Pakistan v England, second one-day international – in pictures
WICKET! England 67-1 (Pietersen LBW b Ajmal 26) Saeed Ajmal strikes with his third ball. That was far too easy. Pietersen dragged his bat around his front pad at a delivery that straightened sharply from around the wicket to hit the pad in front of middle stump. He was so plumb that he barely considered a review.Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesWICKET! England 116-2 (Trott c U Akmal b Cheema 23) A tame end for Jonathan Trott, who throws the bat at a wide, shortish delivery from Cheema and snicks it through to Umar Akmal.Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesWICKET! England 194-3 (Cook ct and b Afridi 102) Cook pops a simple return catch to Shahid Afridi and boots the turf in disgust. That's a nice snapshot of a man who could barely give a solitary one about individual achievements. He is really cross with himself. In time he will reflect on these few days as some of the proudest of his career. He has played two outstanding innings, clear-headed and strong-willed, to lift England from their knees.Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images
50 overs: England 250-4 (Bopara c U Akmal b Cheema 58; Morgan not out 25) Bopara falls to the last ball of the innings, slicing Cheema miles in the air. The last over cost eight, which was a good effort from the impressive Cheema. An ODI scorecard always looks a little odd if you lose only four wickets yet don't score more than 250. Still, on balance England will be pleased with that. Pakistan need 251 to win. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 61-1 (Hafeez c Trott b Anderson 26) Some good captaincy from Alastair Cook brings the wicket England need. He decided to take the bowling Powerplay straight away, a risky move at a time when Pakistan were cruising, and was rewarded with a wicket two balls later. Hafeez tamely chipped an inswinger from Anderson straight to midwicket, where Trott took a comfortable catch.Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 92-2 (Farhat run out 47) What a preposterous brainfade from Imran Farhat. He was hit on the boot by a loopy slower ball from Broad, who went up for LBW. Farhat instinctively took a few steps down the track while the umpire considered the LBW appeal (which was a decent one), and then dithered inexplicably as Broad followed through to hit the stumps with an underarm throw. Aleem Dar didn't even need to check with the third umpire. It was great work from Broad, but I have no idea what Farhat was doing. He didn't know where the ball had gone, and by the time he realised it was too late.Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 104-3 (Younis LBW b Patel 5) Samit Patel has got the big wicket of Younus Khan. Younus missed a sweep at a ball from over the wicket that straightened enough to suggest it might hit leg stump. Aleem Dar certainly thought so. He raised the finger and, although Younus discussed a review with Azhar Ali, he eventually decided to take his medicine. I'm surprised he didn't review it because that was pretty tight.Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 142-4 (Azhar b Patel 31) Samit Patel strikes again! Azhar Ali was looking dangerous but he was beaten by an excellent quicker ball that zipped on to hit the off stump.Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 179-5 (Umar Akmal c Patel b Finn 21) Umar Akmal hammers Finn low to cover, where Patel takes a low catch and throws the ball up in celebration. Akmal hangs around, however, and the on-field umpires decide to go upstairs to see whether the ball carried to the fielder. That usually means a reprieve for the batsman. All cricket common sense suggests it was a clean take, and if so it was an extremely good low catch from Patel. The third umpire Simon Taufel is still looking at replays ... and he's been given out! That's brave umpiring from Taufel, and a really good catch from Patel. He has had an excellent couple of hours. That is a big wicket for England. One more and they are into the tail.Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 207-6 (Afridi b Anderson 18) Got him! Afridi mows all round a straight delivery from Anderson that rams into middle stump. That wasn't the most responsible shot I suppose, but it's Afridi; this is what we sign up for. Anderson yells with delight. He knows that could be a matchwinning breakthrough.Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 217-7 (Rehman b Finn 1) Finn puts Rehman out of his misery. The ball after being bowled off a free hit, Rehman is bowled again, beaten completely for pace. He made one from 12 balls, and may have won the match for England.Photograph: Francois Steenkamp/APWICKET! Pakistan 217-8 (Misbah c Kieswetter b Broad 47) What a wonderful catch from Craig Kieswetter! Misbah tried to lift Broad over the leg side but instead spooned the ball over the keeper's head, dizzingly high in the air. The ball was swirling horribly as Kieswetter ran back towards the boundary. He appeared to have misjudged the line of it, but then dived full length to his right to take a one-handed catch. Sensational work from Kieswetter, because that was a truly hideous skier.Photograph: Francois Steenkamp/APWICKET! Pakistan 222-9 (Gul LBW b Finn 5) Nearly done. Finn traps Umar Gul LBW with a superb yorker that hits him on the back foot. Gul reviewed the decision, probably in the hope of a no-ball as much as anything, but that was absolutely plumb. Finn has three for 26 today and seven for 70 in the series. He is going to make a helluva lot of batsmen crave the serenity of the non-striker's end over the next 10 years.Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesWICKET! Pakistan 230 all out (Cheema b Finn 1). ENGLAND WIN BY 20 RUNS! Finn knocks back Cheema's middle stump, and England go 2-0 up in the four-match series. This has been an excellent victory. They had to work much harder than in the first match, which will make it a lot more rewarding. In other important respects, as Nasser points out on Sky, this was Groundhog Day: a brilliant century from Cook, a fifty from Bopara, and figures of 10-1-34-4 from the outstanding Finn. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.