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21-Aug-2010 14:36:00 GMT
England v Pakistan, 3rd Test, The Oval, 4th day

Pakistan Seal Victory Over England in Thriller

London: Pakistan beat England by four wickets in the third Test at the Oval on Saturday but not before some nervous moments as they lost three quick wickets in their pursuit of a modest winning target of 148.

The Pakistanis were earlier cruising at 124 for three after ending England's second innings for 222 in the first over of the day.

But in a spell that revived English hopes, Azhar Ali ran himself out for five, Mohammad Yousuf was yorked by James Anderson for 33 and Kamran Akmal was dismissed lbw for a duck without playing a shot.

With rain in the air and a capacity crowd cheering England on, Pakistan eventually survived the assault to win with more than a day to spare.

After appearing down and out after heavy losses in the first two tests, Pakistan now have a chance to square the four-match series at Lord's next week after drawing 1-1 with Australia earlier in the season.

Graeme Swann, who took four wickets in Pakistan's first innings, was again the mainstay of the attack when he was asked to bowl from the Vauxhall end after five overs of the new ball.

He bowled unchanged to take three for 50 from 18.4 overs Sensibly in view of an adverse weather forecast, Pakistan decided to attack from the start after Stuart Broad was dismissed for six in the opening over of the day.

Imran Farhat set the tone by slashing James Anderson's second ball over the slips for four on his way to his highest score of the series. He struck six boundaries before he was lbw to Swann for 33.

Captain Salman Butt, also short of runs this series, took over from Farhat with 48 in 64 balls, before he became Swann's second victim, 12 minutes before lunch.

Butt took three fours from a Broad over and two from Steven Finn, forcing Andrew Strauss to rotate his fast men from the Pavilion end.

Yousuf, playing his first Test since he was banned indefinitely after leading Pakistan on a spectacularly unsuccessful tour of Australia this year, was again an assured and elegant presence.

Yousuf, who scored 56 in the first innings, showed his class with a square drive for four off Broad and an elegant late cut to the boundary off Swann.

Brief score
England
233 and 222 (Cook 110, Amir 5-52, Ajmal 4-71)
Pakistan 308 and 148 for 6 (Butt 48, Yousuf 33, Swann 3-50)
Result Pakistan won by four wickets
MOM Mohammad Ameer (Pakistan)


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