Gul causes mayhem as Pakistan beat England
by Adam Hathaway
CRICKET: LONDON, Sept 18 (AFP) - Umar Gul produced a
devastating spell of swing bowling taking six for 42 as Pakistan won the
third one-day international against England here at The Oval by 23 runs
on Friday.
Set 242 to win, England were in control as Eoin Morgan (61) and Luke
Wright (48 not out) put on 98 for the sixth wicket. But when Morgan
chipped Gul to midwicket, panic set in.
Gul then ripped out Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann,
normally a calm head in tight situations, then holed out to the last
ball of Gul’s tenth over giving him his last four wickets for six runs
in 18 balls.
The win keeps the five-match series alive with Pakistan now trailing
2-1, with Gul who the difference between the sides.
It was at this ground last year that Gul took his extraordinary five
wickets for six runs in the World Twenty20 against New Zealand, and he
showed his liking for South London with another brilliant performance.
Wright was lucky to last as long as he did as he was the recipient of
an error by umpire Billy Doctrove who failed to call for a television
replay when pictures showed the batsman had been out stumped when on 26.
Wright’s foot was in the air when Umar Akmal - standing in as keeper
for his injured brother Kamran - broke the wicket after Saeed Ajmal had
beaten Wright in the flight. Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi remonstrated
with the square leg umpire but to no avail and Wright escaped.
James Anderson was the pick of the England bowlers in the Pakistan
total of 241 all out - which looked around 20 runs below par.
Anderson took three for 26 and conceded just one boundary in his
stint whilst Bresnan also took three wickets wrapping up the innings
when he bowled Gul in the last over.
Fawad Alam top-scored with 64 and Asad Shafiq made 40 but Pakistan
could not accelerate significantly towards the end of their innings
apart from a brief flurry from Abdul Razzaq (31). Alam faced 86 balls as
he set about rebuilding the innings after Pakistan lost two wickets in
the first three overs and were 31-3 by the tenth. Shahid Afridi’s
dismissal seemed to sum up Pakistan’s tour as he was run out in bizarre
circumstances. The tourists’ skipper was running to the non-striker’s
end when a throw from Swann deflected off his bat onto the stumps and he
was run out for 34 just as he was preparing to attack the bowling in the
last ten overs.
Pakistan looked to have little chance of defending their 241 when
Steve Davies and Andrew Strauss got England off to a flying start but
Gul had other ideas. He bowled Strauss off the inside edge for 57 before
trapping Michael Yardy leg before. Wright and Morgan seemed to have the
match at their mercy but Gul returned to cause mayhem and take the game
away from England.
SCORE BOARD
PAKISTAN
Kamran Akmal b Bresnan 5
Mohammad Hafeez c Davies b Anderson 1
Asad Shafiq c Morgan b Swann 40
Mohammad Yousuf lbw b Anderson 16
Fawad Alam c Strauss b Yardy 64
Umar Akmal c Swann b Bresnan 14
Shahid Afridi run out 34
Abdul Razzaq c Anderson b Broad 31
Umar Gul b Bresnan 14
Saeed Ajmal lbw b Anderson 2
Shoaib Akhtar not out 6
Extras (lb6, w8) 14
Total: (10 wikts, 49.4overs) 241
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Hafeez), 2-8 (Kamran Akmal)
3-31 (Yousuf), 4-95 (Shafiq)
5-121 (Umar Akmal), 6-181 (Alam)
7-185 (Afridi), 8-227 (Razzaq)
9-234 (Ajmal), 10-241 (Gul)
Bowling: Bresnan 9.4-1-51-3 (4w)
Anderson 10-2-26-3 (1w)
Broad 10-0-45-1 (1w)
Swann 10-0-53-1
Wright 2-0-18-0 (1w)
Yardy 8-0-42-1
ENGLAND
A. Strauss b Gul 57
S. Davies b Razzaq 18
J. Trott b Akhtar 2
R. Bopara c Kamran Akmal b Ajmal 7
E. Morgan c sub (Riaz) b Gul 61
M. Yardy lbw b Gul 4
L. Wright not out 48
T. Bresnan b Gul 0
S. Broad b Gul 4
G. Swann c Afridi b Gul 0
J. Anderson b Razzaq 3
Extras (b6, w8) 14
Total: (10 wkts, 45.4 overs) 218
Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Davies), 2-42 (Trott)
3-77 (Bopara), 4-95 (Strauss)
5-103 Yardy, 6-201 (Morgan)
7-201 (Bresnan), 8-207 (Broad)
9-211 (Swann), 10-218 (Anderson)
Bowling: Akhtar 10-0-43-1
Razzaq 7.4-0-38-2 (1w)
Gul 10-0-42-6 (2w)
Ajmal 9-0-32-1 (1w)
Afridi 9-0-47-0
England lead five-match series 2-1. AFP |