England won the match by 121 runs, clinches the series by 3-2

Eng vs Pak – 5th ODI,Southampton

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TossEngland , who chose to bat
Player of the match TBA
Umpires: BR Doctrove and IJ Gould
TV Umpire: NJ Llong
Match Referee: JJ Crowe
Reserve Umpire: RK Illingworth

Squads:

England Team:AJ Strauss(C),SM Davies(Wk),IJL Trott,IR Bell,PD Collingwood,EJG Morgan, LJ Wright, TT Bresnan, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson

Pakistan Team:Kamran Akmal(Wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi(C), Fawad Alam, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Ajmal

Eng vs Pak – 4th ODI, at Lord’s London

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Toss Pakistan wins the toss and bats first
Player of the match A Razzaq
Umpires: BR Doctrove and RA Kettleborough
TV Umpire: RK Illingworth
Match Referee: JJ Crowe
Reserve Umpire: NJ Llong

Eng vs Pak – 2nd ODI, at Headingley

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Toss Pakistan wins the toss and bats first
Player of the match Andrew Strauss
Umpires: BR Doctrove And NJ Long
TV Umpire: Ian Gould
Match Referee: JJ Crowe
Reserve Umpire: RA Kettleborough

Squads:

England Team : AJ Strauss [C], SM Davies [WK], IJL Trott, PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, RS Bopara, MH Yardy, TT Bresnan, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson

Pakistan Team : Kamran Akmal [WK], Mohd Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi [C], Asad Shafiq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan

Eng vs Pak – 1st ODI, at Chester- Le- Street

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Toss Pakistan wins the toss and bowls first
Player of the match TBA
Umpires: BR Doctrove And IJ Gould
TV Umpire: RA Kettleborough
Match Referee: JJ Crowe
Reserve Umpire: RK Illingworth

Squads:

England Team : AJ Strauss, AN Cook, PD Collingwood, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson, RJ Sidebottom, GP Swann, LJ Wright, MJ Prior, TT Bresnan, EJG Morgan, IJL Trott, C Kieswetter, MH Yardy

Pakistan Team : Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Danish Kaneria, Fawad Alam, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali, Zulqarnain Haider

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Eng vs Pak – 2nd T20 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

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Cardiff:

Toss Pakistan, who elected to bat first.
Player of the match TBA
Umpire IJ Gould and RK Illingworth
TV umpire RA Kettleborough
Match referee JJ Crowe
Reserve umpire JH Evans

Squads:

England: PD Collingwood [C], EJG Morgan, MH Yardy, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, C Kieswetter, TT Bresnan, SM Davies [WK], RS Bopara, RJ Sidebottom, LJ Wright

Pakistan: Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal [WK], Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi [C], Abdul Razzaq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahzaib Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul

Eng vs Pak: 1st T20 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

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Toss England, who elected to field
Player of the match Michael Yardy
Umpire RA Kettleborough and NJ Llong
TV umpire RK Illingworth
Match referee JJ Crowe
Reserve umpire JH Evans

Squads:

England: PD Collingwood [C], EJG Morgan, MJ Prior, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, , TT Bresnan, SM Davies [WK], A Shahzad, RJ Sidebottom, LJ Wright

Pakistan: Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal [WK], Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi [C], Abdul Razzaq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahzaib Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul

Match Report:4th Test: Day 4: England v Pakistan at Lord’s, London

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Lord’s, London:The day 4 invited the cricketing fraternity with all more Shocking news. When the news about the match fixing was broke on the previous evening. The news alleged that few of the Pakistan players involved in the spot match fixing.

This shocking news which already marred the Day 4 had a lazy start. With Pakistani players delayed in taking the crease. Finally the overnight batsmen took the crease. Pakistan on Day 3 was already down and on the back foot with their dismal performance in both the innings. In second innings, Pakistani continued their pathetic batting performance. Pakistan resumed its overnight score of 41 runs for the loss of 4 wickets.

Pakistan added another 106 runs to its overnight score by losing the remaining 6 wickets. Umar Akmal remained the top notch scorer for Pakistan. Umar Akmal scored fighting 79 for “already lost” match. His innings held Pakistan for some time from losing pathetically.

Graeme Swann was the top bowler for England who took 5 wickets by giving 62 runs and in the process he completed his ninth five-haul wickets in his test career.

