Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott steered England to a nine-wicket victory over Pakistan after lunch on the fourth day of the second Test yesterday to go 2-0 up in the four-match series.
England, set 118 to win at Edgbaston, cruised to their target as Strauss, dropped three times, and Trott both finished on 53 not out after the early dismissal of the out-of-form Alastair Cook.
Pakistan must now win the final two Tests at The Oval and Lord’s to draw the series.
PHOTO: AFP
Strauss added 111 for the second wicket with Trott as they weathered Pakistan’s early onslaught that claimed Cook’s wicket.
Trott was untroubled and grew in confidence, but Strauss was dropped twice (on 10 and 38) by debutant wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider off spinner Saeed Ajmal and then again on 43 by mid-off Mohammad Asif off Shoaib Malik.
The pitch showed signs of low bounce from pace bowlers Mohammed Amir and Asif, while there was slow turn for off-spinner Ajmal, but generally the sunshine that later disappeared allowed for reasonable batting conditions.
Pakistan achieved the early breakthrough they desired when Amir bowled Cook with the fourth ball of his second over and his first delivery to the left-hander.
Cook went neither forward nor back and his stumps were flattened by a ball that skidded through his non-existent defense to give Pakistan early optimism.
Cook has not reached 30 in his last seven Test innings. His form is giving England a problem as he is the captain-in-waiting after leading the side in Bangladesh this year when Strauss was rested. His place may be vulnerable prior to the Ashes that starts in November, especially with Ian Bell to return from injury.
Pakistan, 291 for nine overnight, added five runs to their total and faced 11 balls after the start of play. Stuart Broad had last man Asif caught by Kevin Pietersen at gully. Off-spinner Graeme Swann finished with career best figures of six for 65.
Meanwhile, Broad was fined 50 percent of his match fee for throwing the ball at Haider, the International Cricket Council said yesterday.
The punishment was the minimum penalty match referee Ranjan Madugalle could have given Broad, who had pleaded guilty to the level two offense of throwing the ball at or near a player, umpire or official in an inappropriate and/or dangerous manner.
“The actions of Stuart Broad were unacceptable,” Madugalle said in a statement. “I understand the frustrations of a bowler in the heat of the moment, but as an international sportsman one needs to control these emotions whatever may be the situation and always respect the opponent. Stuart, by pleading guilty, realized his mistake and I’m sure he will not repeat the same again.”
Broad, 24, was spoken to by the umpires after launching the ball at Haider and striking him on the shoulder when the batsman was on 22 and frustrating the hosts.
Haider went on to score 88 as Pakistan built a 112-run lead at the end of the third day’s play.
The incident annoyed the Pakistan camp, who doubted the sincerity of Broad’s apology soon after the ball had struck Haider.
“Cricket is a gentleman’s game, but I think they got frustrated,” Pakistan captain Salman Butt told reporters. “It’s not good to see people throwing balls intentionally at others and not even excusing [themselves] properly.”
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