da apostebet： A partnership of 150 runs between Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq was thefoundation for a comfortable 108-run Pakistan win in the first game of the2001 NatWest Series, though the moment of victory was delayed by a pitchinvasion from
George Dobell07-Jun-2001A partnership of 150 runs between Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq was thefoundation for a comfortable 108-run Pakistan win in the first game of the2001 NatWest Series, though the moment of victory was delayed by a pitchinvasion from over-enthusiastic supporters.By the time the floodlights came into full effect, the lights were alreadyout on England’s chances of success. They had been dealt a couple of blowseven before the toss; Andrew Caddick and Graham Thorpe both out injured with back and calf problems respectively, but such was the quality of Pakistan’s cricket that any team would have struggled to suppress them.Waqar Younis won the toss and elected to bat on a dry looking pitch.Unsettled by the chip and charge tactics of Shahid Afridi and the pure classof Saeed, the English bowlers were always on the defensive and supplied aliberal quantity of short balls and full tosses. Saeed’s innings was a gem.He began with an imperious pull off Darren Gough and found the gaps with ease topick off ones and twos. The flicked, seemingly effortless, six into the EricHollies stand, followed by a deliberate thick edge for four off successiveEalham deliveries illustrated his class eloquently.Azhar Mahmood weighed in with a quickfire 38 (in 24 balls) down the orderto compound England’s misery, but it was the third-wicket pair who alteredthe course of this match.England must be heartily sick of Inzamam’s batting by now. In form like thishe seems to possess all the time in the world and has the power to toy withany but the finest bowlers. It was an awesome display, mixing belligerentpower with deft flicks and placement perhaps typified best by the semi-sweephe played off Ben Hollioake the ball after blasting him over cover. Hebullied the bowlers; taking up from where he had left off at Old Trafford andif he hadn’t perished, well caught by Marcus Trescothick, running in at deep cover,300 may well have been attainable.In the 24th over, Dominic Cork, following through and attempting to kick the ballon to the stumps, had given Inzamam a little push out of the way in hisdesire to effect a run-out. This infuriated Inzamam, and Stewart had tostand between the two and apply admirable levels of diplomacy. It clearlyworked as batsman and bowler shook hands after the next delivery.Mark Ealham retained control admirably amid the carnage about him but it was achastening day for the young all-rounders given their chance in the absenceof Craig White and Andrew Flintoff; Paul Collingwood – two overs for 18 and two runs and Hollioake six runs to add to his return of six overs for 53. Alan Mullally showed his value, providing some options for his captain but England still have some work to do in rebuilding for the 2003 World Cup.From the moment that Trescothick got a leading edge to a Waqar slowerdelivery and skied the ball to Younis Khan at point, England looked doomed.The recalled Alistair Brown had already departed, caught behind attempting to guide the ball through point.The seamers did most of the damage, particularly a fiery, frugal spell fromthe all-rounders; Abdur Razzaq and Mahmood. Stewart, conscious of the danger ofbecoming bogged down with such a testing target, tried to pierce the offside ring with a lofted drive. A marvellously athletic catch by the substitute fielder, Shoaib Malik, flying parallel to the ground, sent himback for ten and England were 69-3. Vaughan followed in similar fashion,forced to accelerate before he was ready, and Collingwood was trapped lbw byRazzaq, playing around a straight one.Saqlain Mushtaq is quite a bowler to bring on when the score is 107-5, andhe soon dispensed with Hollioake, well held off his own bowling. ShahidAfridi rubbed salt in the wound, bowling Cork with his top-spinning firstball after a jaunty knock of 18, and trapping Gough lbw in similar style.This left only Knight, after a sticky start, to lead England to somethingnear respectability. His 93-ball 50 and a lengthy last-wicket stand withMullally were attempts to salvage something from a bleak day for the hosts.The game ended in something near farce as a disgraceful pitch invasiondelayed the finish. With England 159-9 after 43.3 overs several thousandsupporters converged on the pitch and stole the stumps and stumpmicrophones. People will moan if barriers are erected around the playingarea but there will be no option if this is to become commonplace.The sight of Waqar Younis walking around the boundary pleading with fans to keepoff the playing area had the desired effect: he told them that England wouldbe declared winners if the match was unable to resume after a 31-minutehiatus though it appears in light of regulations 10 and 11 of the playingconditions if the match had been abandoned Pakistan would have been awardedvictory under the D/L. Neither side’s run-rate would have carried forward tothe final table.Saeed Anwar had to come off the pitch to plead further with supporters whocaused further disruption after one more ball. Finally the game resumed andMullally was caught behind of Afridi to seal the second 108-run victory ofthe week for Pakistan over EnglandBut it would be a shame if this incident was to detract from the carnivalatmosphere that the game was conducted in. During a time of race riots inthe north of England, a crowd seemingly split equally between English andPakistan supporters thrived on each other’s enthusiasm and passion and apacked Edgbaston was the more colourful for it.Saeed Anwar won the man of the match award and Waqar paid tribute to him inthe post-match press conference, as well as his two all-rounders, Razzaq andAzhar, and Inzamam. He also thanked the passionate support his side receivedfrom the large Pakistan contingent in the crowd.With Waqar’s side just running into top form, and growing accustomed toEnglish conditions while Australia struggle against the English counties,Pakistan must now be favourites for this series. In today’s form they’llprove hard to beat.