WARESPEDIA

Pakistan took the one-day series to a decider as they secured a 38-run victory at Lord's with their bowling attack again showing its match-winning qualities, after England's openers had seemingly put their on track to take the series with a 113-run stand. The spinners struck vital blows in the middle-order, then Umar Gul and Shoaib Akhtar became a handful under the floodlights. Earlier, a fearsome late assault from Abdul Razzaq, who hit 40 off his last 10 balls, gave Pakistan a powerful surge.

Under normal circumstances we would now be in for a thrilling end to the season at The Rose Bowl, but this match was played under a horrid atmosphere of legal threats from the England team following Ijaz Butt's extraordinary outburst the day before. Andrew Strauss admitted his team were reluctant participants, but felt the best thing was to complete the series as planned although it took a meeting that stretched into the early hours to decide.

Whatever England's mindset, once the game was on they wanted to be professional and will know a series-clinching victory was there for the taking. They'd been given the ideal platform by Strauss and Steve Davies - which had seemingly nullified Razzaq's innings - but as the floodlights started to take effect on the late-September evening conditions became tougher. However, credit also has to go to Pakistan's bowlers who came back superbly with the spinners proving a handful on a dry surface while Gul was again outstanding.

Strauss flew out of the blocks as Shoaib's first three overs cost 30 and after the initial Powerplay England were 73 without loss with 10 boundaries; in the rest of the innings they only managed another 10. Strauss went to a run-a-ball fifty, his third in a row as he became the second leading run-scorer in ODIs this year, while Davies wasn't far behind until he dragged Saeed Ajmal into his stumps. That wicket brought England to a shuddering halt as Strauss lost the strike and Jonathan Trott, who earlier in the day was involved in an altercation with Wahab Riaz in the nets, struggled to bed in.

The ECB played down the incident between Trott and Riaz, but it was a clear sign of how far the relationship between the two sides has fallen in recent weeks. Trott appeared uneasy in the middle before watching the ball roll back into his stumps from a defensive push against Shahid Afridi. Pakistan didn't try to hide their pleasure at Trott's departure.

They took control a short while later when Strauss fell to his favourite cut shot, picking out backward point perfectly off Shoaib and it left two new batsmen having to settle with the scoring-rate rising. Paul Collingwood, who missed the previous match with a virus, has struggled for most of the season and looked bereft of form before inside-edging Gul into his stumps as England slipped to 149 for 4.

Ian Bell, recalled to the side following his match-winning 107 in the CB40 final on this ground on Saturday, played himself in calmly but having used up 41 balls to reach 27 then drove Ajmal straight to cover. It was down to Eoin Morgan, but he couldn't find anyone to stay with him as Michael Yardy chopped on and Tim Bresnan played all round Gul. England's last chance went when Morgan skied a drive and Mohammad Yousuf, never the sharpest in the field, took a fine running catch at mid-off.

Pakistan's innings had progressed in fits and starts, but was ended in grandstand style by Razzaq who plundered 10 boundaries in the last two overs from James Anderson and Bresnan. Splaying his front leg to drive through the off side during the final Powerplay the quicks couldn't adjust amid the onslaught.

Afridi, playing his 300th ODI, had also supplied his own fireworks and played like a man wanting to make more than a cricketing point. He launched his fourth ball, the last one of Graeme Swann's impressive four-wicket spell, into the second tier of the pavilion and the MCC member who tried to catch it finished with a bloodied face. The Pakistan physio came to his aid, and the member insisted on staying in his seat to watch the remainder of the action. Afridi reached 33 off 16 deliveries at the peak of his assault, but miscued a slower ball from Bresnan to long-on.

The star of England's bowling display was Swann with a wonderful ten overs of offspin. Announced as one of the four candidates for ICC Cricketer of the Year - having been omitted from the original long list in a major blunder - he made his customary first-over breakthrough with a classical offspinner's dismissal as Asad Shafiq was bowled through the gate when he tried to drive. Yet, even the normally jovial Swann couldn't manage his usual expansive celebrations - a sure sign that England would rather not have been playing this match.

