COLOMBO, 5 October — The spark that captain Waqar Younis had promised, manifested itself in the form of young Faisal Iqbal’s brilliance as Pakistan fought with their backs to avoid the follow-on in the first Test here yesterday.
After restricting Australia’s first innings to 467, Pakistan were struggling at 75 for four when Faisal walked up to the crease and when he trotted back to the dressing room as play was called off due to poor visibility, his heroic efforts had taken Pakistan’s first innings to 210 for five. The target of 268 to avoid the follow-on was now well within reach.
Faisal, 20, playing in only his sixth Test, came as a revelation as he led Pakistan’s battle for survival with his courageous batting. He remained unbeaten on 78, his highest Test score, as he and Rashid Latif 22 not out, shared a fine unbroken stand of 94 runs off 84 balls.
The Pakistan cause was also well-served by vice-captain Younis Khan who played a strokeful innings of 58 when the chips were really down.
Resuming at 330 for five, Australia appeared set for a big score but except for overnight unbeaten batsmen Damien Martyn 67 and Adam Gilchrist 66 not out, no other batsman could really stay at the crease for long. Waqar took the new ball soon after it was due.
However, he and his fellow fast bowlers Shoaib, Sami and Razzaq made no impression on Martyn and Gilchrist who put their heads down and refused to take any risks.
Even off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq looked innocuous on a pitch that offered him little assistance. Play began half an hour early to allow Pakistan to complete their quota of overs of yesterday.
Martyn struck some exquisite cover drives to the fence and was more aggressive than partner Gilchrist who was uncharacteristically subdued. Except for a couple of shouts for leg before, the batsmen gave no chance whatsoever. In desperation, Waqar called on Taufeeq Umar to bowl his off-spin. But even this ploy failed to end the partnership. Martyn and Gilchrist duly completed their half centuries as they took Australia to lunch at 445 for five. They had added 123 runs in 150 minutes off 33.4 overs.
Saqlain finally ended the partnership which was beginning to look ominous when Martyn swept too soon and was caught off the glove in leg slip. Martyn’s 67 contained nine boundaries and came off 152 balls as he shared a 128-run sixth wicket partnership with Gilchrist.
Martyn’s dismissal signaled a collapse of the Australians who lost their last five wickets for the addition of just 10 runs. Shoaib mopped up the tail, taking three wickets for one run off seven balls.
He had Warne caught at short leg. In the next over, Brett Lee played on and off the next ball Gillespie was struck on the foot to be leg before. Shoaib was on a hat trick and struck McGrath on the toe but a strong shout was negatived by umpire Bucknor.
And the score which at one stage threatened to be close to 600, was limited to 467 when Saqlain ended the innings by trapping McGrath leg before as he played back and missed. Gilchrist was stranded on 66 as he ran out of partners.
Saqlain’s four wickets cost 136 runs while Shoaib claimed three for 51 and Waqar two for 86. Pakistan’s first innings got off to a disastrous start as they lost both the openers for just four runs.
Imran Nazir was leg before as he played McGrath back and missed and Taufeeq Umar edged Gillespie to second slip.
Abdur Razzaq and Younis Khan set about the business of repairing the damage in right earnest. Younis in particular was undaunted by the early reverses as he straight drove Gillespie for boundaries. They had put on 41 runs for the third wicket when a dubious caught behind decision by umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan off leg-spinner Shane Warne resulted in Razzaq’s dismissal.
Younis was batting confidently and crossed the 50-mark off 54 balls with the help of 12 fours. He paid the penalty by driving away from the body as Langer in the covers dived in front to hold a low catch. Faisal Iqbal, Javed Miandad’s nephew, looks a lot like his uncle and indeed also bats like him. He showed his pedigree by smacking powerful hits to the rope, not hesitating to loft over the infield.
Warne struck again when a defensive jab by Misbah-ul Haq carried low to Mark Waugh in the slip and Pakistan had lost their fifth wicket for 116.
Faisal was undaunted by the huge task ahead as he smashed Warne for four boundaries in his 15th over to reach his half century. He displayed the wide range of strokes in his repertoire by driving, pulling and sweeping. He stepped out to loft Warne to the boundary and was equally at ease while defending, showing his sound technique.
He soon overtook his previous best of 63 which he had recorded against New Zealand in 2000. With Faisal in full flow and Rashid Latif providing him good support, the 200 of the innings was soon on board, coming in 197 minutes off 44.2 overs. When play was called off due to bad light, Australia still needed to bowl three overs. Warne had taken two for 56 while McGrath, Gillespie and Lee had taken a wicket each.
