Skyfall, Alien and the spin, spin, spin of Rawalpindi
Pakistan v England, Rawalpindi — Day 1
ENGLAND 267 all out
PAKISTAN 73–3 (trail by 194 runs)
Sleep comes easy to those of a settled mind and so it was with mere hours to go before the start of the already media monikered “Decider” between Pakistan and England in Rawalpindi that I was bright eyed and if not bushy tailed, most certainly in the wide awake club. So with sleep evading my grasp once more I did what any self-respecting movie fan does in situations such as these and without a new film on which to feast my wide open eyes I instead hopped aboard the Nostromo for a deep space ride with Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt and a pesky, acid spilling alien for company. I remain unconvinced by the latest iteration in the franchise Alien: Romulus and was dismayed that the new film didn’t end 10 minutes before it eventually did, thus negating the ridiculous spectacle of seeing what I can only describe as a 12 foot alien/human hybrid baby killing machine and whilst aficionados of the franchise will no doubt point to Prometheus as a reason for its inclusion, I remain disappointed with the new and very much in favour of the old, and that creeping terror of a rarely seen alien stalking her prey from the shadows of a rusty old container ship adrift in the darkness of space where no-one can hear you scream. But we seem to be drifting already and you’re not here for tales of watching a film from the late 1970’s but for cricket from the other side of the world and yet again, the grand old game of Test Match cricket didn’t disappoint.
Winning the toss in what seems like an age of failing and opting to bat first, Ben Stokes, myself and any rogue aliens tuning in saw an England team making a strong and steady start on a wicket designed to spin and to spin early, before no doubt spinning extravagantly as this deciding Test Match progresses. England opening batsmen Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett notched yet another 50 run partnership in just 12 overs before Crawley rather set the template for the wickets to fall after him with a loose shot he won’t want to watch again any time soon. From 56–0 the visitors now collapsed to 98–5 in the space of 13 overs and as Duckett crashed his way to a 77 ball half century he could only view from the other end as first his partner Crawley, then Ollie Pope and Joe Root came and went cheaply before Duckett joined them as he unluckily received a “grubber” of a delivery that simply didn’t bounce and with the soon to depart England captain Ben Stokes gone for just 12, the team around him had collapsed from 56–0 to 118–6 and the “heart” of the visitors batting order (Pope, Root, Brook and Stokes) had only contributed a total of 25 runs between them.
Enter 24 year old Jamie Smith who with an impressive tour in difficult wicket keeping conditions already under his belt let fly with the long handle of his bat to rescue the innings for England with a priceless knock of 89 (in a partnership of 105 with Gus Atkinson) and an innings that may take on even greater significance come the end of this Test Match. England were in peril of being humbled and bowled out for a very lowly 150 with Sajid Khan and Noman Ali again sharing the visitors scalps between them. Sajid would finish the innings with figures of 6–128 and Noman 3–88, but not before the Smith/Atkinson rescue show and the Surrey wicket-keeper’s 4th Test Match half century and eventual 89 containing a stupendous 6 boundary clearing 6’s eclipsing his 5 boundary 4’s. Smith rode his luck a little, hoisting the Pakistani spinners time and again (just) over the boundary rope for 6’s but he rather deserved the luck that came his way and boy did England need the innings he provided. 25 late innings runs from Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach ensured the visitors reached a still below par total of 267 but with 90 minutes of play remaining in the day, this total grew more impressive with each passing Pakistan wicket to fall.
From early morning England dominance to an early afternoon of Pakistan control, to a match saving innings from Jamie Smith that saw each team leave the field at the innings interval happy but not content with their lot, to 90 minutes later and a Pakistan team ahead of the game at the resumption in play to an England team supremely pleased to have taken 3 wickets and now themselves nudging ahead in a Test Match that at most will go 4 days if not even 3. This Test Match can only accelerate from here in terms of falling wickets on a cracked spinning wicket with lower unpredictable bounce and 1st innings runs at a premium. Pakistan, so long today in the driving seat resume tomorrow with if not their backs to the wall certainly mindful of closing the gap on 1st innings of 194 runs to as few as possible before letting loose the spin twins of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali to set up a 4th innings run chase for victory. Tomorrow’s first session of play, as always, is incredibly vital to both teams and if captain Shan Masood and Saud Shakeel (both 16 not out overnight) can build upon their current partnership of 27 and close the gap on 1st innings or even exceed it, by the day’s final session we could already be in store for a one innings shoot-out to determine who takes the series spoils.
Thus is the enduring and endearing spirit of this grandest of all games.
"Ashes to Ashes" - link to Amazon
"The Spirit of Cricket" - link to Amazon
"Tea and Biscuits in India" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.