Despite some late drama in fading light, Pakistan beat Australia by 6 wickets inside of 4 days as they strengthened their lead at the top of the World Test Championship standings.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat in Peshawar on a dry and dusty clay coloured strip. They made good use of the track, making 413 all out. Younis Khan hit his third century of the tournament, making 122, while debutant Saeed Anwar made 79 as they shared an opening stand of 161. Glen McGrath and Shane Warne fought back near the end of day 1 and Pakistan lost 5 wickets for 69 runs, slipping from 202 for 1 to 271 for 6 at the close. Imtiaz Ahmed put up some late order resistance, hitting 94 but was stranded as he ran out of partners. McGrath was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, finishing with 4 for 76.
The pitch was starting to deteriorate as Australia started their innings and they were quickly reduced to 75 for 3 by the Pakistan quicks. Off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq bowled magnificently, taking 5 for 49 as the ball started to turn quite viciously at times. Australia were bowled out for 175 and Imran Khan had no hesitation in enforcing the follow on.
Australias 2nd Innings was better, but the writing was on the wall early as they faltered to 77 for 4 with Don Bradman's poor run continuing (making 26 and 20, he only averages 36 in the tournament). Fazal Mahmood justified his return to the team taking 5 for 42 and Australia were eventually bowled late on day 4 for 260, leaving Pakistan just 23 runs to win.
The Australians were obviously keen to show that the pitch was not a good one and that they had received the poor end of it as Lindwall and Miller bowled ferociously to defend their meagre total. Both openers edged Lindwall to Marsh and when Keith Miller trapped Zaheer Abbas LBW, Pakistan were 8 for 3. Lindwall had Javed Miandad caught at slip before the end, but not before they had made their point.
Pakistan are now 8 points clear of their nearest rival, New Zealand. With 2 games to go, they head off to England and will be very confident of being able to force a result there. Australia travel home and play South Africa at the MCG. There will be a huge crowd there and they will need that support. Australia haven't won since the opening match of the tournament and they must win to have any chance of making the final.
Pakistan 1st Innings 413-10 (148.2 Ov)
Younis Khan 122, Imtiaz Ahmed 94*, Saeed Anwar 79, GD McGrath 4-76, SK Warne 4-124
Australia 1st Innings 175-10 (82.1 Ov)
RT Ponting 38, ML Hayden 26, DG Bradman 26, Saqlain Mushtaq 5-49, Imran Khan 2-18, Wasim Akram 2-26
Australia 2nd Innings 260-10 (100.1 Ov)
RT Ponting 57, KR Miller 45, AR Morris 37, Fazal Mahmood 5-42, Wasim Akram 2-39, Saqlain Mushtaq 2-78
Pakistan 2nd Innings 23-4 (16.2 Ov)
RR Lindwall 3-15
Pakistan win by 6 wickets
Man of the match: Saqlain Mushtaq
Comments
Post a Comment