England won this fourth and final test and took the series lead by 3-1. Man of the match was given to Stuart Broad for his all round show and Man of the series was given to Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir and England’s IJL Trott.

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first.
Player of the match: SCJ Broad
Players of the series: Mohammad Amir and IJL Trott
Series England won the 4-match series 3-1
Umpires:BF Bowden and AL Hill
Match referee: RS Mahanama

Match Report:Match: 4th Test: Day 2: England v Pakistan at Lord’s, London

Lord’s, London: The Day 2 marked the honors for both ball as well as for the bat. At stumps, both the weapons of the game took equal honors in providing enthralling cricket. If it was Amir’s hostile bowling which sent six English top batsmen back into the pavilion in a whisker of time then it was the batting by Trott and Broad who fought bravely to place England back on top.

Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad joined in the middle when England was deeply holed at 102 for the loss of 6 wickets. This partnership not only helped England to get out of woods but also surged ahead in giving England a commanding position. Trott and Broad involved in one of the finest battle for the eighth wicket under seaming conditions to put up an unbeaten partnership of 244 for the eighth wicket .Jonathan Trott scored his 3rd test century during the process whereas Stuart Broad scored his maiden test century.

Both the centuries came when their team was badly needed for to recover from the collapse. Trott scored unbeaten 149 runs which included 15 boundaries whereas Broad remained unbeaten on 125 which had 11 boundaries and a six. England is now in a commanding position with both the batsmen at the crease and also having 3 more wickets in hand.

Early in the morning, England’s batting woes continued in this fourth and final test match which is being played at Lord’s, London. Day 1 which was completely washed out due to rain and bad light was resumed today with the seaming conditions around. Mohammad Amir who is in terrific form went a step ahead ripped England top order earlier in the day.

England resumed its overnight score of 39 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. Mohammad Amir, blown English top order in a blink of eye. He took 4 wickets in the first session before lunch and 2 wickets in the post lunch session. Out of 6 wickets, 4 batsmen were sent back to the pavilion without scoring a single run. Amir brilliantly used the seaming conditions to run through English top order.

Amir’s six scalps included Cook (10), Pietersen (0), Collingwood (0), Morgan (0), Prior (22) and Swann (0).The bad form of Cook and Pietersen continued in this match it was worse especially in Pietersen’s case. Pietersen’s bad run continued when he went for an expensive drive on the first delivery, which took a leading edge and was caught behind by Kamran Akmal.

The best part of Amir’s bowling was that he brought the ball back into the right handers and made their lives miserable. Collingwood was one such victim for this kind of bowling.

England by the time it reached 102 runs it lost 7 wickets, which looked down and out. England was looking for someone to take up the fight to the opposition. it was then Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad got into the act for the damage control.

At stumps on Day 2, England scored 346 for the loss of 7 wickets. Both Trott and Broad who hammered centuries are still on the crease.

Match Report:4th Test: Day 1: England v Pakistan at Lord’s, London

Lord’s,London: Day 1 of this fourth test was called off due to rain and bad light. Pakistan won the toss and elected to field first.England scored 39 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in 13 overs untill the rain and the bad light interrupted. The only wicket to fall was of Strauss who scored 13 before he was clean bowled by Mohammad Asif.The match was finally called off after several inspections.

Squads:

England:AJ Strauss, AN Cook, IJL Trott,KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior(Wk), GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson, ST Finn

Pakistan:Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt(C), Mohammad Yousuf, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal(Wk), Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif

Match Report: 3rd Test: Day 4: England v Pakistan at Kennington Oval, London

Pakistan won the third test by 4 wickets. Now the Series stands as 2-1

Toss England, who chose to bat
Player of the match Mohammad Amir (Pakistan)
Umpires SJ Davis (Australia) and AL Hill (New Zealand)
TV umpire BF Bowden (New Zealand)
Match referee RS Madugalle (Sri Lanka)
Reserve umpire PJ Hartley

Match Report: 3rd Test: Day 3: England v Pakistan at Kennington Oval, London

Kensington Oval, London: At the end of day 3,Pakistan was back on top. Pakistan’s pace and spin bowling gave that needed edge which left England in a difficult situation. Mohammad Amir who is enjoying the English summer in every test match was well supported by Saeed Ajmal from spin department.

Both the bowlers rattled English batting line up and took 4 wickets each. The combination worked in favor of Pakistan which gave an edge to taste the victory. It’s up to the Pakistani batsmen to play sensibly for the next few sessions.

