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| The best over of swing you'll ever see |
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| Category: Features |
| Written by Luke Tagg |
| Tuesday, 13 July 2010 22:11 |
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Pakistan's swing bowlers were the highlight of the first day of the first Test against Australia at Lord's today, dismantling the Aussie order to the tune of 229/9. The two Mohammads - Asif and Aamer - each bagged three wickets in cloudy conditions that gave them protracted swing all day. Asif, however, bowled perhaps the finest over of swing bowling I've ever seen. It was the 44th of the innings and it netted him two key wickets to tear the heart out of the Australian batting resistance. The beauty of the over was the clear plan to each batsman who faced him, and the impeccable execution of the plans. It's one thing getting the ball to swing both ways - quite another to pitch it in the exact right place. Simon Katich had been at the crease all day for 80 runs and was looking more and more like Shiv Chanderpaul with each passing minute. Anything pitched on his legs was clipped through the leg side, so all Asif had to play with was outswing, away from the lefthander. The first ball of the over was well wide of off and swinging away; Katich left well alone. The second ball pitch just outside off and came in slightly, rapping Katich high on the pad. The third ball was pitched in almost exactly the same place as the previous one, except it swung out and Katich found the edge, trying to protect the top of his off stump. Kamran Akmal did the honours behind the stumps. Marcus North, representing the last genuine batsman, was greeted immediately with an inswinger which pitched on off and swung towards middle. There was bat involved so the appeal was muted, but Hot Spot showed it was clearly pad first. Shoulda been two in a row. The next ball was pitched on middle and swung towards leg, but North got an edge and was safe. The final ball of the over was a foregone conclusion - I saw it long before it happened. The ball pitched on off and straightened to hit the very top of the stump and North was clueless and out and dead, dead, dead. Sorted. Double-wicket maiden. That's the way we do things at HQ. 
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