Second Test, Edgbaston (day four):
England 251 & 118-1 beat Pakistan 72 & 296 by nine wickets
Match scorecard

Strauss played in positive fashion to guide his team to victory

By Jamie Lillywhite

England secured a 2-0 lead in the four-match series after a nine-wicket win in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Pakistan resumed with a lead of 112 at 291-9, but lost their final wicket in the second over having added only five when Mohammad Asif edged to gully.

Chasing 118, England lost Alastair Cook in the third over when Mohammad Amir ripped out the middle stump.

Skipper Andrew Strauss (53) was dropped twice but shared an unbroken 111 with Jonathan Trott (53) to seal victory.

The much-maligned tourists, already bowled out for under 100 twice in the series, restored some pride on Sunday when it had seemed as though they would lose by an innings.

Having built a lead in excess of three figures it was felt that with the addition of 30 or so runs, given the history of anxiety in Test cricket when chasing low totals, they had a genuine chance of levelling the series, with the spin of Saeed Ajmal expected to pose problems for the batsmen.

But in the end their resistance on the penultimate morning of the match lasted only 11 balls and they are still to reach 300 in eight Test innings in England this year.

Cook's wretched run continued when Amir shattered his stumps

Stuart Broad, fined for throwing the ball at the obdurate Zulqarnain Haider on Sunday, tempted Asif to lunge forward and Kevin Pietersen took a comfortable catch at head height.

Deprived of the bowling services of Umar Gul because of a hamstring injury, Pakistan were also denied the overcast weather conditions that were a factor in their own batting frailties earlier in the series.

But in bright sunshine Cook, who has made only 100 runs in seven Test innings in England this summer with a top score of 29, was beaten by pure pace as he played back in flat footed fashion to one that kept a fraction low from teenage left-armer Amir.

Ajmal came into the attack after seven overs with 101 still needed and from his third delivery Strauss was first reprieved on 10 when a thick edge from a back-foot forcing shot went in and out of Haider's gloves.

Despite the occasional scare through variable bounce the England batsmen played in calm fashion and Strauss recorded his team's 50 in the 18th over with a well executed sweep to the fine-leg fence off Ajmal.

606: DEBATE Well done lads! A nine wicket win over with a day and a half to spare. Now learn your lesson and be more patient when bowling next time! laughingdevil

Trott was not quite as assured as his captain early in his innings but clipped a delightful boundary off his pads as the requirement was reduced to just 47 with nine wickets still intact at the lunch interval.

The placid wicket offered little encouragement to Ajmal but he should have dismissed Strauss again on 38 when the ball turned away from the left-hander, but the edge merely flicked off Haider's left gauntlet.

Strauss twice lofted shots into the off side that Asif ran around rather than towards, rather encapsulating Pakistan's performance in the field throughout the series thus far.

Another misfield allowed the skipper to complete his 21st Test fifty and Trott struck a delightful cover drive for four to record his second half century.

With drops of rain falling, England reached their target midway through the afternoon session and they go to The Oval on 18 August with a maiden Test series whitewash against Pakistan still possible.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version