England cruise to victory in second test

BIRMINGHAM, England, (Reuters) – Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott steered England to a nine-wicket victory against Pakistan after lunch on the fourth day of the second test yesterday to go 2-0 up in the four-match series.

England, set 118 to win at Edgbaston, cruised to their  target as Strauss, dropped three times, and Trott both finished  on 53 not out after the early dismissal of the out-of-form  Alastair Cook.

“There were a few butterflies this morning because we knew  we had to work hard for a test match win but that is the way it  should be. It was hard work and we had to dig deep,” Strauss  told reporters.

Pakistan must now win the final two tests at The Oval  (starting Aug. 18) and Lord’s to draw the series.

Strauss added 111 for the second wicket with Trott as they  weathered Pakistan’s early onslaught that claimed Cook’s wicket.

Trott was untroubled and grew in confidence the longer he  remained but Strauss was dropped twice (on 10 and 38) by  debutant wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider from off-spinner Saeed  Ajmal, and then again on 43 by mid-off Mohammad Asif off Shoaib  Malik.

The pitch showed signs of low bounce from the faster bowlers  Mohammed Amir and Asif, while there was slow turn for  off-spinner Ajmal, but generally the sunshine that later  disappeared allowed for reasonable batting conditions.

Pakistan achieved the early breakthrough they desired when  Amir bowled Cook with the fourth ball of his second over and his  first delivery to the left-hander.

Cook went neither forward nor back and his stumps were  flattened by a ball that skidded through his non-existent  defence to give Pakistan early optimism. Cook has not reached 30  in his last seven test innings.

His form is giving England a problem as he is the captain  in-waiting after leading the side in Bangladesh this year when  Strauss was rested. His place may be vulnerable prior to the  Ashes that starts in November, especially with Ian Bell to  return from injury.

“I know he is a quality player and these two pitches (so  far) have not been easy to bat on,” Strauss said of Cook. “The  next two matches should be easier pitches to bat on.”

Pakistan, 291 for nine overnight, added five runs to their  total and faced 11 balls after the start of play. Stuart Broad  had last man Asif caught by Kevin Pietersen at gully.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan first innings 72
England first innings 251 (J.Trott 55, K.Pietersen 80; Saeed  Ajmal 5-82)

Pakistan second innings (291-9 overnight)
Imran Farhat b Swann                                                  29
Salman Butt c Strauss b Anderson                             0
Azhar Ali b Swann                                                          19
Shoaib Malik c Prior b Finn                                           3
Umar Akmal lbw b Swann                                           20
Umar Amin st Prior b Swann                                     14
Zulqarnain Haider c Strauss b Swann                    88
Mohammad Amir c Strauss b Broad                       16
Saeed Ajmal c Collingwood b Swann                      50
Umar Gul not out                                                            13
Mohammad Asif c Pietersen b Broad                     14
Extras: (b-16, lb-14)                                                     30
Total: (all out; 117.5 overs)                                     296
Fall of wickets: 1-1 2-53 3-54 4-76 5-82 6-101 7-153 8-268  9-269 10-296
Bowling: Anderson 28-13-62-1, Broad 28.5-8-66-2, Finn  16-5-57-1, Swann 37-20-65-6, Collingwood 7-2-14-0, Pietersen  1-0-2-0.

England second innings
A. Strauss not out                                                          53
A. Cook b Mohammad Amir                                        4
J. Trott not out                                                               53
Extras: (4-b)                                                                       8
Total: (one wicket; 36.3 overs)                              118
Fall of wicket: 1-7
Did not bat: K.Pietersen, P.Collingwood, E.Morgan, M.Prior,  G.Swann, S.Broad, J.Anderson, S.Finn.
Bowling: Amir 11-1-31-1, Asif 6-0-20-0, Ajmal 14.3-1-42-0,  Malik 5-0-20-0.