England grow tetchy as beleaguered Pakistan finally show some spirit

Pakistan 72 & 291-9 England 251

(GETTY IMAGES)

All the damage had been done long before. The only issues of concern yesterday were precisely when England would win the second Test, by how much and whether Edgbaston would ever get beyond half full.

Ah, the best laid plans, the beauty of Test cricket. Only the third point was resolved (not a chance), and the first two were left hanging in the warm Birmingham air not to be finally answered until today. England, whose off spinner Graeme Swann threatened to wreak havoc early on the third day, were held at bay by a magnificent innings from Pakistan's debutant wicketkeeper, Zulqarnain Haider.

He scored 88 and shared an improbable eighth-wicket partnership of 115 with Saeed Ajmal, which, equally improbably, threatened to turn the match on its head. Swann's best Test figures – 6 for 60 – should ensure that England win the match today but it will not be in the comfort that they clearly expected. They still have a wicket to take and Pakistan lead by 112.

Ajmal himself will rather look forward to bowling on a fourth-day pitch granting copious turn. With each of the six boundaries he struck in his first Test 50, he was probably plotting his use of the doosra.

Pakistan's resistance for the first time in the series was commendable. It took its in time in coming and, when they slid, all too predictably, to 101 for 6, it seemed that it would never arrive. But, deep into the afternoon and evening, the tourists hampered England's progress.

Marshalled by Zulqarnain, this was a mature, battling rearguard that was forged solely by the umpire review system. When Zulqarnain came in at 83 for 5, he was on a king pair and, having been duly struck on the pads first ball by Swann, who was in the middle of a ferocious spell, it appeared that the dubious distinction was his.

More in desperation than expectation, he asked for umpire Steve Davis's decision to be reviewed. Replays showed that the ball was turning past leg stump and the batsman was spared. He did not waste this new lease of life, he took full advantage of it, playing with diligence and patience.

Some three hours later, he had his reward in a half century, raised with a crisply driven four through mid- wicket, which gave him boundless joy. He knelt in prayer and exultation, though, caught up in his moment of glory, seemed to have mistaken the direction of Mecca.

England, by contrast, were tetchy and had been for some while. It had been a few months since they had been in a Test match in which they were properly tested and it came as something of a shock to their systems. They seemed to forget two extremely important factors: that they had no divine right to win and that they were actually still in control of the match.

If there was a general disgruntlement about their play, as if they wondered how Pakistan dare have the temerity to detain them so long, nobody embodied their fractious state more than Stuart Broad. He has some previous for being less than gallant and his mood was not at its best after having two appeals for catches behind turned down.

Both were against Zulqarnain. Broad and the rest of the team were celebrating the first barely without appealing. It was adjudged rightly to be not out and England perhaps demonstrated their true feelings on the matter by not asking for a review. The decision was correct.

A little later, Zulqarnain appeared to edge Broad behind again. Surely this time he had hit it and the bowler immediately asked for a review when his appeal was refused. Again, umpire Marais Erasmus was proved right.

Thus disappointed, two overs later, Broad lobbed the ball overarm at Zulqarnain and hit him on the shoulder. Perhaps he did not intend to hit him, perhaps he was not aiming at him, but it looked appalling.

None of this affected Zulqarnain's mission. He has more important matters on his mind at present than a mere cricket match. His father has just emerged from a coma in a Lahore hospital, stricken by hepatitis C. Maybe this drove him on.

What a transformation he engineered after Swann had threatened to wreck Pakistan's second innings. He has been pushed into the background on the swinging, seaming pitches of the past few weeks but now he was centre stage again. His third ball of the match was a humdinger. Coming from round the wicket, he drifted he drifted the ball outside leg stump, from where it turned sharply past Imran Farhat's forward defensive prop and clipped the off bail. The perfect off break.

There seemed to be no stopping Swann thereafter, as he turned one expansively through a large gate created by Azhar Ali's drive, had Umar Akmal leg before choosing not to play and Umar Amin stumped, beaten by the spin on the forward defensive. With Steve Finn having Shoaib Malik caught behind off a glove from a ball he tried desperately to leave, the tourists were as usual all at sea.

But, although Swann bowled a mighty spell in the afternoon that contained 10 consecutive maidens, Zulqarnain was a model of pragmatism. He was prepared to see him out, recognising that there might be greater rewards on offer later. He was aided first by Mohammad Amir, who again put a high price on his wicket.But, when Amir was caught at first slip off Broad in the fourth over with the second new ball, an innings win before the third day was out looked back in the running. Ajmal played with delightful ease, which hardly helped England's mood. Two balls after reaching his half century, he edged Swann to slip. Soon after, Zulqarnain lifted his 220th ball to mid-off but still Pakistan refused to oblige England and saw out the day with great glee.

Edgbaston timeline: How the third day unfolded

11.14 Imran Farhat edges Stuart Broad to third slip, where he is dropped by Paul Collingwood, not something expected of England these days.

11.37 For a troubling few seconds, it seems as though Farhat could be seriously hurt as he ducks into a well-directed Broad bouncer that follows him. He recovers after five minutes of treatment and is ok to continue batting.

11.53 Graeme Swann bowls a beauty to dismiss Farhat with his third ball. It drifts from round the wicket, pitches outside leg stump and rips past the bat to hit the top of off stump.

12.07 Swann, on one of his rolls, turns one through the wide gate left by Azhar Ali and might have had Umar Akmal stumped first ball had wicketkeeper Matt Prior gathered cleanly.

