Play of the day What a knock from Azhar Ali
3rd Test, Pakistan vs. England Day 2, started with a blow, Yasir almost nicked one to slip on the very first ball of the day, may be he had something else on his mind, He gave away his wicket on the next delivery, Prior pouched it cleanly, Batting collapse was on the cards Salman butt came fourth, He started his innings in a great fashion he was looking confident, he struck very crispy 3 boundaries right away before he stepped back and across ball spun away from him and thick edge lead to Prior despite he juggled the chance once, twice and caught it cleanly on the third attempt, Wahab Riaz, super star debutant got a straight one which he was trying to sweep and was struck on front pad, Steve Davis gives it lbw in no time he scored 27 from 75 balls though it was requested for a review it was a waste and would have been better if they would have saved it for a frontline batsman.
It was Muhammad Yousuf's turn to build up an innings and set an example to lead his younger fellows to follow his footsteps, He didn't failed, He stood up to the occasion started his innings in a bit chicky fashion he was reluctant, left everything outside off and and was beaten by good deliveries from Steven Finn and James Anderson, but slowly and steadily he got back into his colors, After Lunch he began to increase his game but moved out of the his comfort zone and made bowlers go frustrated, His fifty came from 95 balls and it was unbelievable for many to watch that he had been out of Test arena for seven months with many controversies behind his back, he justified his retirement u-turn. Mohammad Yousuf come back Test was assured with half century, but he became Graeme Swann's 100th Test wicket. The presence of Yousuf in the middle order certainly had an major effect on Pakistan and not only in the obvious manner of the runs he scored. The patience and magic of test cricket he showed at the crease filtered through to his partners. He sat a perfect example to foil his younger players Azhar got playing his best and greatest shots of the series so far with major confidence under his belt, He knew one of the world greatest batsman was padding his back, giving him right techniques to tackle with tricky english bowlers at home. MoYo played played an amazing knock with classic boundaries with proper cricketing shots, before he came forward looked to drive the balls, Azhar Ali was not just done as of yet Azhar Ali was virtually scoreless last week but showed his true talents at The Oval as his outstanding, unbeaten 92 earned Pakistan a valuable lead of 75. He should be thankful to MoYo, who brought the heroics out of him. It was first time during the season Pakistan passed 300 as Azhar and Mohammad Asif added a priceless 38 for the last wicket to frustrate England's efforts to wrap up the innings. Andrew Strauss dropped Asif at slip on 4, He would be cursing himself for that miss and it took a further seven overs before the No. 11 drove Swann to mid-off with Azhar left eight short of a maiden well deserved Test hundred.
That left England with an tricky 15 minutes to survive, but Strauss couldn't survive he was out in the very first over when, having already under-edged a pull past the stumps, edged low to second slip against Mohammad Amir who has removed Strauss four times in the series. Alastair Cook will have been relieved to face just two balls as James Anderson did his job as nightwatchman and the third day will provide an examination of the belief in both teams.
Well done Azhar Ali and Muhammad Yousuf, You made us feel Proud, We are back in the GAME!
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