England resumed its overnight score of 6 for the loss of 1 wicket. Alastair Cook was the player for England who fought like a warrior when Pakistan struck England at the regular intervals. Cook played one of the finest innings to bail out his team from the disaster. This terrific innings of 110 was his thirteenth hundred in his test career.

Cook was well supported by defiant Trott who gave good support and the partnership between Cook and Trott added 116 runs for the third wicket. This fine innings of 110 which had 17 boundaries came to end when he edged to Keeper Kamran Akmal of Wahad Riaz bowling. Pietersen joined Trott, both held the innings for some time untill Pietersen’s dismissal.

Post tea session spin trick by Ajmal cost Pietersen’s wicket when he clean bowled on 23 runs. The lethal combination of Pace-spin attack resulted the collapse of England batting line up. England lost 6 wickets in heap for 26 runs.

At stumps on Day 3, England scored 221 for the loss of 9 wickets with Broad (6*) and Swann who is yet to open the account, were still at the crease. Pakistan need one wicket to wrap the England innings.

Match Report: 3rd Test: Day 2: England v Pakistan at Kennington Oval, London

Kennington Oval, London: Pakistan on Day 2 resumed their innings with the overnight score of 48 for the loss of 1 wicket. But it lost Yasir Hameed on the same score. Finn struck Hameed on 36. Salman Butt joined the overnight batsman Wahab Riaz. Salman Butt who shown solidity in the early part of the tour but now he is staring his own shadow. Salman was out on 17 when the team’s score was 76.

Salman’s wicket paved the way for someone who was making his come back into the Tests. Yes, it was Mohammed Yusuf who returned back into the Pakistan to give that impetus in the middle order. The recall was well utilized when he firstly began the partnership along with Riaz. Riaz, a debutant bowler frustrated the England bowlers in the middle when he played a waiting game at number 3 until he was caught in front of the wickets. The resistance of Riaz came to end when Pakistan’s score was 110. Pakistan lost its fourth wicket.

The inform Azhar Ali joined Yusuf at the other end and began the damage control. Lots of hopes were pinned on Yusuf’s comeback by the fans. Yusuf didn’t disappoint his fans and played fine come back innings which helped Pakistan to build the innings. Both Yusuf and Azhar Ali steadied the Pakistani ship and added valuable 69 runs for the fifth wicket before Yusuf was out. Yusuf slammed come back 50. His innings of 56 which had 8 boundaries was terminated when Swann took the caught and bowled to get rid of him.

Azhar Ali from the other end continued his brilliant form with some help from the tail enders to put up a respectable score. Azhar Ali scored brilliantly and helped Pakistan to go past 300 mark which helped to earn a decent lead of 75 runs. Azhar’s brilliant knock went begging when he ran out with the partners from the other end which made him to remain unbeaten on 92. Umar Akmal’s late burst of 38 helped Pakistan to score 308 for the loss of 8 wickets. Pakistan took a lead of 75 runs. For England, it was Swann who was the most successful bowler who picked 4 wickets.

In reply, England began its second innings with a disaster. Strauss poor form continued and was out on 4 when the inform Mohammed Amir struck him,Yasir Hameed did no mistake in taking the catch. At stumps on Day 2, England scored 6 runs for the loss of 1 wicket with Cook on 0* and night watch man Anderson on 2* at the crease.

Match Report: 3rd Test: Day 1: England v Pakistan at Kennington Oval, London

Kenning ton Oval, London: Wahab Riaz made his debut in this third test as a replacement for Umar Gul. Umar Gul suffered from hamstring injury and made the way for Riaz. Riaz had a dream debut and picked his first five for on his debut test.
England won the toss and invited the trouble by batting first.

Mohammed Amir and Wahab Riaz dealt the morning session by using the seam conditions pretty well and struck English batsmen at regular intervals. Though Amir couldn’t control the line in these seam conditions whereas Mohammad Asif was on top of the game with perfect line and picked 3 wickets by giving 68 runs. Riaz was the bowler of the day who cleaned up the top order. He picked 5 wickets by giving 63 runs in his spell. England was all out for 233 runs.

