England cruised to a 24-run win over embattled Pakistan thanks to a tempo-setting display from Steve Davies in the first match of the one-day international series at the Riverside on Friday.
Davies was drafted into the side in place of wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter and he seized the opportunity to cement his place at the top of the order with 13 fours in a devastating innings of 87 from 67 balls.
Umar Gul and debutant Mohammad Irfan bore the brunt of Davies’ onslaught as England reached 274 for six from a rain-reduced 41 overs after a two-hour delay caused by a wet outfield.
PHOTO: AFP
Jonathan Trott weighed in with 69 from 78 balls and captain Andrew Strauss hit 41, while only off-spinner Saeed Ajmal managed to put England under pressure as he took four for 58.
Pakistan never seriously threatened to chase down that target as England’s bowlers kept the tourists on a tight leash, with Kamran Akmal’s 53 and a quick-fire 43 from Umar Akmal in their total of 250-9.
In the end, Pakistan could be relatively satisfied that they put up a decent fight after so many abject defeats on their nightmare tour.
“Steve Davies was outstanding with the bat and got us off to a flying start. Our score was very competitive on this wicket,” Strauss said. “The fielding could have been a bit better, but I was pleased with the way we bowled at the end. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve done.”
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi said: “We missed an opportunity in the morning and we made some mistakes, but we’ve definitely got hope for the next few games.”
“You could see from the way the guys played that we were 100 percent better than before,” he added.
Any hopes the Pakistan team had of avoiding further controversy after a scandal-scarred tour were dashed on the morning of the match when it emerged that fast bowler Wahab Riaz will be interviewed by police in midweek in the course of their spot-fixing inquiries.
England were in no mood to show any mercy and Davies and Strauss put on 78 in fewer than 12 overs.
Strauss immediately hit Irfan out of the attack, with three fours in the 2.13m-tall left-armer’s solitary over of his new-ball spell, as Pakistan’s decision to bowl first backfired.
Afridi dropped a sharp head-high chance at cover off Mohammad Hafeez to reprieve Davies on 21, before Ajmal finally provided the breakthrough when he bowled Strauss as he attempted an ambitious sweep.
England smashed 34 runs in four overs during a ferocious display of power-play hitting that was only curbed when Paul Collingwood swept Ajmal straight to deep square-leg.
Trott and Ravi Bopara kept England ticking over well enough as 85 runs came in the final 10 overs to set a challenging target.
A reply of substance was hugely important to Pakistan’s self-belief for the remainder of the series, and openers Kamran Akmal and Hafeez provided a solid start, but Strauss’s pace attack dried up the boundaries in the power-play spells, with spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy also proving effective.
Swann delivered a wicket in his first over when Hafeez’s mistimed sweep was well-held by a tumbling Tim Bresnan at deep square-leg to end a stand of 62.
With Mohammad Yousuf also soon gone leg before wicket to Yardy, Pakistan were falling behind the rate.
Swann and Yardy might both have had Kamran Akmal in the 30s had half-chances been taken by Strauss and Trott.
When Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman did hole out at long-on off Swann, Umar Akmal replaced his older brother and kept Pakistan in contention in company with Fawad Alam, but when those two departed the game was up.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to