Graeme Swann once more took wickets early in his spell to leave Pakistan 111 for four at lunch on the second day of the third Test at The Oval yesterday.
That meant the tourists were 122 runs behind England’s first innings 233.
Off-spinner Swann, with only his second ball of the day, had recalled opener Yasir Hameed caught behind for his overnight score of 36.
He then removed stubborn nightwatchman Wahab Riaz for 27 when the impressive debutant was leg before wicket on the sweep to the first ball of the bowler’s second spell.
Swann, who took two wickets for seven runs in 24 balls, had figures at lunch of two for 12 in seven overs.
Riaz, who bats right-handed but is a left-arm quick, resisted for nearly two hours.
Recalled former captain Mohammad Yousuf was 16 not out and Azhar Ali unbeaten on nought.
Pakistan had been bowled out for record-low scores against England of 80 and 72 in crushing defeats by 354 runs and nine wickets at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston, but they at last showed some first innings resistance thanks to a fourth wicket stand of 34 between Riaz and Yousuf, back following an “indefinite ban” imposed by the Pakistan Cricket Board after he led the side on their winless tour of Australia that concluded in January.
Pakistan resumed on 48 for one, a deficit of 185, after Imran Farhat had been bowled by James Anderson in the last over on Wednesday, but the second ball of the day saw Steven Finn nip one off the seam to square up Hameed, with wicketkeeper Matt Prior holding the simple catch.
Pakistan captain Salman Butt, in at No. 4 having previously opened this series, began nervously with a streaky boundary through the slips off Anderson and the left-hander was still on 4 when he was dropped at backward-point by Eoin Morgan off a cut shot against Anderson.
Butt rarely looked at ease and was out for 17 when he edged an attempted square cut off Swann and Prior clung on at the third attempt.
England were indebted to an eighth-wicket stand of 119 between Prior (84 not out) and Stuart Broad (48) for rescuing them from the depths of 94 for seven on Wednesday afternoon.
On Wednesday evening, Riaz said his dream had come true after he took five wickets on his debut.
Riaz, brought in with Pakistan 2-0 down in the four-match series after Umar Gul was ruled out because of a hamstring injury, took five wickets for 63 runs in 18 overs as England were dismissed for 233.
“It is all about dreams. It was my dream and it has come true,” Riaz told reporters after stumps.
The 25-year-old’s wickets were mostly top-order batsman, with England captain Andrew Strauss, who won the toss, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen and Morgan all succumbing to the new boy.
No. 9 Broad had made 48 when Riaz had him leg before wicket with a full-length delivery.
Riaz was picked for the match instead of fellow seamer Tanveer Ahmed despite only taking 14 wickets in Pakistan’s first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy last season, compared with Ahmed’s 85, but Riaz said his experience of A team cricket had helped him make the step up to Test level.
“When your main bowlers are bowling you don’t get a chance,” he said. “When you get a chance, you have to perform. Performing on A tours was a confidence booster. I was the highest wicket-taker in both the series — against Australia A and Sri Lanka A — so that played a role in my selection.
Both Morgan, who made a century in England’s 354-run first Test victory at Trent Bridge, and Pietersen were caught behind by wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, but Riaz said: “Morgan’s wicket pleased me more than any other because he has been scoring all the time, so it was on my mind to get him. Next time, I want to get 10 wickets.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but