Swann added Yousuf, Mohammad Hafeez and Fawad Alam to his haul and Pakistan were fading, but they had power to come and Razzaq's blows proved decisive. However this series, which has included some outstanding one-day cricket, will only be remembered for the wrong reasons. Whoever wins on Wednesday.

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

PART I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

PART I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Pakistan's long, long wait for a Test victory over Australia finally came to an end amid scenes of excruciating tension on the fourth morning at Headingley, as a simple equation of 40 runs for victory with seven wickets still standing was made to look as complex as the proof to Fermat's Last Theorem. They eventually crept home with three men still standing, but their collective nerves in tatters, as Umar Gul launched the winning shot through the covers with the scores already level.

The margin of victory looked more comfortable than it felt, and that's putting it mildly. The eventual difference between the sides was the wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, whose 13 from 26 balls was as close as Pakistan came to a composed fourth-day performance. That said, had Akmal been given out caught in the gully with five runs still required, who knows what miracles might have transpired. Mike Hussey's low scoop was turned down by the TV umpire, but after Mohammad Aamer had edged another four to balance the books, Akmal slammed another chance which Hussey this time plucked to his left.

The morning had begun amid scenes of raucous optimism from the noisy knots of Pakistan fans in the Western Stand - lured by five pound tickets and the prospect of a chance to witness history - and there was an early moment of poignancy as well, as Rudi Koertzen was given a guard of honour to commemorate the final day of his 108-Test umpiring career.

Pakistan's chasing traumas

* Sydney 2010 - An Australian collapse for 127 in the first innings had left Pakistan with a target of 176 in the fourth innings - their best opportunity to end a winless run against Australia since Sydney 1995. The openers added a brisk 34 but wickets fell in clusters thereafter and Pakistan were shot out for 139.
* Dunedin 2009 - Umar Akmal's debut Test. After making a hundred in the first innings, Akmal was once again the lynchpin, scoring 75, as Pakistan attempted to chase 251. They had a fair chance at 95 for 3 and 161 for 4, but lost their last six wickets for 57.
* Galle 2009 - Pakistan were 36 for 0 and then 71 for 2, only 97 runs away from victory. Then followed a collapse to rival all other collapses during which eight wickets fell for only 46 runs. Salman Butt was the only one to make it past 20.
* Port Elizabeth 2007 - The last time Pakistan successfully chased a target of less than 200. Set a target of 191, Pakistan were facing defeat after Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini had reduced them to 92 for 5. Younis Khan, who batted steadily, and Kamran Akmal led a revival that grew into a match-winning partnership of 99, securing a five-wicket victory.

But as soon as the focus returned to the centre of the field, Australia resumed their attack with the same vigour that had hauled them back into contention in the final moments of the third evening's play. Doug Bollinger, who had jolted Pakistan with two wickets in seven balls, made it three in 17 as the overnight anchor, Azhar Ali, feathered a length delivery through to Tim Paine, only moments after spanking a full toss through the covers to bring up his maiden Test half-century.

At 146 for 4, with a tantalising 34 still needed for victory and Australia's fielders cranking up the chatter, the stage could hardly have been less ideal for the impetuous Umar Akmal, a man who likes nothing better than to blaze away with impunity. He edged Ben Hilfenhaus for a streaky four through third slip, a shot accompanied by a roar of relief from the stands, but one over later, he was gone as well, via a flat-footed poke to a regulation outswinger.

With Bollinger bounding in with the unstoppable intent of a latter-day Merv Hughes, appeals and alarms were two-a-penny. Kamran Akmal survived consecutive appeals for caught behind and lbw - both rightly turned down by Koertzen - before Shoaib Malik was dropped one over later by a diving Michael Clarke at second slip. He couldn't make his luck count, however, as Marcus North at extra cover clung onto a full-blooded drive off Hilfenhaus, to leave Pakistan on the ropes at 161 for 6, with Aamer's appearance at No. 8 scarcely helping to settle the nerves.

