Pakistan beat England by four wickets in the third Test at The Oval yesterday, but not before some nervous moments as they lost three quick wickets in their pursuit of a modest winning target of 148.
The Pakistanis were earlier cruising at 124 for three after ending England’s second innings for 222 in the first over of the day, but in a spell that revived English hopes, Azhar Ali ran himself out for 5, Mohammad Yousuf was yorked by James Anderson for 33 and Kamran Akmal was dismissed leg before wicket for a duck without playing a shot.
With rain in the air and a capacity crowd cheering England on, Pakistan eventually survived the assault to win with more than a day to spare.
After appearing down and out after heavy losses in the first two Tests, Pakistan now have a chance to square the four-match series at Lord’s starting on Thursday after drawing 1-1 with Australia earlier in the season.
Graeme Swann, who took four wickets in Pakistan’s first innings, was again the mainstay of the attack when he was asked to bowl from the Vauxhall End after five overs of the new ball.
He bowled unchanged to take three for 50 from 18.4 overs.
Sensibly in view of an adverse weather forecast, Pakistan decided to attack from the start after Stuart Broad was dismissed for 6 in the opening over of the day.
Imran Farhat set the tone by slashing James Anderson’s second ball over the slips for four on his way to his highest score of the series. He struck six boundaries before he was leg before wicket to Swann for 33.
Captain Salman Butt, also short of runs this series, took over from Farhat with 48 in 64 balls, before he became Swann’s second victim, 12 minutes before lunch.
Butt took three fours from a Broad over and two from Steven Finn, forcing Andrew Strauss to rotate his fast men from the Pavilion End.
Yousuf, playing his first Test since he was banned indefinitely after leading Pakistan on a spectacularly unsuccessful tour of Australia earlier this year, was again an assured and elegant presence.
Yousuf, who scored 56 in the first innings, showed his class with a square drive for four off Broad and an elegant late cut to the boundary off Swann.
The most unpredictable and possibly the most talented team in the world have been condemned to play all their internationals abroad since the deadly militant attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in March last year.
Six players were banned or fined after the Australia tour and to compound their misery Pakistan’s fielding was abject in the first two Tests against England.
The fielding was much improved at The Oval, with wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal, who has been dropped twice this year, taking eight catches, but the victory was set up on Friday by Pakistan’s two new talented international bowlers.
Left-armer Mohammad Amir, who finished on yesterday with his best Test figures of five for 52, made the ball reverse swing at high pace from around the wicket.
At the other end, Saeed Ajmal bamboozled the England batsmen, who were unable to distinguish his doosra, which leaves the right-hander, from his off-spinner.
The upshot was six wickets for 26 runs and plenty to think about for an England side whose next task after Lord’s is to defend the Ashes in Australia.
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