Anderson took five wickets for 49 runs in 20 overs as Pakistan were left 207 runs behind England’s first innings 354 when bad light forced an early close. It was the ninth time in his 49 Tests that Anderson had taken five or more wickets in an innings and he was well supported by Steven Finn, who took three for 20 in 11 overs.
Pakistan were in dire straits at 47 for six but thanks to tail-ender Umar Gul’s unbeaten 30 and a seventh-wicket stand of 58 between Shoaib Malik (38) and Mohammad Aamer (25) saved them from total embarassment. Mohammad Asif, who rocked England earlier on Friday with a five-wicket haul of his own, was unbeaten on nought.
England had lost their last six wickets for just 17 runs earlier in an Asif-inspired slump. Before lunch, Pakistan lost captain and opener Salman Butt, caught behind off Anderson. And the Lancashire seamer, from around the wicket, produced a superb delivery to Imran Farhat that saw the left-hander, aiming to mid-on, bowled off-stump as the ball moved away late.
Finn then got in on the act with only his sixth ball as 32 for two became 35 for three. He had Umar Amin (two) caught at second slip by Graeme Swann.
Azhar Ali then fell to Anderson, edging through to wicketkeeper Matt Prior. Replays suggested the ball had brushed Ali’s back leg and missed his bat. But although the Decision Review System (DRS) was being used in a Test in England for the first time, Ali - in only his third match at this level - decided against a referral after consulting with Umar Akmal, the non-striker.
Malik, in for over an hour and a half, was caught by Andrew Strauss although the England captain needed two grabs at the first slip chance before holding on one-handed. Swann then held his third catch to end the 18-year-old Aamir’s
admirable 87 minutes of resistance following an edged drive. But Gul cover-drove Anderson for four and then pulled him for six. England resumed on 331 for four but Asif then took four wickets for eight runs in 13 balls - all leg-before - on his way to five for 77 in 27 overs.
His haul included maiden Test century maker Eoin Morgan (130) and Collingwood (82). But without their stand of 219, a national fifth-wicket record against Pakistan, England’s innings would have been in a sorry state.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2010.
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