Pakistan v England 2nd Test

First topic message reminder :

England team:
AJ Strauss(c), AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, IR Bell, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior(w), SCJ Broad, GP Swann, JM Anderson, MS Panesar

Pakistan team:
Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal(w), Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid
Khan


Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat

Akmal looking nervous, run rate slowing down again. Get a wicket in the last 40 mins, pressure would be on the tail.

How do people think England, will bat on this pitch, espically facing Ajmal on this pitch.

Don't think it was the skipper's concentration - he just got his hands in an awkward place - came pretty fast and high - happens ...

Not too much damage , Akmal out now ...well bowled Broad

You beauty Broad, the Akmal drop not too expensive.

Akmal 9 lbwBroad

Pak216/6

Broadyyyyyy 3 fer

BROADY!!!!!

Need to get Misbah now to be clearly on top ...these two are bowling pretty well with this second new ball. Can see more chances coming ...

Misbah 50

Fists of Fury wrote:BROADY!!!!!

you seem a little more upbeat than 30 minutes ago.

Anderson can perhaps feel unlucky to have not picked up a wicket. Even in such benign conditions he is making subtle things happen with the ball, further showing his development since his earlier days.

Woahhh he certainly is having some luck though

biltongbek wrote:

Fists of Fury wrote:BROADY!!!!!

you seem a little more upbeat than 30 minutes ago.

You know me, Biltong, my demeanour changes faster than an Indian batting lineup gets bowled out.

Misbah excellent 50

Have to say England have exceeded expectation here. Misbah a real capatins innings, he'll have to show some acceleration now or the tail could just melt around him.

Bowling a side out for under 300 first up would be massive for England. Once again its clear Englands issue isnt in the bowling, can we bat on this and make a score that reflects just how flat it is?

Broad has been fantastic today on this pitch. 3/40 from 21 overs.

Brilliant display from Broad, agreed.

These Pakistani's are bloody annoying, they all seem to be so effective at farming the strike! Give us an over at Rehman, please.

Misbah still playing well - would really like to get him out this evening ...tail might just fold then.

Anyone got a guess on what is a "good" score on this?

400 has got to be par, surely. A very slow turner and very little in it for the pace men.

Fists of Fury wrote:

biltongbek wrote:

Fists of Fury wrote:BROADY!!!!!

you seem a little more upbeat than 30 minutes ago.

You know me, Biltong, my demeanour changes faster than an Indian batting lineup gets bowled out.

You are doing the Indian batsmen an injustice here mate.

They take at least a session to fold.

Probably true - makes this new ball spell look pretty good then - with an ounce of luck could have had three not one by now... do need another wicket tonight.

At least Rehman will have to face an over now - and it will be Swann ...

...and bowls him

The Swanny first over of a spell trick ...

SWANNY!!!

Alfie, if I could, I would make you a knight of the realm. Your appearances today have been nothing short of wonderous for our bowlers

Swann bowls Rehman,

So, now the onus is on England to not allow the tail to get Pakistan to 300. They'd take that from here. 270 would be a fantastic bowling effort from England.

One more over ... another wicket would be nice ...

...and Misbah hits Monty for 6

twice ! Playing for stumps

Misbah really fancies a bit of Monty's bowling.

Misbah once again hits Monty gor 2 6's again

Have to say you boys have been great today! Only thing keeping me up to date with the action is you lot

Its the same thing, the spinners want misbah to be trying this. The fact hes succeeding is down to him playing well, but hes taking a risk every time he does it. It encourages them to think they can get him.
The guys played a blinder, and shown England how to deal with Ajmal, but Id be more worried if the Pakistan bastmen were able to trott along with risk free ones and twos.

Maybe Misbah thinks fresh bowlers will knock the tail over quickly tomorrow , so he went for some runs while the sun shines...

Good day really for England , ball only 14 overs old , fair chance to keep them under 300.

For a pitch on which a draw is always favourite , this has been an interesting day.

Long, long day it's been for me. 2 days play in one. Perfect!

Much better from England today. Unlucky a few times. If they can polish off the tail around Misbah and bat well tomorrow it's going to be an enthralling match I feel.

Close of play - Pakistan 256 - 7,

Misbah not out on an excellent 83, Broad has taken an excellent 3 wickets and bowled fantastically, Swann also taking 3 with out bowling partically well.

Englands day, as apart from the middle session dominated it.
But we know Englands bowlers are good, the question is HOW WILL ENGLAND BAT ON THIS PITCH.

