Cricket: Salim boosts Pakistan's confidence

Essex 357-9 dec and 188

Pakistanis 353-6 dec and 196-3

Pakistanis win by 7 wickets

THE Pakistanis won a pounds 50,000 Tetley Bitter Challenge bonus at Chelmsford yesterday, beating Essex by seven wickets and recording their eighth victory in 11 games against county sides.

It was a morale booster that the Essex and England captain Gooch did not want the Pakistanis to have in the run-up to the deciding fifth Test at The Oval on Thursday. He received further bad news when it was confirmed that the pace bowler Neil Foster would miss the rest of the season after knee surgery.

After Wasim Akram had finished off Essex's second innings for 188 by taking the last three wickets for seven runs in 13 balls, Pakistan needed 193 in 38 overs, and with Salim Malik hitting 50 off 44 balls they achieved their target with 23 balls to spare.

Salim and Asif Mujtaba (62 not out) added 86 in 13 overs for the third wicket in the partnership that decided the outcome, although Wasim then came in to settle matters with some violent blows.

Essex did all they could to deny Pakistan, with the nightwatchman Peter Such holding out for 84 minutes this morning for six runs before falling leg before to Naved Anjum. Jonathan Lewis, a 22-year old batsman, battled more than three hours for 55 before becoming leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed's second victim of the day.

The acting captain, Salim, contributed with the ball, taking two important wickets with his occasional leg-breaks. Wasim then got rid of the tail and Pakistan's openers Ramiz Raja and Shoaib Mohammad put on 47 to build the platform that Salim, Asif and Wasim needed to unfurl their strokes.

Pace bowler Aqib Javed, who has been suffering from a knee injury, will bowl in the nets at The Oval today as he tries to regain fitness for the final Test.