Alastair Cook put a run of low scores behind him with his first international century of the season as England built a slender lead against Pakistan in the third Test at The Oval yesterday.
England, 2-0 up in this four-match series, were 151 for two in their second innings at drinks in the post-lunch session on the third day with Cook 108 not out after resuming on nought not out.
Jonathan Trott was unbeaten on 23, with England 76 runs in front and Pakistan still to bat again.
PHOTO: AFP
Left-handed opener Cook had managed just 106 runs in eight previous Test innings against Bangladesh and Pakistan, but the selectors kept faith with him ahead of England’s Ashes defense in Australia later this year. Cook’s stand with Trott was so far worth 111 after they’d come together following the loss of nightwatchman James Anderson, the only wicket Pakistan took in yesterday’s first session.
England resumed on six for one, a deficit of 69 runs, after losing captain Andrew Strauss, caught in the slips off left-arm quick Mohammad Aamer.
Cook began nervously in overcast conditions promising swing movement and edged a couple of streaky boundaries off Mohammad Asif through the slips.
Wahab Riaz had taken five wickets on debut during England’s first innings 233. However, Cook pulled him for four when the left-arm quick dropped short in his first over yesterday.
However, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal struck first ball when Anderson was caught behind for 11 to leave England 40 for two.
Another wicket soon afterward and England would have been fretting. However, Trott rarely appears flustered and Essex’s Cook was growing in confidence.
Poor footwork has plagued Cook for several matches, but two textbook cover-driven fours off Aamer, where he got his foot to the pitch of the ball, suggested he was remedying the problem.
And the 25-year-old Cook completed a 77-ball fifty, including nine boundaries, with a single off Aamer that gave his side the lead.
Cook then cashed in when Riaz dropped short by cutting him for four to bring up a fifty stand with Trott in 81 balls, of which his share was 42. Pakistan, bowled out for record low scores against England of 80 and 72 in 354-run and nine-wicket defeats in the first and second Test at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston respectively, managed a much improved 308 on Thursday.
Azhar Ali made a Test-best 92 not out and the recalled Mohammad Yousuf 56 as Pakistan built a first innings lead of 75.
England off-spinner Graeme Swann took four for 68 as he reached the landmark of 100 Test wickets in just his 23rd match at this level.
In an age of mystery spinners, Swann’s achievements with orthodox off-spin have been remarkable.
His 100th victim was Mohammad Yousuf, one of the great Pakistan batsmen, who has returned to the team after a turbulent six months.
“I was delighted to get Yousuf,” Swann told a news conference. “It was the first time I’ve played against him.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen him bat first hand and he looked the class player he is. To get him as the 100th, he would probably have been the man on the team sheet I would have picked before the game,” he said.
“I realized I was on 97 because my mum told me and she told me she was looking forward to watching me get it. She’s going to the Proms [music concert] tonight and she said I had to get it quickly so she didn’t miss the start,” he said.
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