England should be happy with that come back, the pitch remained benign and if England can topple Pakistan quickly in the first hour tomorrow, they can make hay while the sun shines and bat for 5 sessions.

Good but could have been better. Misbah the best player of the day.

Im not entirely convinced by the 2 spinners lineup yet, Montys done a lot of work and been creamed. Hope he doenst let that affect him and that the luck can go his way in the second innings.

As everyones saying it really put the onus on Englands batsmen now. A lead will put real pressure on Pakistans second innings, teh two spinners should get more assiatnce then too.

Rather assuming that England will mop up the tail easily, but the ball is still fairly new and the seamers should be fresh , Pakistans tail is nothing special. If they make 350 then England have had a poo morning.

It was a bad toss to lose, but England have put themselves in the game.

Monty has still only gone at 2.75 per over, I wouldn't call it creamed. Just two overs where Misbah decided to attack him.

Jimmy's drop of Misbah turning out to be expensive - could have had them all out by now otherwise.

7 wickets taken, all either bowled or LBW. We've missed a couple of slip chances plus Monty missing a C&B (but getting his man the following ball) and a half chance at bat-pad, but it does suggest a fairly straight, slow and low wicket, so we're doing not too badly. Broad is becoming a very good bowler on apparently unhelpful wickets.

Fists of Fury wrote:Monty has still only gone at 2.75 per over, I wouldn't call it creamed. Just two overs where Misbah decided to attack him.

He conceeded 5 sixes.
But Ok yes the majority of the time he was very economical, Im actually suprisse to see on checking that despite that Swanns economy rate was marginaly worse.
It shows just how cleanly Misbahs been playing. To take those big shots and not give his wicket away is good. Panessar shouldnt be down hearted by it, especially if the tail starts tyring to hit him and Swann. England may conceed a few cheap runs, but the wickets should come as a result.

Overall I'm pleased with Monty's return. Picked up the key wicket of Hafeez early doors and was economical, the two Misbah assaults aside.

Thanks for the chat, lads, looking forward to resuming tomorrow, which will hopefully be a big day for England. We need to clean the tail up and then bat very big.

Really all depends on how well England bat.

If they bat long and get a decent lead , pressure and two spinners may work well later in the match. On the other hand , another inadequate batting display would leave England with a real uphill struggle , batting last.

Misbah has again shown how to play on these pitches : be watchful and patient , but don't be afraid to go on the attack when you see your chance. Use your head , in other words.

alfie wrote:
Misbah has again shown how to play on these pitches : be watchful and patient , but don't be afraid to go on the attack when you see your chance. Use your head , in other words.

And play forward. Theres no mystery if you get to the pitch of the ball., its not going to turn so sharply or jump up at you that it will get round the bat somehow.

I will be hugely disappointed if I see any of the "half forward" nonsense that plagued us in Dubai.

Right this is a flat deck and its certainly flattened out since this morning. 450 should be around the par score and England have done a great job with the bowling, Broad in particular. We should be aiming to get them out for below 300 and then should, if we bat to our ability, garner a 100 run lead minimum. Bat once, bat long is the key.

brilliant day for england

only misbah standing out for pakistan, hopefully we can pile on the runs tomorrow

Pretty damn good from England today, Monty impressed me tons as did Broad who has to take a lot of the plaudits from today.

Now if we can bat even vaguely well...

Gregers wrote:Pretty damn good from England today, Monty impressed me tons as did Broad who has to take a lot of the plaudits from today.

Now if we can bat even vaguely well...

Ah dont worry ...KP will do us proud

If KP goes out and plays a blinder then I will sing his praises, problem is we will be facing Ajmal...

Looks like we bowled as well as we come to expect these days, although the highlights I saw suggest we were once again unlucky with the amount of times Broad and Anderson in particular beat the bat - we could have had them all out for 250 on another day.

As we already knew before the match it is all going to come down to how our batsmen do and how we deal with Ajmal, slightly worried by the amount of turn already on offer I have to say. Wonder why Swann didn't bowl as much as Monty?

cricketfan90 wrote:brilliant day for england

only misbah standing out for pakistan, hopefully we can pile on the runs tomorrow

It may have been a brilliant day for England today, but England have still to bat. Let's not forget that Pakistan have 2 matchwinning bowlers in their lineup in Ajmal and Umar Gul (who noone seems to have mentioned as being a huge threat to England's chances of building a sizeable score of 400/450 +).

one day at a time.

I really don't rate Gul. His 4 wickets in Dubai were borne of abysmal shot selection as opposed to bowling skill.