Ton-up Akmal fights for Pakistan after Pathan's hat-trick
KARACHI, Sunday (AFP) - Kamran Akmal smashed 113 to rescue Pakistan
after Indian seamer Irfan Pathan had grabbed a hat-trick in a dramatic
start to the final Test here on Sunday.
The gutsy wicket-keeper's fourth Test hundred helped Pakistan recover
from a disastrous 39-6 within the first hour to reach 245 in their first
innings.
The seaming wicket at the National Stadium did not spare the Indians
either, who were 74-4 in reply at stumps and waging a grim struggle for
survival at the crease.
Akmal was once more in the thick of the action, taking catches off
Indian captain Rahul Dravid (three) and Virender Sehwag (five).
India lost two wickets at 56 when Venkatsai Laxman (19) was bowled by
a huge in-cutter from Mohammad Asif and Sachin Tendulkar (23) also had
his stumps shattered by Abdul Razzaq.
Former captain Sourav Ganguly (nine) and Yuvraj Singh (seven) were at
the crease when time ran out with 11 overs still remaining to be bowled.
The rattle of wickets contrasted sharply with the high-scoring draws
in the first two Tests in Lahore and Faisalabad which produced 2,791
runs and saw only 36 of the possible 80 wickets fall.
Pakistan, given first strike by Dravid, were rocked by Pathan's
three-in-a-row trick in the first over of the match.
The left-arm seamer had Salman Butt caught at first slip off the
fourth delivery, trapped stand-in captain Younis Khan leg-before with
the fifth and clean bowled Mohammad Yousuf off the sixth.
Pathan finished with five for 61, while fellow left-arm seamers Rudra
Pratap Singh and Zaheer Khan shared the remaining five wickets as
Pakistan's innings lasted less than five hours.
"Getting Test wickets is not easy so achieving a hat-trick has to be
up there," said Pathan. "It's quite a good feeling to have done
something special.
"But there is nothing to celebrate yet. That will be when we win the
match and with it the series."
Pakistan's Akmal expects the wicket to seam over the next four days
as well.
"It is not easy playing the new ball on it because it moves a lot off
the wicket," Akmal said. "That will be for both teams in the second
innings also.
"We have them four down but we are not taking anything for granted.
There is a lot of cricket left to be played."
Akmal put on 115 for the seventh wicket with Razzaq (45) and 82 for
the eighth with Shoaib Akhtar, who was last man out for a pugnacious 45.
Akmal, who survived a botched stumping by his Indian counterpart
Mahendra Dhoni when he was on 80, hit 18 boundaries in a brilliant
counter-attack.
Pakistan, already without skipper Inzamam-ul Haq for the decisive
Test because of a back injury, aided the Indians by some reckless
strokes.
Faisal Iqbal, who replaced Inzamam, fell leg-before to Zaheer for
five to make it 31-4 in the sixth over.
Zaheer then bowled the dangerous Shahid Afridi for 10 as the batsman
attempted to loft a good-length ball for six.
Pakistan slumped from 37-5 to 39-6 as opener Imran Farhat edged a
wild heave off Singh and gave Dhoni an easy catch.
Left-hander Farhat, drafted in place of Shoaib Malik who is mourning
the death last week of his father, made 22.
Razzaq and Akmal then put their heads down to help Pakistan surpass
their lowest Test score of 53 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002.
The 21-year-old Pathan joined Harbhajan Singh as the only Indian
bowlers to claim the coveted hat-trick in Test cricket. Off-spinner
Singh achieved the feat against Australia in Kolkata in 2001.
Pathan's feat was the 36th instance of a Test hat-trick but the first
time it has happened in the opening over of the match.
Three bowlers, Thomas Matthews and Hugh Trumble of Australia and
Wasim Akram of Pakistan, have achieved the feat twice.
PAKISTAN 1ST INNINGS
Salman Butt c Dravid b Pathan 0
Imran Farhat c Dhoni b Singh 22
Younis Khan lbw b Pathan 0
Mohammad Yousuf b Pathan 0
Faisal Iqbal lbw b Zahee 5
Shahid Afridi b Zaheer 10
Abdul Razzaq lbw b Singh 45
Kamran Akmal c Dhoni b Pathan 113
Shoaib Akhtar c Yuvraj b Pathan 45
Mohammad Asif c Laxman b Singh 0
Danish Kaneria not out 0
Extras: (lb2, nb1, w2) 5
TOTAL 245
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-13, 5-37,
6-39, 7-154, 8-236, 9-245
BOWLING; Pathan 17.1-4-61-5, Zaheer 15-2-75-2,
Singh 16-1-66-3, Ganguly 2-0-9-0,
Kumble 10-1-32-0
INDIA 1ST INNINGS
V. Laxman b Asif 19
R. Dravid c Akmal b Asif 3
V. Sehwag c Akmal b Akhtar 5
S. Tendulkar b Razzaq 23
S. Ganguly not out 9
Y. Singh not out 7
Extras: (lb1, nb7) 8
TOTAL (for four wickets) 74
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-9, 2-14, 3-56, 4-56
BOWLING: Akhtar 6-1-26-1, Asif 7-0-29-2, Razzaq 3-1-18-1
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS), Daryl Harper (AUS)
TV umpire: Asad Rauf (PAK)
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)
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