Akmal's response was two priceless fours in five balls - the first a touch streaky as he snicked an outswinger away through third man, the second more emphatic as he got up onto his toes to punch a drive through extra cover. With 13 consecutive Test victories over Pakistan, including their corker at Sydney in January, Australia's belief did not waver at any stage of the morning, but in the final analysis, they were unable to make amends for their 88-all-out debacle on the first day.

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Part II

PostMatch

Pakistan's quest for their first Test victory over Australia since November 1995 was firmly on track by the close of an engrossing third day of the second Test at Headingley, thanks to a 110-run stand for the second wicket between Imran Farhat and Azhar Ali that soothed the nation's brow after another day of seismic fluctuations, during which Australia's never-say-die spirit shone through at the moments when their fortunes with both bat and ball were at an absolute nadir.

After tasting defeat in each of their last 13 Tests against Australia, including the recent debacle at Sydney in which a first-innings lead of 206 proved insufficient to secure victory, Pakistan were often battling themselves as much as the 11 men in baggy greens, and it showed. First came the swishing blade of Steven Smith, whose brilliant 77 hoisted Australia's lead from 47 with four wickets standing to a defendable 180. Then came the bustling Doug Bollinger, who claimed two wickets in two overs - including the top-scorer Farhat for 67 - to inject new urgency into the day's closing overs.

Such was the anxiety in Pakistan's ranks that, when the umpires called time on the dot of 6.30pm, it was Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, who remained in the middle, hoping to be allowed to utilise the extra half-hour. It was as if he felt more confident of claiming seven wickets in that time than Pakistan's not-out batsmen, Azhar and Umar Akmal, did of knocking off the remaining 40 runs for victory.

Surely, not even Pakistan can find a way to lose from here, however, because in between their jitters, they produced enough moments of class to leave Australia's own frailties brutally exposed. First came the precocious Mohammad Aamer, whose devastating pace and late swing accounted for three wickets in the first hour, including the overnight stalwart Ponting for 66. Then later came Farhat and Azhar, who accumulated with great discipline, and waited for Australia's bowlers to feed them their runs. Shane Watson, so devastating on the second day, repeatedly drifted onto Farhat's pads, while Mitchell Johnson's sorry campaign continued with nine wicketless overs for 39.

Farhat did require a large slice of luck in his innings, however, when Watson dropped a regulation edge at first slip off Bollinger when he had made just 4. It was a costly moment so early in an uncomfortable run-chase, and though Ben Hilfenhaus soon accounted for Farhat's captain and opening partner, Salman Butt for 14, courtesy of a thick edge to second slip, too few of Australia's frontline seamers were able to locate the right lengths for the conditions. Bollinger got it right in the end, but by then, the match was surely beyond them.

The disappointment of impending defeat will not detract, however, from a remarkable coming-of-age from Australia's 21-year-old legspinning allrounder, Smith, who seized centre stage during the afternoon session with an onslaught of breathtaking audacity. While he was teeing off en route to a career-best 77 from 100 balls, the shift in belief from one dressing room to the other was as palpable as it had been on this very ground back in 1981, when Australia had themselves been on the receiving end of a memorably uncompromising onslaught from a bullish young allrounder.

While Smith has some way to go to match the feats of Ian Botham, the fearlessness and certainty of his strokeplay was straight out of the Beefster's top drawer, as he cracked nine fours and consecutive straight sixes, each one in the arc from extra cover to midwicket. It was not mindless slogging, however - far from it. Australia's situation when Smith came to the crease was too delicate for out-and-out recklessness, after Aamer's morning breakthroughs and the devastating post-lunch extraction of Michael Clarke for 76 had reduced them to 217 for 6, a lead of 47.

