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| Kevin Pietersen Beat by Ajmal |
Saeed Ajmal showed some much needed spirit for Pakistan with a career-best 5 for 82 which sparked an England collapse as the home side we bowled out for 251 although that still represented a strong lead of 179. Kevin Pietersen's dismissal for 80 sparked the slide and the last five wickets fell for eight runs in 10 overs.
Pietersen had needed a huge amount of luck during his innings and shortly after the resumption following the rain break before tea he got a leading edge back to Ajmal as he tried to work into the leg side. It will go down as Pietersen's ugliest innings for England, and his 17-month wait for a hundred goes on, but he made an important contribution.
The weight of Pietersen's runs grew as the middle and lower order rapidly fell away. Eoin Morgan was extracted by a good one from Mohammad Asif that bounced across the left hander and Matt Prior, after starting positively, was plumb when he missed a sweep at Ajmal.
Graeme Swann was dropped before scoring when Yasir Hameed, the substitute, spilled a low but gentle edge at slip off Ajmal but a change of personnel worked when Imran Farhat, himself guilty of an awful drop yesterday, clutched Paul Collingwood's outside edge. England were having serious problems spotting Ajmal's doosra and, while it's probably come too late to save this match, he has given Pakistan something to cling to for The Oval which is a venue that can take turn.
Ajmal was on top of his game and Stuart Broad could only last three balls when he inside-edged to Hameed at leg slip and this time he held a smart catch. Still, though, Pakistan produced another howler in the field when Salman Butt couldn't hold a sitter at mid-off from Swann's miscued switch hit.
Mohammad Amir claimed a deserved wicket when he trapped James Anderson lbw; after 54 innings without a duck Anderson now has four in 12 months. Ajmal, though, didn't miss the chance of his first five-wicket haul and didn't risk leaving the final catch to anyone else as he safely pouched Swann's top edge.
Tea England 191 for 3 (Pietersen 78*, Collingwood 6*) lead Pakistan 72 by 119 runs
Kevin Pietersen continued to live an extraordinarily charmed life on the second day at Edgbaston, but moved closer to ending his 17-month century drought as England moved onto a healthy 191 for 3. Pietersen shared a 133-run stand with Jonathan Trott, before the rain returned midway through the afternoon session, but was dropped for a third time and was also caught up in a controversy that left everyone diving for the Laws.
The controversial moment occurred as Mohammad Asif ran in for the fifth ball of his 12th over and he was well into his delivery stride when Pietersen began walking towards square leg. The batsman is allowed to back away if he is distracted, but Pietersen then continued to play a shot and lobbed a gentle catch to mid-off. The umpire Marais Erasmus called dead ball moments before the ball was struck, but Salman Butt protested that it was too late.
Law 23.3.b (v) states: "Either umpire shall call "dead ball" when he is satisfied that for an adequate reason the striker is not ready for the delivery of the ball and, if the ball is delivered, makes no attempt to play it." It is that final part which raises questions about the decision.
Pietersen had already been given a far more conventional life before adding to his overnight score. Play started 35 minutes late and Pietersen got an inside edge into his pad against Mohammad Amir which looped to gully. However, Umar Amin was more interested in joining the appeal for lbw rather than catching the ball and it went to ground.
Asif will have wondered what he has to do to add to his wicket tally after yesterday seeing Trott dropped at slip. It reached such levels of desperation that they wasted a review against Pietersen when he was struck on the pad well outside off stump and a long way down the crease.
Pietersen tried to combat the threat of the swing from Asif and Amir by using his feet and after lunch began to locate the middle of the bat with more frequency. He went to fifty with a well-timed flick through midwicket off Amir, then took the attack to offspinner Saeed Ajmal as he cut him through third man and lofted another boundary straight down the ground.
However, Ajmal also caused Pietersen problems and watched as an outside thudded into Zulqarnain Haider's leg and ran away to the boundary. It was a huge deflecting and a wicketkeeper isn't expected to hold such edges, but it summed up Pietersen's fortune. He was lucky again a short while later when a beautiful delivery from Ajmal gripped and spun between bat and pad and somehow missed the stumps.
Compared to Pietersen's rather manic display, Trott was a picture of total calmness as he went about his work in typically unfussy manner. With a better throw he could have been run out on 47, but went to a fifty on his home ground off 105 balls. Apart from a few issues picking Ajmal he was untroubled until he cut a short ball from Umar Amin to the substitute Yasir Hameed in the gully who showed how to take a catch.
Amin was only in operation because Umar Gul had limped off after pulling up with a hamstring strain at the start of his 10th over. It left Butt having to juggle a weakened bowling unit; as if his job wasn't tough enough already.
