Belated Harmison too late for England
Steve Harmison has yet to take a wicket
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Saturday, 19, Aug 2006 07:53
A fine spell of bowling from Steve Harmison came too late to prevent Pakistan seizing complete control of the final Test in south London before England finished on 78-1.
After a rain-affected morning, in which Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq added to their overnight scores, Pakistan looked in an ominously strong position as they extended their first innings lead.
A declaration seemed to be inevitable before Harmison, who had generally bowled too short yesterday, finally began to put the ball in the right place.
In a devastating spell he placed the Pakistani batsmen under pressure until Yousuf, at the other end, edged a ball to Andrew Strauss at slip to end his innings on 128.
Harmison then took three wickets, claiming the scalps of Inzamam for 31 and Kamran Akmal for 15.
At the other end a very positive Faisal Iqbal resumed the attack, however, reaching 58 not out before he ran out of partners.
But it was Harmison who wrapped up the last two wickets in just five balls of a new spell, leaving the Jekyll and Hyde strike bowler finishing on almost-respectable figures of 4-125.
Pakistan, having won a first innings lead of 321 from their 504 all out, took to the field as the skies cleared in the evening session in an optimistic mood.
Their enthusiasm was soon rewarded as Marcus Trescothick failed for the second time in the match, edging Mohammad Asif to a diving Akmal for just four.
But Andrew Strauss and Alistair Cook saw the beleaguered home side to 78-1 at the close, leaving them needing to bat out the entire day tomorrow to stand even the slightest chance of saving the game.