drilled to mid-off, Alam fires a throw at the stumps but misses and England are home!
England vs Pakistan, 2nd ODI at Leeds, Sep 12 2010 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
2nd ODI, Leeds, September 12, 2010, Pakistan tour of England
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ENG
Full commentary
A breathless finish to the second ODI and England come out on top, winning by four wickets with three balls remaining to go 2-0 up in this five-match series. Pakistan fought all the way but Andrew Strauss's hundred proved the difference between the two sides today. Still, Pakistan have been more competitive than they had been in a while, and can take plenty of pride from the way they kept fighting today. Stick with us for the presentations and a quick word from the two captains.
Just a quick reminder, there are still a couple of hours left for those of you in the UK to take advantage of free-to-air ESPN this weekend. Until the early hours of Monday morning the channel is unscrambled, so you can watch a variety of sports, including live coverage of the Aviva Premiership. It can be found on Sky channels 417 and 442 (HD) and Virgin media 529 and 530. Click here for more information.
Afridi singles out his top order for special praise, and rues a few missed opportunities in the field. The man who benefited from one of those dropped catches, Andrew Strauss, is the Man of the Match for his hundred. "When you're chasing 290 odd you need one guy to bat for most of the innings," explains Strauss. "[My game] feels pretty good at the moment, I'm enjoying playing with a bit more freedom. It's been fun. Our fielding was shambolic at times to be honest, but our bowlers did really well and we got over the line in the end. We're in a good position in the series now." Nick Knight asks Strauss what he has to say to those who suggest that he shouldn't be captain of the one-day side, and he replies: "nothing". Knight also mentions to Strauss that England are now the No. 2 one-day team in the world, and Strauss suggests that "we're going in the right direction then".
And that is just about all from your commentators today. Andrew McGlashan's match bulletin will be in presently, and there's also a gallery of today's match to peruse. Check in a little later for an analysis of this game, and in the meantime you might be interested to know that Bangalore are ticking towards a big win over Guyana in the Champion's League with those two old hands Dravid and Kallis trundling along quite happily. Who would've thought, a couple of years ago, that we'd see those two opening in a Twenty20? If you'd like to discuss today's ODI and tell everyone where you think Pakistan went wrong (or England went right) then head on down to our Facebook page. From Andrew Miller, Sahil Dutta and Liam Brickhill, it's goodbye for now.
49.3
1
Umar Gul to Bresnan, 1 run
Afridi brings the field in now, almost everyone in the ring
49.2
4
Umar Gul to Bresnan, FOUR runs
bouncer, top-edged, and England drawl level as the ball loops up and over Kamran and bounces away to the boundary!
49.2
1w
Umar Gul to Bresnan, 1 wide
he's bowled a wide! The pressure is getting to Gul here, he charges in and sprays this very wide on the off side
Long-on is out as well, mid-off up
49.1
•
Umar Gul to Bresnan, no run
superb yorker! Right in the blockhole, full and fast. Bresnan jams down on it very hard but Gul leaps in his follow through to cut it off
Six balls remain, six runs required ... we're going to have a bit of a delay as Afridi holds an impromptu six-man team meeting. It's going to be Umar Gul to bowl the final over. Third man goes back, fine leg is up, deep point, deep midwicket ... wait, fine leg is going back now
end of over 497 runs • 1 wicket
ENG: 289/6CRR: 5.89 • RRR: 6.00
Tim Bresnan5 (4b 1x4)
Michael Yardy13 (8b 2x4)
Saeed Ajmal 10-0-52-2
Umar Gul 9-0-53-1
48.6
1
Ajmal to Bresnan, 1 run
drilled down to long-off, just the single and Bresnan keeps the strike
48.5
•
Ajmal to Bresnan, no run
how has that missed the stumps? Bresnan tried to heave this into the leg side but was beaten by the topspinner, and the ball bounced just over the top of middle and leg
48.4
•
Ajmal to Bresnan, no run
Bresnan tries to drive off the front foot this time, but he's picked out point
48.3
4
Ajmal to Bresnan, FOUR runs
Ajmal comes round the wicket, but Bresnan - calm as you like - just steps to leg and crunches the ball out to the cover boundary
48.2
1
Ajmal to Yardy, 1 run
swept hard towards Yousuf at short fine leg, but he gets down in time to cut that off, just the one
48.2
1w
Ajmal to Yardy, 1 wide
not the best of follow-ups, as Ajmal spears a fast doosra down the leg side
48.1
W
Ajmal to Bopara, OUT
tremendous effort from Hafeez running across from long-off! Bopara tried to crash this straight back over his head but got right underneath it to send a steepling chance towards long-off ... Hafeez had a lot to do as he ran in from the boundary, but he slid into position to hold on and that's a vital strike for Pakistan. Ajmal is proving his worth at the death!
Ravi Bopara c Mohammad Hafeez b Saeed Ajmal 16 (13b 1x4 0x6 17m) SR: 123.07
end of over 489 runs
ENG: 282/5CRR: 5.87 • RRR: 6.50
Michael Yardy12 (7b 2x4)
Ravi Bopara16 (12b 1x4)
Umar Gul 9-0-53-1
Saeed Ajmal 9-0-45-1
47.6
2
Umar Gul to Yardy, 2 runs
leading edge, but it loops just over the man at cover! Again Yardy went across to off, closing the face of the bat too early as he tried to smash through the leg side once again. But he survives and England are edging ahead now!
47.5
4
Umar Gul to Yardy, FOUR runs
lofted, what a strike from Yardy! He's moving around all over the place in the crease as Umar runs up to bowl, eventually he goes very deep and across to the off side, getting underneath a length delivery and lofting out to straight midwicket
47.4
1
Umar Gul to Bopara, 1 run
quick this time, and he was aiming for the yorker there! Didn't quite get it right, but it was full enough that Bopara couldn't get under it - just one to long-on
47.3
•
Umar Gul to Bopara, no run
another slower one! This has been a good over so far from Gul. Bopara backs away to leg but he's deceived by the pace, the ball shoots past the edge and bounces to Kamran between the batsman and the stumps
47.2
•
Umar Gul to Bopara, no run
dot ball! It was a slower ball from Gul, Bopara just about picked it in time but could only tap it back to the bowler
47.1
2
Umar Gul to Bopara, 2 runs
length delivery, muscled out into the leg side with a short-arm jab! But Asad is out there and sprints round to keep them to two
end of over 479 runs
ENG: 273/5CRR: 5.80 • RRR: 7.33
Michael Yardy6 (5b 1x4)
Ravi Bopara13 (8b 1x4)
Saeed Ajmal 9-0-45-1
Umar Gul 8-0-44-1
46.6
•
Ajmal to Yardy, no run
Yardy makes room once again, but this time the drive isn't nearly as well timed and rolls to mid-off
46.5
•
Ajmal to Yardy, no run
quick doosra on middle, the ball takes the inside half of the bat and rolls to midwicket
46.4
4
Ajmal to Yardy, FOUR runs
shot! Yardy takes a step towards the leg side to give himself some room and crashes the square drive out to the cover point boundary
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