But with the horrors of Sydney still fresh in Pakistan's memory banks, Smith joined forces with another Test tyro, Tim Paine, to begin the long haul towards a defendable total. Paine, who had top-scored with 17 during the first-day rout, cracked Aamer through the covers twice in two overs as Pakistan dallied with semi-defensive fields in anticipation of the second new ball, while Smith telegraphed his own bubbly confidence by advancing down the track to Danish Kaneria in defence as much as attack, before finally slotting him over long-off for an agenda-setting boundary.

With the lead at 76, Paine's purposeful stay ended in flaccid circumstances, as Kaneria tossed up a rank long-hop that nevertheless turned and bounced upon pitching, for Azhar Ali to collect a toe-ended cut in the covers. Smith's response, however, belied his 21 years and one-Test experience, as he chose his shots with the expertise of a veteran, using the hardness of the new ball to gain full value for each of his full-blooded mows through the covers and midwicket.

At the other end, Johnson escaped a king pair to help add 37 priceless runs for the eighth wicket, before Asif nailed him lbw on the line of leg stump, while Hilfenhaus built on his Test-best 56 not out at Lord's to crack 17 from 16, including three fours in a single over from an over-reaching Aamer.

But it was the arrival of the No. 11 Bollinger that really showcased Smith's cricketing brain, as he farmed the strike with calm confidence to limit his colleague to nine runless deliveries in 5.4 overs, while at the same time carving 29 priceless runs from 25. Pakistan were visibly twitchy as tea was delayed to accommodate his mood-changing performance, and Umar Gul's clear reaction was one of relief when Smith finally dragged a slower ball onto his off stump with the score on 349.

Pakistan's confidence is fickle at the best of times, but they had been flushed with belief in the first hour of the day, after Aamer had produced another precocious spell of fast and aggressive swing bowling to nip Australia's second-innings revival in the bud. Overnight the Aussies had been trailing by 34 runs overnight with Clarke and Ponting well set in their third-wicket stand of 81. But it took just 16 deliveries for the vital breakthrough to be made, as Ponting slashed ambitiously at a booming outswinger from Aamer, and snicked a thin edge through to the keeper.

Buoyed by the early wicket, Aamer surged onto the offensive and added his second only two overs later, as Hussey was deceived by a cutter that gripped the turf, leapt at his gloves and ballooned tantalisingly to Umar Akmal at second slip. And he made it three in four overs when Marcus North (0) poked flat-footedly from deep in the crease to detonate his own leg stump with a fat inside-edge.

Clarke eventually brought Australia into credit in the same over that he brought up his half-century from 99 deliveries, and by lunch he had produced the most composed innings of the match to date to move to 76 not out, only for Asif to strike with his first ball after the break, a perfectly subtle outswinger that grazed the edge through to the keeper. It was a timely reminder of the gulf in class between the two sets of seamers on display in this game. And that, in the final analysis, will surely be the difference between these teams.

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Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

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Part II

Part III

Pakistan 148 for 3 (Amim 1*, Umar Akmal 8*) lead Australia 88 (Aamer 3-20, Asif 3-30) by 60 runs
Headingley produced another of the extraordinary days that has littered its history as Australia were blown away for a paltry 88 before Pakistan built a lead of 60 with seven wickets in hand. Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer, who was on a hat-trick straight after lunch, were again outstanding with devastating late movement, and were well supported by Umar Gul, after Ricky Ponting decided to bat first. In reply Pakistan moved to 148 for 3 when bad light ended play.

Four days after having to install a new captain following Shahid Afridi's shock Test retirement, the new man handed the debatable honour, Salman Butt, probably made his best move of the day by losing the toss. Ponting took a brave call after torrential overnight rain, and with heavy morning cloud cover, putting faith in his top order to weather the challenge. But the gamble backfired in startling fashion as Australia crumbled to their seventh lowest first-innings total of all time.

