KARACHI, 30 January 2006 — On a day when 14 wickets fell and 319 runs were scored, Pakistan looked like having gained a slender advantage over India, claiming four Indian wickets for 74 after making 245 in their first innings on the first day of the third and final Test yesterday.
Two men from each side stood out yesterday for their significant contributions. First it was fast bowler Irfan Pathan who virtually rattled the Pakistani batting, becoming only the first bowler to pickup a hat trick in the first over of a Test match. And when Pakistan seemed down and out, the gritty wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal stood like a rock between his team and total disaster. Pakistan started with obvious disadvantage without skipper Inzamam ul-Huq and opener Shoaib Malik. Logically they opted for two batsmen, including Imran Farhat and Faisal Iqbal. India made only one change, preferring Saurav Ganguly over Harbhajan Singh.
Rahul Dravid won the toss for the first time in this series and opted to field hoping to take maximum advantage of the green top and the moisture under the surface. His seamers did a great job by mopping up Pakistan’s top order, reducing the home to 39 for 6 within an hour of the first session. It was Pathan who initiated the rout by claiming the wickets of opener Salman Butt (0), stand-in captain Younis Khan (0) and Mohammad Yousuf (0) on the last three deliveries of his first over.
But for Butt, who was out caught by Dravid in slips facing a magnificent out swinger, both Younis and Yousuf have only themselves to blame, while hurrying to play shots. Pakistan had lost three wickets without a run on the board. However, Farhat, opening in absence of Malik kept his calm and faced the Indian seamers with patience. In the sixth over India struck another blow when Zaheer Khan trapped Faisal Iqbal lbw for 5, the total then was 13 for four.
The hosts lost two more quick wickets. Shahid Afridi (10) was bowled by Zaheer and later Singh removed Farhat who was till holding one end. While wickets continued to tumble from one end, Farhat refused to take a backward step, straight-driving Zaheer for four and playing a couple of sublime off-drives off Pathan. But his impetuous streak got the better of him. The wild slash at a ball outside off stump would have been ill advised in a limited-overs game, but with the team on 39 for 5, it was almost unforgivable. A magnificent counterattacking century from Akmal (113) and a gritty knock of 45 from Razzaq helped Pakistan come out of the hole they fallen into. Akmal not only scored a century, his fourth Test hundred, but at the same time held the batting together, adding 115 for the seventh wicket. At lunch the home team was 101 for 6 and in the process of rebuilding. In the post-lunch session, Akmal and Razzaq, who had by the time gained more confidence went on to accelerate the run rate, collecting 45 runs from the first ten overs of the second session.
Australia Beat Lanka in Triangular Series
AFP adds from Perth: Adam Gilchrist burst back to his swashbuckling best here yesterday, blasting 116 runs as Australia crushed Sri Lanka by six wickets to wrap up a berth in the finals of the triangular series. In a devastating display of power and technique, Gilchrist feasted on the Sri Lankan bowling and smashed his way out of a form slump with four sixes and 10 boundaries. His stunning century, which came up in only 99 balls, in partnership with fellow opener Simon Katich, carried Australia to 237-4 off 41 overs in reply to Sri Lanka’s pedestrian 233-8 off 50.
