MANCHESTER, 2 June — Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan once again highlighted the lack of penetration in the present Pakistan bowling on a rain affected second day of the Test match here at Old Trafford.
Not unusual weather for this ground this summer, as even before this Test, only two days of cricket had been possible in the English championship due to the wet weather.
On a day when the weather remained cold and the winds were strong across the field, Pakistan could not have asked for a better start to the England innings when Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis removed Marcus Trescothick and Michael Atherton in the space of seven balls to leave England struggling on 15 for 2 in response to a strong Pakistan first innings total of 403 runs.
Things looked rosy for Pakistan at that stage as they had shown the fire by than to try to square this series.
But the domination of the Pakistanis on this match so far ended there, as the left and right handed combination of Thorpe and Vaughan got together to produce a virtuoso batting performance similar to the one exhibited by Inzamam and Younis Khan on the opening day, to not only take the total past the follow-on target of 203 runs but also make it obvious that the Pakistan bowling lacked penetration.
The close of play England score of 204 for 2 in 62.2 overs reflected the domination of the batsmen well. Thorpe, who had to face the misfortunate of being two runs short of his ninth Test hundred when the showers forced the players off the field for the second time in the day at around 5.53 p.m., was his usual dominant self and followed up his 80 at Lord’s with an unbeaten 98 runs from 174 balls and in 224 minutes with 12 fours and one six.
His first scoring shot a exaggerated cut above slips for a six to third man which left Younis totally frustrated signaled his intentions well.
His partner Vaughan, who was the dominant partner until lunch had reeled out 84 from 163 balls and in 232 minutes of batting which included 11 boundaries and one six. These two have already put on 189 runs for the third wicket in 322 balls, having posted the highest third wicket partnership against Pakistan at Old Trafford, only the second time an England pair have produced a century partnership at this ground, the last time this occurred was in 1987 when Tim Robinson and Bruce French had a hundred partnership. If anything the Thorpe and Vaughan partnership proved one point that this England team has a lot of depth and nerves in its batting.
But the Pakistanis didn’t help their cause by not showing the required fire and penetration in their bowling. Saqlain Mushtaq, on whom Pakistan is banking to force a win at this ground, was given a long spell by Waqar spanning 22.2 overs, but he just didn’t seem to be able to breakthrough and only a few occasions did he trouble the batsmen.
Thorpe clearly has worked out the off-spinner’s magic ball which goes away well, as time and again he read it well to be ready for his shots. Not surprising considering both of them play for Surrey in the county championship.
What was intriguing was that Azhar Mehmood, Pakistan’s most successful bowler at Lord’s with his four wickets was given just three overs in one spell before lunch and got his second bowl after 61 overs had been sent down in the England innings, with the batsmen growing more dominant with every over.
Wasim bowled well, but even he was not his old self, although one must admit that the pitch was not bad for batting.
Waqar later stated that the pitch was good for batting and his bowlers would really have to work hard to force a win. “The pitch is a good one but I am not saying we are not capable of winning here. But we will have to work ready hard.”
Sahara India to sponsor cricket team
One of India’s leading business conglomerates will pay a record $21 million over three years to sponsor the national cricket team, newspapers reported Friday.
Sahara India, better known in the cricket world as sponsors of the now defunct one-day series between India and Pakistan in Toronto, Canada, beat a strong field to win the bid, the reports said.
Sahara’s bid was 49 percent more than ITC Limited, the previous sponsors of Indian cricket, and the highest ever to be paid a sporting team in the sub-continent.
ITC Limited withdrew their sponsorship after a government regulation banning tobacco sponsorship earlier this year.
Australia score 351
In Worcester, Worcestershire, replying to Australia’s first innings total of 351, were 50 forone at the close on the first day of their three-day openingtour match against Worcestershire yesterday.