Headingley is another venue where, like Lord's, overhead conditions are as important as the surface and Pakistan's frontline pace trio were often unplayable as they made the ball move late off the seam. In scenes reminiscent of the days of Wasim and Waqar, the bowlers didn't need much help from the fielders with seven wickets either bowled or lbw as Australia failed to combat Pakistan's full length.

Conditions remained favourable for bowling throughout, but Australia looked shell-shocked when they took the ball barely halfway through the second session and Pakistan's openers virtually wiped off the measly total with a stand of 80. Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson were erratic, but Hilfenhaus - who dropped Butt on 42 - eventually made the breakthrough when he swung one between his bat and pad three runs later.

Shane Watson returned to make two late incisions with Imran Farhat (43) beaten by late swing and Azhar Ali (30) sending a thick edge to Tim Paine as the light started to fade, but Umar Akmal gave a indication of Pakistan's mindset in the final over of the day by slogging Steven Smith's legspin over long-off for six. The lead has already grown and Australia will need some Sydney-style inspiration to turn this game around.

The initial six overs of Australia's innings were a false dawn and the opening stand of 20 would remain the best partnership of the innings. Simon Katich departed when his strength became a weakness as he shuffled across the crease against Aamer and Watson followed in the next over when he was plumb in front to Asif. Ponting and Michael Clarke were often playing at fresh air as they tried to rebuild with both batsmen regularly squared up by late movement.

Aamer was rested after a five-over opening burst but his replacement, Gul, maintained the pressure and he quickly located a full length. He ended Clarke's struggle when the vice-captain played all round a straight delivery after beginning the over with two flat-footed wafts.

Asif was given an extended spell and the move paid huge dividends when he nailed Ponting lbw for the second time in a row. He found late movement into Ponting, who lunged onto the front foot, and the ball was heading for middle and leg as Pakistan's bowlers continued to leave the fielders redundant.

Mike Hussey has rescued Australia from many a hole - often against Pakistan - but this time he was powerless to arrest the slide as Gul brought one back into his front pad, although subsequent replays showed Rudi Koertzen, standing in his final Test, had erred on this occasion and leg stump would have been missed. Even at 41 for 5, Australia would have expected someone in the lower order to haul them beyond three figures, as happened in Sydney earlier this earlier, but this time Pakistan refused to release the pressure.

A fielder finally became involved when Kamran Akmal gloved an excellent catch to remove Marcus North as Umar Amin's introduction proved a masterstroke from Butt. Amin had only six first-class wickets to his name, but his gentle medium-pace found North's outside edge and the dismissal summed up the early fortunes of both teams.

Australia's hopes of reaching anything like a respectable total were ended with the first two balls of the afternoon session when Aamer produced his latest impression of Wasim Akram with a brace of cracking deliveries. The first, to Smith, snaked back between bat and pad but the next was even better as Johnson lost his off stump to one that curved away past his outside edge.

To compound Australia's woes Hilfenhaus was run out from third man by Amin before Paine's wild thrash at Asif ended the innings. Paine's top score of 17 was the joint fourth-lowest highest individual effort in a completed Australian innings and the lowest since the 19th century. That statistic alone sums up the remarkable nature of the demise.

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Part V

Marcus North claimed the remarkable figures of 6 for 55 to join Shane Watson on the brand-new neutral honours board at Lord's, while Steven Smith chipped in with three key scalps in his first innings as a Test bowler, as Pakistan hurtled to defeat by 150 runs on the fourth afternoon of the first Test against Australia.

Set an improbable 440 for victory, Pakistan began their chase boldly through the efforts of Salman Butt, who made a fluent 92 in a 102-run stand for the second wicket with the debutant Azhar Ali, and at 152 for 1 with more than five sessions of the match remaining, there was an outside chance of a miracle taking place. But North's introduction transformed the contest shortly before lunch.

