Dancers in the dark
Graham Thorpe looks back at the memorable evening when England made good their escape in the twilight
30-Nov-2007
Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Pakistan, effectively 88 for 3 going into the last day, collapsed to set England 176 to win in fading light
Graham Thorpe: I remember saying that Saqlain [Mushtaq] was coming around the wicket and it was perfect for me. They did not apply any pressure. I found it simple to work the ball around. It was like matchplay cricket, all of a sudden. I kept checking with Steve [Bucknor, the umpire] that he was not going to take us off. Moin [Khan] was saying his fielders could not see the ball. Bucknor just shrugged his shoulders. When the fourth wicket fell and Nasser Hussain came out, we needed 20 to win. Waqar [Younis] came on and it was tough to see the ball. Nasser played like he couldn't see it - then again, he had been playing like that for the whole tour! Thorpe managed to inside-edge Waqar to win the match. I had adjusted and luckily I'd played a lot of club cricket, where you turn on the headlights to see. We were whistling 'The Great Escape' as the plane took off."
Graham Thorpe: I remember saying that Saqlain [Mushtaq] was coming around the wicket and it was perfect for me. They did not apply any pressure. I found it simple to work the ball around. It was like matchplay cricket, all of a sudden. I kept checking with Steve [Bucknor, the umpire] that he was not going to take us off. Moin [Khan] was saying his fielders could not see the ball. Bucknor just shrugged his shoulders. When the fourth wicket fell and Nasser Hussain came out, we needed 20 to win. Waqar [Younis] came on and it was tough to see the ball. Nasser played like he couldn't see it - then again, he had been playing like that for the whole tour! Thorpe managed to inside-edge Waqar to win the match. I had adjusted and luckily I'd played a lot of club cricket, where you turn on the headlights to see. We were whistling 'The Great Escape' as the plane took off."