Early in the morning, England’s decision of batting first was backfired. Both the openers Strauss and Cook were dismissed early. Cook continued his poor form. These two wickets open the doors for the Pakistan and allowed them to clean up the top order and run through the tail. England lost 7 wickets by the time it scored 94 runs. Both Pietersen and Collingwood fell early.

It was during this stage a partnership of worth 119 runs was blossomed between Matt Prior and Stuart Broad for the eighth wicket to give the respectability for England’s cause. Matt Prior continued his good form and held the fort during his innings of 84 runs which had 14 boundaries whereas Stuart Broad who touted to be the next good all rounder scored 48 runs with 7 boundaries during this important stay in the middle.

The resistance was broken when Riaz struck broad late in the innings. Matt Prior remained unbeaten on 84 during his fight back.
Pakistan, in reply began their innings with all more cautious. The only wicket to well in Pakistan’s innings was of Imran Farhat.The misery of Imran Farhat continued with his bat when he was bowled by Anderson. At stumps on Day 3, Pakistan scored 48 for the loss of 1 wicket with Yasir Hameed on 36 and Wahab Riaz who is yet to open the account, were at the crease.

Squads

England: AJ Strauss[c], JM Anderson, SCJ Broad, PD Collingwood, AN Cook, ST Finn, EJG Morgan, KP Pietersen, MJ Prior[WK], GP Swann, IJL Trott

Pakistan Salman Butt[C], Kamran Akmal [WK], Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Yousuf, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Asif

Match Report: 2nd Test: Day 4: England v Pakistan at Birmingham

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It was a formality day for this brilliant English team both in bowling as well as in batting departments. England cleaned up the last wicket of Pakistan. Broad struck the last wicket of Asif. Pakistan was all out for 296 which took a lead of 117 runs. England was set a target of 118 runs to win this test and lead the series by 2-0 and they did exactly the same.

England in reply to 118 runs, started off by losing the only wicket. Cook’s bad form continued in this low scoring chase. The golden arm Amir struck and bowled cook on 4.Trott joined in the middle and steadied the ship along with skipper Strauss and continued this low scoring chase. Both the batsmen played sensibly and made sure there was no more danger involved in their chase.

Strauss hit 4 boundaries in his innings of 53 runs which came in 114 balls whereas Trott too scored the same runs in 101 balls which had 6 boundaries. Both the batsmen built an unbeaten partnership of 117 runs for the second wicket to win the second test match. England won the match comfortably by 9 wickets. England now lead the series by 2-0. Man of the match was given to Swann for his brilliant bowling.

Toss: Pakistan, Who Chose To Bat First
Player Of The Match: GP Swann
Umpires: SJ Davis And M Erasmus
TV Umpire: AL Hill
Match Referee: RS Madugalle
Reserve Umpire: JW Lloyds

Match Report: 2nd Test: Day 3: England v Pakistan at Birmingham

The inform batsmen Imran Farhat and Azhar Ali got into act for the damage control and steadied Pakistan ship on Day 3. Both the batsmen put up a partnership of 52 runs for the second wicket before the dismissals of both the batsmen which came in quick succession.

England bowler Swann pulled back the game by his breathtaking spell. By the end of Pakistan’s innings he scalped 6 wickets by giving 65 runs. The first two wickets to fall were Farhat and Azhar Ali. Broad cleaned up both the wickets in the consecutive overs. Pakistan lost 2 quick wickets when the score card read 54. Imran Farhat resistance came to end on 29 who faced 93 balls whereas Azhar Ali’s innings ended on 19 runs which came off in 83 balls. The resistance shown by these two batsmen was finally broken.Pakistan when reached on 153 it lost 4 more wickets. Pakistan scored 153 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.

It was at this stage when Pakistan looked down and out with all options being ruled out. A brilliant fight back was demonstrated from the tail end. Zulqarnain Haider who is keeping place of Kamran Akmal shown great character and fought back in the company of Saeed Ajmal who shined with bowling early in the day. The duo took the battle to the opposition and hammered valuable fifties. They put up a valuable partnership of 115 runs for the eighth wicket. Saeed Ajmal was the first to go who in turn scored brilliant 50 runs which had 6 boundaries. A run later it was Zulqarnain Haider, the highest scorer for Pakistan got out. His insipiring knock of 88 runs had 15 meaningful boundaries. His innings gave a slight relief for Pakistan which converted Pakistan’s trailing of 179 runs to a lead of 90 runs.

