When Inzamam won the toss on the first day at old Trafford, wily old Ian Botham quipped, “It’s a good toss to lose!”; and how right he was!

The innings started with a whimper with Kamran Akmal being promoted to play the role of the makeshift opener yet again as the Pakistan team searched for the long eluding answer of a proper opening pair. Disaster ensued as the steep bounce of old Trafford’s pitch was exploited by one man bowling like he was possessed - Steve Harmison. His bowling was straight and he had the ball rearing off the pitch at batsmen’s faces like coiled cobras. However it was the line that was unerring as he dismissed both Farhat and Akmal early. Muhammad Yousuf and Younis Khan tried to stabilise things, showing the rest of the camp that although a battle to bat on, this pitch was playable. It was 93-2 when Monty walked to the pitch and right from his second ball we saw an amazing amount of spin, despite none being predicted by Nasser Hussain. Chaos followed as Pakistan tumbled to 119 all out, losing 8 wickets in the space of 30 odd runs. Harmison’s figures were 6/19 and the rest was all Panesar. The fans were shocked as England walked in to bat on the very first day’s afternoon.



It started as woefully for Pakistan in bowling as it had in batting, clearly this was not their day as Sami and Umar Gul sprayed the ball all over the pitch. Despite this, Sami managed to dismiss Trescothick caught behind and then Razzaq removed Andrew Strauss in the same way; but those were clearly indiscretions of concentration. Alastair Cook played swashbuckling cricket as he went past 50 to take the England score to 168/2; already 49 runs ahead of Pakistan at the end of the first day.



The second day started well for Pakistan as Umar Gul took Kevin Pietersen’s wicket with the second ball, after that the duo of Sami and Gul bowled well in overcast conditions, but all failed against Cook’s resolve. Cook went on to make a brilliant 127 runs, standing like an oak as wickets fell around him at regular intervals. Pakistan had some hope after his departure but then Bell took up the mantle and with the tail made a classic 103 allowing England to declare with a massive lead of 342 runs having scored 446/9. The captain’s decision to declare before their last man fell was also psychologically brilliant as now in three innings of England’s batting Pakistan had not managed to bowl them out. Umar Gul had bowled well for his 4 wickets but that was about it. The injury jinx had not lifted from these two sides as Jones was rapped on his hands by Sami and Imran Farhat broke a finger in taking a sharp catch at slip. The day ended with a bit of an anti-climax as Harmison clutched at a strain in his side and the Barmy Army gripped their heads praying for his health for the next day.



The day started like the first one for Pakistan, already wallowing in their misery as a lifter from Harmison straight towards Akmal’s throat saw him going in just the second over of Harmison’s spell. He bowled like a demon on this day as well, peppering the incoming batsmen with missiles to their throats and bodies, in all it was quite comical as each Pakistan batsmen ducked and weaved and even screamed in agony as they were hit again and again until they finally gave up to trudge back to the safety of the dressing room. You could see it in the bewildered faces of the Pakistani coach and players at lunch, defeat loomed in their eyes and they had only one hope -Younis Khan who was still battling away with the pitch until Monty strode to it. If Harmison had put on a show of the classic bodyline reminiscent of the golden age of West Indian fast bowling, Monty Panesar announced his arrival on the stage of world cricket with a brilliant spell of spin bowling. Pakistan have not done too well in the past against left arm spin, but the way Monty bowled was something exceptional. Overall Pakistani players are regarded as some of the best against spin but they were literally spun out of this match as Panesar’s bowling literally spat at the batsmen as they ripped past their out side edges, and all this without a doosra in his attack, it was quite remarkable to see. With Muhammad Yousuf gone to a great stumping by Geraint Jones and then Inzamam daftly smashing one into his toe for a bat/pad catch off Panesar, all that was left was Younis Khan who played a fighting 62 runs before he was caught leg before off Panesar again!!



After his departure it was only a matter of time as Harmison returned to mop up the tail with his fastest spell yet and it was all over for Pakistan for a score of 222 runs in their second innings; falling short by an innings and 120 runs. Harmison took 5/72 and Panesar 5/57 to bundle Pakistan completely out of the match. England are now 1 up in this test series and by the looks of this display of aggressive fast as well as spin bowling, Pakistan are going to have a torrid time this summer. To be fair to them they are missing several key players, but without their batsmen being able to play anything which shows movement or rears up it is really going to be a long arduous tour for them in these conditions.

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