LAHORE, 4 December 2005 — Pakistan snatched a thrilling win over England in the third Test here yesterday to clinch the three-match series 2-0 with authority. The bowling heroes for Pakistan were spinner Danish Kaneria (4 for 52) and paceman Shoaib Akhtar (5 for 71), who between them grabbed the last seven wickets in 70 minutes of play after lunch to wrap up the England innings in one of the most sensational finishes to a Test match.
England, trailing by 348 runs after Pakistan had piled up a massive 636 for 8 declared, succumbed to an inspired spell by Akhtar and Kaneria to lose by an innings and 100 runs.
Pakistan won the first Test at Multan by 22 runs while the second Test at Faisalabad ended in a draw with the hosts having an upper hand.
The Test ended in a dramatic manner when Mohammad Sami, who replaced Akhtar, had Shaun Udal brilliantly caught in the slips by Salman Butt in the penultimate over of the match. Udal, 25, proved to be the last resistance as Kaneria in the last over clean-bowled Mathew Hoggard (0) with the England seamer having no inkling as to what hit his stumps.
For England the series defeat, first in 30 months since Micheal Vaughn became captain, must have come as a rude shock. They came to Pakistan buoyed after beating the strongest side in the Ashes series last summer but faced a setback when they were beaten in the first Test. England salvaged a draw, but not before another scare of defeat, in the second Test at Faisalabad. And now in the final Test, just when it looked that overnight batsmen Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood would see through the second session safely Pakistan struck hard.
Before coming to Pakistan England had a clean record having defeated West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa, Bangladesh and more recently Australia and Vaughn had an unbeaten record as skipper.
Overnight England batsmen Bell at 60 and Collingwood 37 resumed the second innings at 121 for two, needing 228 runs to make Pakistan bat again. Both played with determination and their third-wicket century stand kindled hopes that England may save this Test. They were unbeaten at lunch with the total at 201. These two, with Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff, Geraint Jones, and Udal to follow, needed to play off the second session and about 45 minutes of last session to save the match.
Very few expected the Pakistani bowlers to bounce back so strongly. But Pakistan skipper Inzamam apparently had different ideas. He used his bowlers quite cleverly and both Kaneria and Akhtar responded.
Kaneria turned the match around in just five deliveries in the second session, removing Collingwood, Pietersen (one) and Flintoff for a duck. A triumphant Inzamam was full of praise for the way his bowlers performed during this series on tracks that favored the batsmen.
“Our bowlers deserve to take credit as they put in a lot of hard work on batting wickets.”
Kaneria, ineffective when bowling round the wicket in the morning session, got instant success when he came back over dismissing Collingwood with his fourth delivery after lunch. Collingwood (80), who scored 96 in the first innings, struck 12 fours in his second successive Test half-century and was involved in a 175-run stand with Bell (92) before edging to Hasan Raza in the slips. Kaneria then removed Pietersen and Flintoff off successive deliveries in his next over. England were in deep trouble at 212-5. Pietersen was caught by Raza while Flintoff was bowled off a googly. Jones survived the hat-trick ball. Akhtar caused more misery for the tourists from the other end removing Bell and Jones in his first spell after lunch. Kaneria sparked the final celebrations for Pakistan when he bowled Hoggard in the 13th over after Sami had taken care of the last resistance from Udal an over before.
Akhtar finished with 5-71 and Kaneria with 4-52, Sami getting one for 39 as Pakistan clinched their first Test series in two years.
Rain Frustrates Cricketers as 2nd Day’s Play Is Washed Out
In Madras, overnight rain and a water-logged outfield washed out the second day’s play yesterday in the opening cricket Test between India and Sri Lanka.
Desperate ground-staff worked hard to salvage some cricket after heavy showers rain caused by Cyclone Baaz in the Bay of Bengal washed out the first day’s play Friday, but the outfield remained slushy and risked injury to players. Umpires Daryl Harper of Australia and Mark Benson from England carried out two inspections of the Chepauk ground before calling off the second day’s play, to the embarrassment of officials who scheduled international games in the southern city of Madras during the rainy reason. India captain Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chappell inspected the ground in the afternoon, but the Sri Lankan team management didn’t bother leaving its hotel.