Swann and Broad cleaned up the remaining Pakistan tail with one wicket remaining. At stumps on Day 3, Pakistan scored 291 for the loss of 9 wickets with Umar Gul on 9* and Mohammad Asif on 13*at crease. Swann got 6 wickets where as Broad, Anderson and Finn got one wicket each.

Match Report: 2nd Test: Day 2: England v Pakistan at Birmingham

Birmingham: The overnight batsmen Pietersen and Trott resumed from 112 for the loss of 2 wickets on Day 2. The pair continued to milk the runs and the duo involved in building a partnership of 133 for the third wicket. Both recovered the team’s prospect by playing sensible innings. Trott remained rock solid in giving the needed support for Pietersen.

Pietersen, from the other end continued to pace up his innings after he got couple of lives early in the innings. Trott innings of 55 was scuttled by Umar Amin. England lost its third wicket when the score was 177. Pietersen was the next to go when he made 80 runs. His 80 runs had 12 boundaries. Pietersen was caught and bowled by Saeed Ajmal. Pietersen was his first victim. Later Swann run through the England batting line up and removed the wickets of Collingwood (28), prior (15), Swann(4) and Broad (0).

At one stage England looked to score anything beyond 300 when the score was 177 for the loss of just 3 wickets. But it was Saeed Ajmal’s inspiring spell which brought Pakistan back into the game. England was all out for 251 runs with a lead of 179 runs. Ajmal took five for, Asif and Amir got two wickets each. Umar Amin got the wicket of Trott.

In reply,Pakistan began its second innings iwhich was trailing 179 runs behind lost its opener for duck. Skipper Salman Butt was caught by Strauss of inform Anderson bowling. At stumps on Day 2, Pakistan scored 19 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. Imran Farhat on 10* and Azhar Ali on 5* were on crease. At stumps,Pakistan was trailing 160 runs behind.

Match Report: 2nd Test: Day 1: England v Pakistan at Birmingham

Birmingham: A team which looks more as a T-20 team than as a test team is getting tested in each and every match and in every venue as well. The result is getting worse than previous ones. Pakistan batting was made mockery once again by the sheer bowling of England.

Pakistan was bundled out for 72, this low scoring first innings was beaten their own pathetic record, which they set in the previous test match. England’s trio pace men breathed fire and ran through the Pakistan batting line up. Anderson, Broad and Finn struck Pakistan from top to the tail. Anderson and Broad picked four wickets each where as Finn got two wickets.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first, a move which back fired them. Batting in such seaming conditions is always difficult for any team and a team like Pakistan which is so young didn’t shatter anyone’s myth.

Pakistan lost first 6 wickets for a score of 36 runs. It was mindless batting by Pakistan which invited such sorry state. In Pakistan innings, there were three double digit scores, 5 ducks and a highest partnership of 27 which came for the seventh wicket between Umar Amin and Mohammad Amir. Pakistan in its first innings was scuttled for a total of 72.

England in reply, started on a positive note though conditions were still favorable. England when on 44 lost 2 quick wickets. Both the openers Strauss and Cook were sent back by Amir and Asif respectively. Cook was first to go when Asif struck him by a bouncer and the leading edge from the bat of Cook travelled to the second slip Umar Akmal took the catch to complete the formalities. Cook was out for 17 runs. The next was to go was Skipper Strauss. Amir swung back the ball and forced Strauss to play there were two sounds as the ball hit bat and pad Zulqarnain took the catch behind the stumps. The decision was asked for a review and the review was resulted in favor of Pakistan. Strauss was out for 25. England lost both the wickets when the score was 44.

Pakistan awful day continued even on the field when they dropped the catches of Trott and Pietersen early in the innings. Trott and Pietersen took the control and held the proceedings from there on. At stumps on Day 1, England scored 112 for the loss of 2 wickets. Trott and Pietersen remained unbeaten on 31 and 36 respectively. England now leads by 40 runs.

Squads:

England Team: AJ Strauss, AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior, GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson, ST Finn,

Pakistan Team: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Zulqarnain Haider, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Saeed Ajmal

Match Report: 1st Test: Day 4: England v Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

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Trent Bridge: England began their season yet again on a very high note by winning the first test match by huge margin of 354 runs. Anderson who had great run on his birthday extended his brilliant form and scalped 6 wickets for 17 runs and also picked up his first Ten wicket haul in his test career. Pakistan was all out for 80 runs in its second innings.