With his eyes lighting up as North floated his first delivery gently towards his pads, Butt toppled out of his crease to be stumped down the leg-side by Tim Paine, before Umar Akmal jabbed a lifter to slip on the stroke of lunch. With wickets continuing to slip away thereafter, the last vestige of Pakistani hope vanished when the captain Shahid Afridi slapped his fourth delivery down the throat of deep midwicket for 2 - a shot which doubtless contributed to his post-match declaration that next week's Headingley Test would be his last.

Bowling unchanged from the Nursery End for 18 overs straight, North's seemingly innocuous offspinners proved too tempting for an impetuous Pakistan line-up, who found a succession of unworthy ways to fling their wickets away. Umar Amin was impressively snaffled by the Man of the Match, Simon Katich at short leg, but in the same over, Afridi's hoick towards the Grandstand boundary was brainless in the extreme, as Mike Hussey steadied himself well to pouch a skier just inside the rope.

At 229 for 6, there was little hope of Pakistan coming back into the contest, let alone dig in for the draw, although Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Aamer defied their fading expectations in a 54-run stand for the seventh wicket than spanned 19 overs. But when Ricky Ponting freed up the leg-side boundary to tempt Akmal into a mow, the effect was instantaneous. Smith slipped in a quicker ball to peg back his middle stump, as the last four wickets tumbled for six runs in 26 deliveries.

Ponting by now had the new ball at his disposal, but he saw no need to change the pattern of the session, especially with bright sunshine overhead and little prospect of swing. It took five more deliveries for Aamer to pick out Hussey at deep midwicket with a slog-sweep - only moments after the fielder had been waved into position - before Smith claimed a third courtesy of Umar Gul, who wafted a leading edge to Ponting at short cover. One over later, the deed was done, as Danish Kaneria patted a tame drive to Ponting once again, to leave North in possession of the best figures ever by an Australian spinner at Lord's.

The last rites came in a rush, but Pakistan had made Australia work hard for much of the day's play. After a confident start to a mountainous run-chase on Thursday evening, they had resumed on 114 for 1, still requiring an improbable 326 to make history and end a run of 12 consecutive defeats at the hands of the Aussies. But the overnight pair of Butt and Azhar showed no signs of anxiety as they racked up 48 runs in the first ten overs of the day under moderately overcast skies that always promised to clear up as the day progressed.

Butt, who resumed on 58 not out, was once again the main source of Pakistani optimism, as he cashed in on a wayward first spell from Mitchell Johnson to slash four fours over the covers in the space of 10 deliveries, before angling the first ball of Watson's spell through third man for another boundary. Following on from his first-innings 63, the innings briefly carried his Test average against Australia past the 50 mark.

But slowly as first, and then with increasing confidence, Australia made their weight of runs count on a brittle Pakistani line-up. Though Azhar continued the composed performance he had begun the previous evening, he was always on the defensive against Ben Hilfenhaus, against whom he squirted consecutive boundaries through the gully before, on 42, snicking a perfect outswinger to Paine behind the stumps.

Hilfenhaus's rhythm was disrupted one over later when he dived awkwardly at third man and jarred his left shoulder on the turf, but with the weather now brightening up immeasurably, his job for the day was as good as done. Into the attack came North, and out of his crease toppled Butt, whose quest to become the first centurion in a neutral Test at Lord's for 98 years ended in an agonising fashion.

It was the opening that Australia needed. Ponting's persistence with North suited the new man, Umar Akmal, just fine, as he climbed onto the offensive in his typically uninhibited manner, smacking a six and a four back over the bowler's head in consecutive overs to move to 22 from 30 deliveries. But the lure of easy runs came at a price, as Umar and his middle-order team-mates would soon discover to their cost.

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Part II

Part III

Part IV

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Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

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Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

1. 1st Test: 13-17 July 2010

• Day 1 Highlights
• Day 2 Highlights
• Day 3 Highlights
• Day 4 Highlights
  

• Day 1 Highlights
• Day 2 Highlights
• Day 3 Highlights
• Day 4 Highlights
• Day 5 highlights