after the series that he had been perfecting the 'dolly' in the run up to the England series, had picked up 11 wickets in the first two Tests. But it was in the third Test at Lahore, with 1-0 up, that the Rawalpindi Express rolled out his full variety.
Trailing by 348 runs in the second innings, Akhtar got into the attack with the only the second ball of the England effort. He accounted with Marcus Trescothick with a fast in dipper as the left-handed opener was trapped in front of the wickets.
Akhtar's next three victims all fell to the magic delivery, all bowled at gentle speeds of 69mph, 70mph and 66mph in a perfect exhibition of 'rolling the fingers over the ball'.
The 'Rawalpindi Express' finished with five as Pakistan completed an innings and 100-run win the in the Test to complete a 2-0 series triumph.
“Shoaib Akhtar was sharp enough to keep the batsmen honest but did most of his damage in Lahore with a slower ball that must be the best of its kind since Franklyn Stephenson was making mugs of a lot of us back in the 1980s,” former England captain Mike Gatting wrote of Akhtar's magic delivery after the Test.
