England v Pakistan - Official Second Test Match Thread

[Vrock]

Old Trafford hosts the two sides for the second match of the series. The weather could leave this match half finished or with some crucial delays once we get passed the half way stage.

After the first test there was one question that was certainly answered for both sides; do they have the strike power in the pace bowling department to defeat a side? Clearly England struggled to find anything to trouble Pakistan's batsmen once the new ball shine had worn off, if Steve Harmison could have got his radar sorted then things could have been a little bit different. Pakistan, also, found that Mohammad Sami was inconsistent in line and could not build any pressure, Umar Gul was excellent at times and forced some wickets through good bowling but struggled also once the ball stopped offering assistance.

Pakistan clearly have the advantage in the spin bowling department, Danish Kaneria could have easily had more wickets in the first innings at Lord's and was extracting plenty of spin and bounce to trouble England's batsmen. As well as the, almost, variety-pack of pace from Shahid Afridi the danger is always present.

As far as selection goes for the second test, having not seen the pitch myself, I can presume England, at least, are expecting it to offer assistance to the pace bowlers as Jamie Dalrymple has been released from the squad and now Sajid Mahmood and Jon Lewis are fighting for the final spot. Sajid Mahmood seems the obvious choice given his higher pace and the inclusion of two medium pace bowlers would be a risk as the final game against Sri Lanka showed. Pakistan are likely to stick with the same side as the first test match other than Younis Khan replacing Faisal Iqbal at number three, the batting line up will be even stronger with his return.

If the weather does prevent play from Sunday onwards then let's hope that we get a result pitch that the bowlers can dominate on. However, whether it rains or not, we might just see another draw if we get a pancake with no chance of breaking up. I'm hoping for the former so that England can play to their, only minor, strengths in this match.

Please discuss all build-up to the match and here's a few little questions to get your minds going before the second match starts:

1. Which batsman will make the highest single innings score in the match?
2. What will the score be after the first over of the match?
3. Will any bowler take a 10-for in the match?

[Mr Hutt]

Pakistan has won the toss and decided to bat.. the score is 10/2 ball is darting around off the pitch and the bounce is good too looks like a fast ballers pitch right now, harmison is bowling quite well. Pakistan will need someone to stick around if they want to make a sizeable total, does not look good at the moment for them

[Mr Hutt]

76/2 now none other than muhammad Yusuf and Yunis Khan consolidating the innings for pakistan. The middle order seems to be delivering every match its the top order that never seems to work, imrah farhat has had too many chances i feel at the opners slot and he has not merited his selection, we need to find a good opening partnership for sure, that is the only chink in the batting lineups armor at the moment. If pakistan can get around 300 plus in this innings it would be a good total to defend, as the ball seems to be bouncing really well and giving the batsmen enough trouble!!

[gangstacocacola]

Well england have fought back and have tooken the wickets of mohammad yousaf n younis khan just before lunch. the score is now 93-4. The next session should be interesting enough. If pakistan can get a total of around 350, should be good enough to defend. As a pakistani fan, it was good to see younis khan back.

[Mr Hutt]

93/4 at lunch... both yusuf and yunus khan out to rather loose shots.. seemed like a lapse of concentration on yusufs part at monty coming in ambling to the crease.. the ball just touched his bat and straight into the keepers gloves... well that was all the motivation yunis khan needed.. what does he do next over? slices one straight to collingwood on the offside good catch brilliant session for england.. and how well has harmison bowled!!! 3 wickets in the morning session for him. Bob woolmer has been practicing his batsmen with a slab of marble to get them used to the bounce, well this whole bloody pitch seemed like marble today as everything lifted swung or darted off it!!! excellent session for england.. all that seperates them from rolling pakistan over.. who else.. the gentle giant standing at the crease inzimam

[greg]

90-2 to 93-6 in the matter of 4 overs.

Be interesting if the Pakistan attack are good enough to exploit the pitch the same as Harmison and Panesar have.

[greg]

119 all out.The innings ended with a farcical run out.Harmison 6-19 and Panesar 3-21.A woeful display by Pakistan but credit to Harmison for going for the jugular and exploiting the conditions.

[gangstacocacola]

yes credit to harmison. if only shoaib akhtar was in this test.

[Vrock]

A very good first session and a half for England, Harmison producing a couple of really good spells with some hostile bowling and he offered little to Pakistan's batsmen in terms of easy runs. Thoroughly deserves six wickets for his efforts.

I thought Monty bowled well, he made the crucial breakthrough just before lunch to remove Mohammad Yousuf from a partnership with Younis Khan that was just beginning to look threatening.

England have started on a par so far, one chance has been offered and it was dropped. Not good for Pakistan.

[Mr Hutt]

well what a disaster for the pakistani team.... they collapsed like a house of cards today.. some real problems to deal with in batting under these conditions.. england are 58 for 1 motoring along and already pakistan has dropped one chance... im afraid if pakistan does not get back in gear this test will go englands way very soon. Harmison bowled liek a demon today excellent job panesar as well and as per normal englands fielding was also top class!!