da dobrowin： Nasser Hussain took inspiration from his trustworthy batting partner andbest mate Graham Thorpe when he made a half-century in the First npower Testmatch against Pakistan at Lord’s
Kate Laven18-May-2001Nasser Hussain took inspiration from his trustworthy batting partner andbest mate Graham Thorpe when he made a half-century in the First npower Testmatch against Pakistan at Lord’s.The England captain has been in the batting doldrums since he took over ascaptain two years ago but his unbeaten 53 was his highest Test score at homesince 1999 when he made 61 against New Zealand, also at Lord’s.It signalled a welcome return to form for Hussain who dropped himself downthe order to improve his and England’s batting performances for this match.But while he showed traces of anxiety throughout his 156-ball innings,Thorpe displayed a sure-footed mastery at the other end with a stream ofsuperbly timed shots all round the wicket.When he reached his half-century, he had struck the boundary seven times,forever splicing a carefully set field with an array of late cuts and lustydrives, all of them typical of the class Thorpe has continually shown sincehe returned to international cricket last summer following a winter off.An hour later, it was Hussain’s turn to raise his bat, having been at thecrease for more than two and a half hours. Six of the 146 balls he facedwere despatched for four though few were timed with the same perfection ashis England colleague.The pair put on 132 but just four overs from the end, Thorpe succumbed to atrap that had been set earlier by Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis, who senttwo fielders down to long leg to snatch a mistimed hook.It was exactly that shot that saw Thorpe’s innings thwarted just as it wasbeginning to look like a potential match-winner. With 80 on the board, hewas caught by Abdul Razzaq off Waqar’s bowling after staying with Hussainfor a little over three hours.The Surrey batsman looked displeased as he wandered off the field in thefading light but he knew he had missed out on his first chance of the summerto post a painless century.He was replaced by nightwatchman Ryan Sidebottom, making his England debutin a high pressure situation with the score 246 for four. After a winterholding up the England A tail in the West Indies, he responded with acomposure that surprised many watching the Yorkshireman for the first time.By the close he and Hussain had added eight runs to the England total takingit to 254 for four. Two of the wickets went to swing bowler Azhar Mahmoodwho finished with 18-10-29-2 but the second day belonged to England whofared well in the bowler friendly conditions.Earlier their innings had got off to a promising start with a resilient opening stand of 60 between Michael Atherton and Marcus Trescothick.After a successful winter forging strong opening partnerships, Trescothickand Atherton got together for the first time this season when Waqar Younis won the toss and decided to give his pace attack, including Shoaib Akhtar, the best of the overcast conditions over London.Shoaib last played Test cricket in March 2000 and, arriving in the UK a weeklater than the rest of the Pakistan team due to illness, his fitness levelswere said to be well short of the required standard.But on the Lord’s track, which on a damp May morning was never likely tofavour the spinners, a half-fit seamer was deemed a better option than thefully fit Saqlain Mushtaq.The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ came on to bowl in the tenth over of the morning,but by then England’s openers had seen off the worst of the new ball fromWaqar and Wasim Akram and had moved the total to 39 without loss.Shoaib delivered his first ball at 87 mph but it was not enough to create asensation and after three overs he was taken off, having conceded six runs.Despite being the most in-form batsman in the country with three B&Hcenturies and one CricInfo Championship ton in the bag already this season, theSomerset left-hander started tentatively, playing and missing to Waqar.He gradually gained confidence and reached 36, having struck threeboundaries before being surprised by a slower ball in Abdul Razzaq’s thirdover, being caught at gully by Azhar.Coming on to bowl immediately after lunch, Azhar swung the ball both ways topick up the wickets of firstly Michael Vaughan and then Atherton inthe space of 18 balls.Vaughan walked when he was well caught down the leg side by wicket-keeperRashid Latif trying to glance Azhar down to fine leg. He had made a rapid 32from 55 balls, and sent a leg break from spinner Younis Khan hurtling overthe mid-wicket boundary into the Tavern Stand crowd.Three overs later, Azhar seized the wicket Pakistan had been hankering aftersince play commenced this morning and having faced 122 balls, Atherton wasbowled by a ball that swung into the leg stump for 42.