da dobrowin： Lahore, Nov 19: Yousuf Youhana stroked a brilliant century as thefirst cricket Test between England and Pakistan ended in a draw atthe Qadhafi Stadium here on Sunday
Samiul Hasan20-Nov-2000Lahore, Nov 19: Yousuf Youhana stroked a brilliant century as thefirst cricket Test between England and Pakistan ended in a draw atthe Qadhafi Stadium here on Sunday.Youhana resumed this morning at 77 in Pakistan’s 333 for eight anddeparted after scoring a top class 124 as the home team were dismissedfor 401 shortly after lunch.England, who declared their first innings at 480 for eight and secureda 79-run lead, were 77 for four when the two captains decided to calloff the match with 10.5 mandatory overs still to be bowled.Saqlain Mushtaq, adjudged Man-of-the-Match, added the wicket of lastinnings’ centurion and Surrey team-mate Graham Thorpe to finish withmatch figures of nine for 178. The award was further justified afterthe 23-year-old local boy had contributed a dogged unbeaten 32.Pakistan might have succeeded to cause some more dent in the Englandconfidence when twice on successive balls they came close to pickingup the wicket of Alec Stewart who finished unbeaten on 27. But oncethe ball sped fast Saeed Anwar at short gully and the second timeSalim Elahi failed to hold on to a sharp catch at silly point. Theopportunities came in the last over before tea and the sufferer wasMushtaq Ahmad.But snapping up England’s four wickets for 77 runs would certainlygive Pakistan the confidence to take another shot at the tourists`weak link’ in the second Test which begins in Faisalabad from Nov 29.Nonetheless, the draw proved to be a big morale and confidence boosterfor the Englishmen who were considered to be weak in facing thequality spinners. Contrary to the pundits’ prediction that the matchwould last for three days, it went on for five and England dominatedthe play almost for four days.England brought Pakistan on the brink of follow-on when they reducedthem to 273 for eight. But it was a different story that despitehaving broken the back of top order, they couldn’t overcome theresistance of Saqlain Mushtaq and Yousuf Youhana who featured in a127-run stand in 228 minutes.For Pakistan, it was a narrow escape but a good one. It displayedPakistan’s grit and guts to fight when the chips are down.And the man who showed the way to his senior players was YousufYouhana who started on Sunday from where he had left the otherevening.He looked purposeful and on a mission. He stroked the ball well andshowed a compact defence in blocking good deliveries. The highlightsof his innings was the shot selection.Nasser Hussain, the England captain, shuffled his bowlers and madequick changes to upset Youhana’s concentration but failed.His dismissal cannot be put to poor shot but a very good delivery fromAshley Giles which spun just across him and took the outside edge ofhis bat and into the gloves of Alec Stewart.”The secret to his batting was his very good footwork and excellenttiming,” Pakistan coach Javed Miandad said, adding: “I have beenworking hard on him, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi. I am delightedthat all delivered the goods, and specially Yousuf.”Yousuf, who stroked his fourth career century and second on thisground, batted for 13 minutes over six hours and faced 308 balls. Hisinnings spiced eight signature boundaries and a six.Youhana’s mental toughness, concentration and application can bejudged from the fact that when he came out to bat, Pakistan were 199for three which later became 273 for eight with the PIA batsman on 37.From then onwards, he took control of the innings and scored 86 runsin a 123-run stand with Saqlain Mushtaq.Saqlain also showed that he was not a rabbit with the bat whileremaining unbeaten on 32 and proving his reputation as a bigpartnership player. He was also involved in a record 313-run eighthwicket stand against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura four years ago.Saqlain frustrated the Englishmen for exactly four hours during whichhe received a 157 balls. He hit two fours.England, despite being held by a spirited rearguard Pakistan action,will be delighted with the performance of Ashley Giles and CraigWhite, the two inexperienced bowlers who equally shared eight wicketsbetween them.Giles, playing in his second Test, altered his line brilliantly whenhe bowled from close to the wicket with his spinning line being middleand off. He also varied his pace and at times hit the deck hard in aneffort to extract some abnormal bounce or spin.White, the Yorkshireman, effectively and deceptively changed his pace.He also succeeded in making the ball reverse swing because he bowledfaster than most of the pacers. The most impressive thing about Whitewas that he made the batsmen play rather than wasting his energy inwayward deliveries.The first Test has ended in an entertaining draw. But several lessonsare to be learnt for both the teams. Let’s see which of the two aremore professional in picking lose threads quickly and effectively