RESULT
3rd Test, Leeds, August 04 - 08, 2006, Pakistan tour of England and Scotland
515 & 345
(T:323) 538 & 155

England won by 167 runs

Player Of The Match
173 & 41
younis-khan
Report

Mahmood and Panesar power England to series glory

England secured their first series triumph since the Ashes with an outstanding display in the field as they surged to a 167-run at Headingley

England 515 and 345 beat Pakistan 538 and 155 (Younis 41, Mahmood 4-22, Panesar 3-39) by 167 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out


Sajid Mahmood claimed Test-best figures as England raced to victory © Getty Images
England secured their first series triumph since the Ashes with an outstanding display in the field as they surged to a 167-run win at Headingley. Monty Panesar's glorious summer continued while Sajid Mahmood out-bowled his more illustrious colleagues with Test-best figures of 4 for 22. Pakistan subsided with barely a whimper as the match was wrapped up midway through the afternoon session.
Considering that the day started with England only marginal favourites, their final-day performance was as crushing and clinical as they come. In many ways this was more impressive than their bowling performances in the three-day demolition job at Old Trafford. The Headingley pitch confounded expectations throughout and none of Pakistan's second-innings wickets can be put down solely to the surface.
What will please Andrew Strauss - and even the straight-faced Duncan Fletcher - is the fact that the main two protagonists, Panesar and Mahmood, form the young half of England's bowling attack. Slowly but surely England's jigsaw pieces are being slotted into place. Panesar gives them a match-winning spinner and Mahmood has thrown his hat into the ring for the back-up paceman slot.
As at Old Trafford, Panesar's figures were bettered by a seamer with Mahmood bagging his first four-wicket haul of an embryonic Test career. Yet it was still Panesar that was the key to victory and this time with little support from Steve Harmison. He produced the ball of the series to remove Younis Khan, the last barrier to England, seven overs after lunch and always kept the batsmen under pressure.
With Younis again playing serenely on 41, Panesar's ripping delivery pitched on middle and leg, turned, spun past the edge of the bat and just flicked the off bail. He has bowled some jaffers this season, but that ball topped the lot. A statistic bandied around throughout the match had been the two wickets taken by English spinners at Headingley in the last 10 years; Panesar trebled that with six and always offered Strauss control.
But while the wicket of Younis signalled that this was England's match, the victory charge had been set up during the morning session. There was no swing for Hoggard, but he still made the first breakthrough when Salman Butt flashed loosely to first slip, while Taufeeq Umar was tied in knots as Panesar made his first impact on proceedings. That was just a preamble; the real battle started when Mohammad Yousuf arrived to join Younis.
However, the stand had barely got going when Younis dropped the ball into the off side, but they'd picked out England's best ground-fielder. Collingwood sprinted in from backward point and hit the stumps - England's third direct hit of the match - to catch Yousuf inches short of his ground. The momentum was now all with the home side and they knew it.


Monty Panesar claimed two vital wickets and bowled a stunning delivery to remove Younis Khan © Getty Images
Mahmood cranked his pace up into the nineties, while the fielders cranked up the verbals - so much so that Kevin Pietersen was told to calm down his chat with Faisal Iqbal. But Iqbal was never comfortable, although he can count himself slightly unfortunate to edge down the leg-side, where Chris Read continued his fine match. There was no fortune in Mahmood's second strike as Kamran Akmal nicked a perfect leg-cutter two balls later and Pakistan were in tatters at 80 for 5.
Their last glimmer of hope was Inzamam-ul-Haq, batting at No. 7 after his time off the field yesterday, but he'd been left with a mountain to climb. He and Younis showed positive intent but when Panesar produced his magic ball, Inzamam knew just the final rites remained. England administered them with a ruthlessness that bodes well for the challenges to come.
Another shambolic run out accounted for Mohammad Sami; a further slapdash piece of cricket from a player who failed to emerge from the doldrums in this series. Mahmood then ended some brief defiance from Shahid Nazir and bagged his fourth when Umar Gul was well caught, low at third slip by Collingwood.
The final wicket encapsulated the match as Inzamam charged Panesar and Read completed a simple stumping, making it five dismissals on his return. As Inzamam sidled slowly off the ground he was left to rue a series where his team made too many mistakes. However, over the last two weeks England's players have answered most of the questions that have been thrown their way. It has been a tough 12 months for a side that touched such exalted heights almost a year ago, but that will make this crushing victory taste even sweeter.

Andrew McGlashan is editorial assistant of Cricinfo

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