FAISALABAD, 22 November 2005 — Pakistan were strongly placed on the second day of the second Test match having scored 462 runs in the first innings and then dismissing three top order England batsmen for 113 when bad light forced play to be stopped before time here yesterday.
A powerful blast caused by electrical short circuit in one of the enclosures during the final session of the day’s play caused quite a panic and play was halted for almost 10 minutes before police and other security agencies gave clearance for play to resume. England were 92 for 2 when the explosion occurred.
A local official later said the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder blast in one of the soft drinks dispensers. A policeman was slightly hurt. England batsmen Marcus Trescothick and Ian Bell, along with Pakistan team and the two umpires remained on the field during the hold up of play. Pakistan resumed their first innings at 300 for 4. The home team owe its strong position mainly to skipper Inzamam ul-Haq for posting a big total who scored an elegant 109 to equal Javed Miandad’s Pakistani record of 23 Test centuries in 20 fewer Tests (124).
Inzamam struck 13 fours in his 200-ball knock before being adjudged run out by third umpire Nadeem Ghouri.
Fast bowler Steve Harmison fielded a drive on his follow-through, saw Inzamam out of the crease and threw down the stumps. But before his unfortunate and most unlikely and somewhat controversial dismissal, Inzamam was instrumental in inspiring two important partnerships. He added 128 for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Yousuf (on Sunday) and 145 for the next with Afridi, who scored 92 runs from 85 balls with the help of six sixes and as many boundaries. But after the departure of Inzamam there was little respite for England as lower-order batsmen Kamran Akmal (41) and seamers Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan (25) and Mohammad Sami (18) resorted to some real hard hitting and played their parts in taking Pakistan to a position of dominance, from where they can call the shots.
England’s reply was shaky from the start. Naveed, who was included in the team after young seamer Shabbir Ahmad had to be left out for technical reasons, struck two early blows. He dismissed Andrew Strauss and skipper Michael Vaughan in successive overs to reduce the visitors to 39 for 2 before Trescothick and Bell added 68 for the third wicket. Strauss inside-edged a delivery on to his stumps while attempting to pull, while Vaughan was stunned by a yorker that uprooted his middle stump.
Bell (36) and Kevin Pietersen (four)were on the crease when play was called off, 17 overs early.
Afridi Banned for One Test and Two One-Dayers
Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has been banned for one Test and two one-dayers after admitting damaging the pitch with his boots in an incident after tea. Reuters adds.
Afridi will miss the third and final Test in Lahore from Nov. 29 and the first two One-Day Internationals on Dec. 10 and 12.
The bans were imposed after a hearing held last night by the ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer and captain Inzamam ul-Haq also attended.