With a daunting task to climb down, Pakistan opted out for the shortest form of cricket to appease themselves that they no more belong to the test cricket but for T-20. Not less than a week, they had a thumping victory over Australia. But, in this week they lost the first test match to England in much worst possible way.

On Day 3 in the last session, England rattled Pakistan by taking 3 wickets for 15 runs. With all in form batsmen were sent back to the pavilion. Pakistan started its Day 4 on a disastrous note when they started to lose the wickets in every alternate over.

Anderson swung the ball both ways and struck every now and then. He completely used the seaming conditions and rattled the Pakistan batting line up. His scalps were Farhat (15), Amin (1), Akmal (4), Shoaib (9), Gul (9) and Asif (0) whereas Finn and Broad took two wickets each.

With every passing Day, the Pakistani cricket is getting reduced to below average. With new team, new captain things are looking out of distance even to make a test combination let alone to have consistency in test cricket.

Danish Kaneria (16) and Imran Farhat (15) were the only two batsmen who scored in double digits and third one was the extra runs (14).Player of the match was given to James Anderson for his brilliant performance.

Toss: England who chose to bat
Player Of The Match: JM Anderson
Umpires: EAR De Silva And AL Hill
TV Umpire: M Erasmus
Match Referee: RS Madugalle
Reserve Umpire: RJ Bailey

Match Report: 1st Test: Day 3: England v Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Trent Bridge: England dominated Day 3 with both bat and the ball. Pakistan resumed their overnight tally of 147 for the loss of 9 wickets with Gul leading from the front. Gul at stumps on Day 2 was batting on 30. He extended his brilliant innings to 65 runs and remained unbeaten till the end of Pakistan first innings. Gul’s fighting 65 had two partnerships. First came with Danish Kaneria of 39 runs and second was with Asif of 35 runs. Pakistan was all out for 182 in its first innings. This left them to recover the remaining deficit of 172 runs more.

Matt Prior hammered his third test hundred in the second innings. His brilliant unbeaten 102 runs came at that point of time when England was looking completely down and out by losing 6 wickets for a total of 98 runs. Prior’s unbeaten 102 had 7 boundaries and 2 sixes. This innings gave a vital push for the England’s overall lead. He got good support from Swann (28) and Broad (24) for the 7th and 8th wickets. Strauss declared the innings on 262 for the loss of 9 wickets. The declaration came just after the century of Matt Prior. England set up a huge target of 434 runs for Pakistan to chase down.

Earlier, England began their second innings on a disastrous note too. England lost 6 wickets in less than 100 runs. Pakistan bowling is shining all the way in every match. The trio (Aamer-Asif-Gul) is growing strength by strength with every match. As expected it was Aamer who struck first blow in the second innings by removing Skipper Strauss for duck when the England score was just 2. Then it was Asif’s turn to match his deadly partner, Aamer. Asif struck the second wicket and removed Cook for 12 runs. There was a small resistance from Trott (26) and Pietersen (22) who put up a small partnership of 47 runs for the fifth wicket. Gul came down firing the entire cylinders and picked three important wickets of Pietersen, Trott and Collingwood in a space of 5 runs. This entirely forced England on the back foot. Morgan, the centurion of first innings was involved in a run out. England lost 6 big wickets by the time it scored 98 runs.

Pakistan began their chase of 434 with all more disastrous note. It lost 3 quick wickets by the time it scored 15 runs in their second innings during the chase of mammoth target of 434.Broad struck and removed two consecutive wickets in the form of Salman Butt who began on positive note by hitting two boundaries but couldn’t hold back for the third time and eventually gave away the catch to Collingwood of Broad bowling, Azhar Ali was out for Lbw on duck of Broad bowling. The third wicket of Umar Amin was caught in front of stumps by Anderson for 1 run.

Match Report: 1st Test: Day 2: England v Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Trent Bridge: : In one part of the world, bowlers were made slavery but in the other part it was the bowlers who celebrated. Test cricket is a bowler’s game, so be it.

