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Akram
strike puts West Indies-Pakistan Test in the balance |
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News |
May 30, 2000
ST.
JOHN'S, MAY 29 (AP) - Pakistan's champion left-arm pacer Wasim
Akram claimed a vital wicket with the last ball of the fourth day, leaving
the final cricket Test against the West Indies delicately
poised Sunday with one day remaining.
The
home team would enter Monday's final day on 144 for four, still
72 away from its victory target of 216. Captain Jimmy Adams was unbeaten
on 15 in just over two hours batting.
Wasim
bowled left-hander Wavell Hinds off the inside edge just before
light rain ended a tense fourth day's play. Wasim, who turns 34 on June 3,
ended with three for 28 off 12.3 overs, pushing his overall tally to 396
in 95 Tests.
Hinds'
enterprising topscore of 63 included two sixes and seven fours
and gave the West Indies the edge after Wasim earlier removed both openers
for 31 runs.
Wasim,
who brought Pakistan back into the match in the first innings
with a six-wicket haul, got both Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith
caught in the deep to miscued hooks.
Campbell
perished for six, caught at deep backward square leg by Yousuf
Youhana, while Griffith powered four fours in 23 before he top-edged to
Waqar Younis at fine leg.
Shivnarine
Chanderpaul and Hinds aggressively consolidated in a run-a-minute
stand of 53. Chanderpaul cracked four boundaries, while Hinds lifted
leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed for a four and six in one over.
But
as the pair threatened to take complete command, Chanderpaul was
trapped leg before by the persevering medium pacer Abdur Razzaq for 31.
Chanderpaul faced 40 balls and batted just under an hour.
Jamaicans
Hinds and Adams rebuilt the innings with their contrasting
styles, Hinds aggressive throughout and Adams prepared to be the defensive
foil.
In
a gripping final hour, they gradually tilted the balance in the
West Indies' favor before Wasim's late strike.
Adams
needed treatment for a deflected blow to his chin, while a collision
between Hinds and off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq led to an altercation that
threatened to boil over before Adams' intervention.
The
pumped-up Hinds could not survive to the end, his ill-advised hook
at a looping bouncer from Wasim deflecting from the edge into middle
stump. As the 23-year-old was walking off the field, the rain sent the
umpires scampering, forcing an end to the day.
Earlier,
the West Indies' fast bowlers removed the last five Pakistani
wickets for 62 just after lunch.
The
tourists, who conceded a first innings lead of four runs, stretched
their overnight 157 for five to 219 all out before they were bowled out
two overs after the interval.
The
home team got off to an excellent start, removing the dangerous
Yousuf Youhana within the first half hour. One run later, all-rounder
Abdur Razzaq was also back in the pavilion as Pakistan slumped
to 163 for seven.
Youhana,
41 overnight, added just one run before he was leg before
to an inswinger from Reon King, the fast bowler's third wicket. The
25-year-old Youhana, already with two centuries in the series,
batted 215 minutes, faced 174 balls and struck five fours in his 42.
Razzaq
lasted just 10 minutes before a mix-up between Saqlain and himself
resulted in a run out. Razzaq was sent back too late by Saqlain; and
Wavell Hinds, wicket-keeper Ridley Jacobs and Franklyn Rose combined to
effect the dismissal at the bowler's end.
The
home team sensed a swift end to the innings, but the Pakistani
lower order resisted well with the bat.
Saqlain,
predominantly defensive, spent nearly two hours compiling
15 off 64 balls. The West Indies finally removed him with the second new
ball.
Saqlain
and Wasim Akram had added 23 for the eighth wicket when Curtly
Ambrose found Saqlain's edge and Sherwin Campbell snapped up the catch low
down at first slip.
Wasim
and his long-time pace mate Waqar Younis also provided stern
defiance, putting on 27 for the ninth wicket until, on the stroke of
lunch, Ambrose also accounted for Waqar to a slip catch.
Waqar
had lashed two boundaries in 16 off 21 deliveries when Adams
pouched his edge low down at second slip.
Wasim
fell for 24 soon after the break, Adams clasping a magnificent
diving catch low in his right hand at midwicket as Wasim pulled
ferociously.
King took four for 48 off 23 overs, while Ambrose grabbed three for 39 off 21 overs. There was a wicket apiece for Franklyn Rose and Courtney Walsh.
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