12.45 Akmal leg before to Swann ill-advisedly shouldering arms, which is immediately followed by Haider Zulqarnain being given out leg before wicket first ball to register a king pair on debut. But he asks for a review, which is upheld when the ball is shown to be turning to miss leg stump.

1.55 Umar Amin out, smartly stumped by Prior.

2.37 Broad requests immediate review when he thinks he has Zulqarnain caught behind. Replays show the umpire was right to give the batsman not out.

2.51 Broad, clearly still annoyed, lobs the ball overarm in Zulqarnain's general direction and hits him on the shoulder. The umpire speaks to captain Andrew Strauss.

3.05 Zulqarnain squeezes Swann for three on the off side, the first runs from the off-spinner for 67 balls.

3.15 Mohammad Amir, on 13, is dropped by Alastair Cook at silly point.

3.40 Pakistan reach tea on 150 for 6, having lost only wicket in the afternoon.

4.22 Amir nicks one from Broad and this time there's no mistake as Strauss holds on.

4.55 Haider makes a maiden Test 50 on his debut and puts his side into the lead.

6.11 Ajmal flicks Anderson away to join his partner in hitting a maiden half-century.

6.12 Graeme Swann puts paid to Ajmal's resistance at last — he is caught by Paul Collingwood at slip.

6.22 And he is swiftly followed by Zulqarnain Haider, who is caught by Strauss to give Graeme Swann a first six-wicket haul in Test cricket.

6.45 Pakistan close on 291-9, taking a useful lead of 112 into the fourth day.

Stephen Brenkley

Edgbaston scoreboard

Second & Third day of five: Pakistan lead England by 112 runs with one wicket remaining; Pakistan won toss

Pakistan: First Innings 72 (J Anderson 4-20; S Broad 4-38)

England: First Innings Friday, Overnight: 112-2

J Trott c sub b Amin 55, 125 balls 7 fours

K Pietersen c & b Ajmal 80, 147 balls 12 fours

P Collingwood c Farhat b Ajmal 28, 70 balls 1 four

E Morgan c Haider b Asif 6, 15 balls

†M Prior lbw b Ajmal 15, 21 balls 2 fours

G Swann c & b Ajmal 4, 25 balls

S Broad c sub b Ajmal 0, 3 balls

J Anderson lbw b Aamer 0, 14 balls

S Finn not out 0, 5 balls

Extras (b 10, lb 9, w 1, nb 1) 21

Total (83.1 overs) 251

Fall 1-44 (Cook), 2-44 (Strauss), 3-177 (Trott), 4-205 (Pietersen), 5-220 (Morgan), 6-243 (Prior), 7-248 (Collingwood), 8-248 (Broad), 9-251 (Anderson), 10-251 (Swann).

Bowling M Aamer 20-4-57-2 (w1) (3-0-21-0, 6-2-12-1, 7-0-19-0, 4-2-3-1), M Asif 20-5-41-2 (10-1-23-1, 5-1-13-0, 5-3-5-1), U Gul 9-1-24-0 (nb1) (2-0-5-0, 4-1-9-0, 3-0-10-0), S Ajmal 26.1-5-82-5 (1-0-1-0, 6-0-31-0, 19.1-5-50-5), U Amin 8-2-28-1 (1-0-5-0, 7-2-23-1).

Progress Second day: Lunch 125-2 (Trott 37, Pietersen 42) 40.4 overs. 150 in 47.2 overs. Tea 191-3 (Pietersen 78, Collingwood 6) 58.3 overs. 200 in 61.3 overs. 250 in 79.3 overs.

Pakistan: Second Innings

I Farhat b Swann 29, 93 balls 4 fours

A Ali b Swann 19, 82 balls 3 fours

S Malik c Prior b Finn 3, 23 balls

U Akmal lbw b Swann 20, 26 balls 3 fours

U Amin st Prior b Swann 14, 25 balls 2 fours

†Z Haider c Strauss b Swann 88, 200 balls 15 fours

M Aamer c Strauss b Broad 16, 117 balls 2 fours

S Ajmal c Collingwood b Swann 50, 79 balls 6 fours

U Gul not out 9, 18 balls 1 four

M Asif not out 13, 23 balls 3 fours

Extras (b 16, lb 14) 30

Total (9 wkts, 116 overs) 291

Fall: 1-1 (Butt), 2-53 (Farhat), 3-54 (Ali), 4-76 (Malik), 5-82 (Akmal), 6-101 (Amin), 7-153 (Aamer), 8-268 (Ajmal), 9-269 (Haider).

Bowling J Anderson 28-13-62-1 (5-4-1-1, 1.1-1-0-0, 5.5-3-13-0, 7-4-8-0, 5-1-17-0, 4-0-23-0), S Broad 28-8-64-1 (7-2-10-0, 6-2-20-0, 5-1-16-0, 6-2-12-1, 4-1-8-0), S Finn 16-5-57-1 (4-3-4-0, 6-2-24-1, 6-0-29-0), G Swann 36-20-60-6 (24-17-23-4, 1-0-1-0, 4-1-15-0, 7-2-21-2), P Collingwood 7-2-14-0 (one spell), K Pietersen 1-0-2-0 (one spell).

Progress Second day: Close of Play 19-1 (Farhat 10, Ali 5) 17.1 overs. Third day: Lunch 94-5 (Amin 12, Haider 1) 44.0 overs, 100 in 45.1 overs, 150 in 77.2 overs, Tea 150-6 (Haider 36, Aamer 14) 79.0 overs, 200 in 93.5 overs, 250 in 104.1 overs.

Umpires S J Davis (Aus) & M Erasmus (SA)

TV replay umpire A L Hill (NZ)

Match referee J W Lloyds (Eng)