Paceman Umar Gul took 4-63 to help Pakistan beat the world’s best Test team, England, by 10 wickets in the first Test inside three days yesterday, gaining a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The 27-year-old fast bowler dismissed Andrew Strauss (6) before lunch and then accounted for Alastair Cook (5) and Kevin Pietersen (0) in his hostile nine-over first spell on a spin-friendly Dubai Stadium pitch.
Spinners Abdul Rehman (3-37) and Saeed Ajmal (3-42) — his second 10-wicket haul in Tests — supplemented Gul to help Pakistan bundle out England for 160.
Photo: Reuters
Pakistan notched the required 15 runs in 3.4 overs to hand England their first defeat in 10 Tests, since losing to Australia at Perth in the 2010 Ashes.
England’s batsmen, wrecked by Ajmal’s career-best 7-55 in their first innings of 192, were again clueless against the spin and played some rash shots as they sought to score runs on the pace of Gul.
Jonathan Trott top-scored with 49, but fell to an irresponsible shot, trying to force a short delivery from Gul and being caught by wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal, who finished the match with seven catches.
Trott, who passed the boundary of 2,000 runs when he reached 18 in his 24th Test, hit six boundaries during his 111-ball knock, but became Gul’s 150th wicket in his 41st Test.
England had another disastrous start as Strauss was adjudged caught behind, pushing Gul to the leg side and seeing the ensuing edge well taken by the wicketkeeper.
Strauss instantly challenged the verdict, but was left to trudge off the field after TV umpire Steve Davis of Australia upheld the original decision.
Soon after the lunch break, Gul produced a sharp rising delivery that caught Cook in two minds as the left-hander gloved it to Adnan, who had no trouble in gathering it.
Kevin Pietersen, who has yet to score big on tour, made it 25-3 when he hooked a Gul bouncer straight into the hands of deep square-leg fielder Abdul Rehman.
Ajmal then got in on the act when he trapped Ian Bell plumb in front of the wicket for 4.
Rehman ended a fifth-wicket partnership of 39 by dismissing Eoin Morgan (14) caught behind, while Ajmal trapped Matt Prior to leave England at 87-7.
Stuart Broad (17) and Graeme Swann (39) delayed the inevitable by putting on 48 for the eighth wicket, before Rehman dismissed Broad and Chris Tremlett off successive deliveries.
Ajmal took the last wicket by getting Swann caught, much to the delight of his teammates and the few hundred spectators in the stands.
In the morning, Adnan had boosted Pakistan’s lead with a gutsy second Test half-century. Adnan scored a career-best 61, adding another 50 runs after Pakistan resumed at 288-7.
Adnan, who hit eight boundaries during his 129-ball knock, put on a 30-run stand for the ninth wicket with Ajmal, who made 12. His previous best of 53 came against Bangladesh in Dhaka last month.
Swann had Adnan stumped to finish with figures of 4-107.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi on Wednesday inflicted a first-round defeat on former badminton world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open. Lin came out of top after a back-and-forth first game before Axelsen dominated the second, but the Dane was not able to keep that form in the decider as Lin reeled off six points in a row on the way to a 21-19, 13-21, 21-11 victory. “If I don’t play my best, everyone can win against me,” said Axelsen, the world No. 4. “Today’s opponent played a fantastic game; it was disappointing, but that is how it is.” “I just tried
RSS