Youhana hits century as 1st Test ends in a draw : Saqlain declared
Lahore, Nov 19: Yousuf Youhana stroked a brilliant century as the first cricket Test between England and Pakistan ended in a draw at the Qadhafi Stadium here on Sunday
Samiul Hasan
20-Nov-2000
Lahore, Nov 19: Yousuf Youhana stroked a brilliant century as the
first cricket Test between England and Pakistan ended in a draw at
the Qadhafi Stadium here on Sunday.
Youhana resumed this morning at 77 in Pakistan's 333 for eight and
departed after scoring a top class 124 as the home team were dismissed
for 401 shortly after lunch.
England, who declared their first innings at 480 for eight and secured
a 79-run lead, were 77 for four when the two captains decided to call
off the match with 10.5 mandatory overs still to be bowled.
Saqlain Mushtaq, adjudged Man-of-the-Match, added the wicket of last
innings' centurion and Surrey team-mate Graham Thorpe to finish with
match figures of nine for 178. The award was further justified after
the 23-year-old local boy had contributed a dogged unbeaten 32.
Pakistan might have succeeded to cause some more dent in the England
confidence when twice on successive balls they came close to picking
up the wicket of Alec Stewart who finished unbeaten on 27. But once
the ball sped fast Saeed Anwar at short gully and the second time
Salim Elahi failed to hold on to a sharp catch at silly point. The
opportunities came in the last over before tea and the sufferer was
Mushtaq Ahmad.
But snapping up England's four wickets for 77 runs would certainly
give Pakistan the confidence to take another shot at the tourists
`weak link' in the second Test which begins in Faisalabad from Nov 29.
Nonetheless, the draw proved to be a big morale and confidence booster
for the Englishmen who were considered to be weak in facing the
quality spinners. Contrary to the pundits' prediction that the match
would last for three days, it went on for five and England dominated
the play almost for four days.
England brought Pakistan on the brink of follow-on when they reduced
them to 273 for eight. But it was a different story that despite
having broken the back of top order, they couldn't overcome the
resistance of Saqlain Mushtaq and Yousuf Youhana who featured in a
127-run stand in 228 minutes.
For Pakistan, it was a narrow escape but a good one. It displayed
Pakistan's grit and guts to fight when the chips are down.
And the man who showed the way to his senior players was Yousuf
Youhana who started on Sunday from where he had left the other
evening.
He looked purposeful and on a mission. He stroked the ball well and
showed a compact defence in blocking good deliveries. The highlights
of his innings was the shot selection.
Nasser Hussain, the England captain, shuffled his bowlers and made
quick changes to upset Youhana's concentration but failed.
His dismissal cannot be put to poor shot but a very good delivery from
Ashley Giles which spun just across him and took the outside edge of
his bat and into the gloves of Alec Stewart.
"The secret to his batting was his very good footwork and excellent
timing," Pakistan coach Javed Miandad said, adding: "I have been
working hard on him, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi. I am delighted
that all delivered the goods, and specially Yousuf."
Yousuf, who stroked his fourth career century and second on this
ground, batted for 13 minutes over six hours and faced 308 balls. His
innings spiced eight signature boundaries and a six.
Youhana's mental toughness, concentration and application can be
judged from the fact that when he came out to bat, Pakistan were 199
for three which later became 273 for eight with the PIA batsman on 37.
From then onwards, he took control of the innings and scored 86 runs
in a 123-run stand with Saqlain Mushtaq.
Saqlain also showed that he was not a rabbit with the bat while
remaining unbeaten on 32 and proving his reputation as a big
partnership player. He was also involved in a record 313-run eighth
wicket stand against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura four years ago.
Saqlain frustrated the Englishmen for exactly four hours during which
he received a 157 balls. He hit two fours.
England, despite being held by a spirited rearguard Pakistan action,
will be delighted with the performance of Ashley Giles and Craig
White, the two inexperienced bowlers who equally shared eight wickets
between them.
Giles, playing in his second Test, altered his line brilliantly when
he bowled from close to the wicket with his spinning line being middle
and off. He also varied his pace and at times hit the deck hard in an
effort to extract some abnormal bounce or spin.
White, the Yorkshireman, effectively and deceptively changed his pace.
He also succeeded in making the ball reverse swing because he bowled
faster than most of the pacers. The most impressive thing about White
was that he made the batsmen play rather than wasting his energy in
wayward deliveries.
The first Test has ended in an entertaining draw. But several lessons
are to be learnt for both the teams. Let's see which of the two are
more professional in picking lose threads quickly and effectively