Pakistan began their first innings after getting rid of England for 354. It was unlike of England approach. The wickets started to tumble from the beginning of the innings. Salman Bhatt was the first to fall on 1.Birthday boy Anderson was the first to open the account by removing Bhatt after cleaning him up. It was difficult for the Pakistan batsmen to adjust in these seaming conditions and lost their path. Both Anderson and Finn struck at the regular intervals and removed the wickets. Anderson got the wickets of Imran Farhat (19), Azhar Ali (14) Shoaib Mallik (38) and Mohammad Aamer (25) whereas Finn got 3 wickets in the form of Umar Amin (2), Umar Akmal (4) and Kamran Akmal (0). Broad got the wicket of Danish Kaneria. Gul remained unbeaten on 30.

Except Shoaib Mallik, Aamer and Gul none got good start or rather no one tried to settle in these seaming conditions. Birthday boy Anderson celebrated his special day by getting five-for. At stumps on Day 2,Pakistan scored 147 runs for the loss of 9 wickets. The day 2 belonged to the bowlers, 15 wickets were tumbled for 155 runs in the day’s play.

Earlier in the morning, it was shell shocking morning for the England batting line up when they resumed the play on Day 2 from 332 for the loss of 4 wickets. In less then 25 runs England lost all the 6 wickets in heap. What a dramatic turnaround this session we got to see. Mohammad Asif who took just 1 wicket on Day 1 came firing all the cylinders and cleaned up the English middle order and the tail in no time.

Collingwood was the first to go in Asif bowling. He added just 1 run to his overnight score of 81 runs. It was beauty delivery which caught Collingwood in front of the stumps; He was out for Lbw on 82.The next to fall was Morgan, who was again sent back in a similar fashion by Asif. Morgan’s brilliant innings of 130 came to an end when the team’s score was 344. These two wickets made inroads into the lower middle and tail of the English batting. Matt prior was run out for 6 runs. Asif kept firing and removed the wickets of Swann (5) and Anderson (2). Broad was cleaned by Gul on 3. England added just 23 runs to its overnight score of 331 at the cost 6 wickets. It was Asif who brought Pakistan back into the game. England was all out for 354 runs.Asif got 5 wickets, Aamer removed 3 wickets and Gul got 1 wicket.

Match Report: 1st Test: Day 1: England v Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Trent Bridge: Eoin Morgan who is showing all signs of becoming a very good batsman early in his career were proved once again. Though, he is already making waves in Odis. Eoin Morgan who is only 2 tests old but, the temperament was all showing in today’s innings. His maiden test century helped England to recover from a quick collapse to put back into the commanding position.

In this knock of unbeaten 125 runs, it had all breathtaking shots which blazed away from his bat. His flamboyancy remained up front in spite of the early losses suffered by England. Morgan was equally supported by Collingwood from other the end from a position when England lost 4 quick wickets.

Morgan and Collingwood built an unbeaten partnership of 213 runs for the fifth wicket. Morgan scored unbeaten 125 runs with 18 boundaries and a six of Kaneria bowling which fetched him his first test hundred whereas Collingwood scored unbeaten 81 runs with 11 boundaries.

Earlier in the morning, England won the toss and elected to bat first. Initially both the openers got off to a good start but the danger man from Pakistan struck Cook (8) early in the innings which pushed them on the back foot. Mohammad Aamer who is enjoying bowling in these English conditions who created havoc in the recently concluded two test match series against Australia carried his brilliant form into this game as well.

The next installment was fired from Aamer end when he once again struck by removing the other good looking opener, Strauss. By the time England scored 93 runs it lost both the openers. Strauss was caught behind by Kamran Akmal on 45.

Trott and Pietersen were the two new batsmen out in the middle but, Pietersen (8) was sent back by Asif from other end. Two runs later it was Trott who’s good looking and revival innings of 38 came to end when Aamer struck third time in this innings. England was pushed back when it lost 4 wickets for 118 runs.

In Pakistan camp, there were some nervy moments when Danish Kaneria couldn’t control his line and couple of chances were let down by Kamran Akmal. In the first session he dropped a regulation catch of Strauss while in the third (last) session he missed out the stumping of Collingwood of Kaneria bowling.

At stumps on Day 1, England after winning the toss and electing to bat first scored 331 for the loss of 4 wickets. Both Morgan on 125 and Collingwood on 81 remained unbeaten at the end of the play.

Squads:

England Team: AJ Strauss [C], AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior [WK], GP Swann, SCJ Broad, JM Anderson, ST Finn,

Pakistan Team: Imran Farhat, Salman Butt [C], Umar Amin, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal [WK], Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif

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