He has good memories of this ground as he struck a magnificent 183 here against Sri Lanka in last
Posted in General on 22. Aug, 2010
He has good memories of this ground as he struck a magnificent 183 here against Sri Lanka in last year’s World Cup.Those bowlers who struggled to take wickets may grumble at the pitch, as is the current wont when wickets do not fall regularly, but it was Somerset’s lack of incision that allowed Lancashire to draw.Ian Blackwell, the left-arm spinner, bowled over fifty overs in the innings without ever threatening and there was no Andy Caddick to extract bounce from short of a length. Quality pitches need quality bowlers and that is what Somerset lacked.. The only mystery about yesterday’s climax to an intriguing top-of-the-table battle was why Adam Hollioake felt that Surrey’s Friday-night lead of 304 was not quite enough. Once Martin Bicknell has plied his peerless trade, The Oval wicket tends to suit Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury. The only mystery about yesterday’s climax to an intriguing top-of-the-table battle was why Adam Hollioake felt that Surrey’s Friday-night lead of 304 was not quite enough. Once Martin Bicknell has plied his peerless trade, The Oval wicket tends to suit Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury.
Yorkshire’s ambitions were never higher than grinding out a draw, helped perhaps by a storm or two Nevertheless, Surrey batted on. Hollioake’s anticipated evening declaration was like Sherlock Holmes’ dog that barked in the night And so were the storms.
In spite of a very gloomy forecast, they too failed to transpire.Overnight, Bicknell had lit a few candles to the patron saint of wonky knees, St Patella. On Thursday evening, his left one moved painfully out of place and 24 hours later he batted bravely with a runner, supporting Alistair Brown’s magnificent undefeated century. But yesterday morning Bicknell took guard unassisted – a batsman who needs help in running is not allowed to make a magical recovery between innings and take the new ball.Bicknell and Brown biffed around for 13 minutes until the fast bowler top-edged a huge skier back to Chris Silverwood. Surrey had 90 overs to remove a stubborn Yorkshire, while the theoretical victory target for the visitors was 330.If the original plan was for the fast bowlers merely to remove the shine with a few overs each, Bicknell modified it slightly by dismissing both Yorkshire openers. Michael Vaughan was bowled off his pads and skipper David Byas was caught, firm-footed, at second slip. Vaughan had inherited the habit of batting with a runner, having mysteriously turned his ankle before the start of Friday’s play.Saqlain first appeared at the Pavilion End after 13 overs, was replaced by Salisbury after 19 and immediately resumed at the Vauxhall End. No further bowling decisions were necessary as the pair wheeled away during the afternoon, baffling Yorkshiremen by the handful.The fact that Darren Lehmann, a muscular, quick-scoring batsman, endured a period of severe restraint confirmed that the visitors were trying to take a stubborn, Boycott-like attitude towards the task.
The Australian dead-batted with a clear sense of distaste, over after over, but of course it could not last. His patience snapped, he trundled down the wicket towards Salisbury, and gave Brown a low catch at mid-wicket. Anthony McGrath, similarly constrained, had already gone, giving Saqlain his first wicket of the innings just after lunch.However defiant, the Yorkshire lower order struggled back to the dressing-room one by one: Richard Blakey failed to spot Salisbury’s googly, Matthew Wood snicked the same bowler to second slip, Gary Fellows bat-padded Saqlain to short-leg, James Middlebrook carved the Pakistani to mid-on.Just before the Yorkshire ship sank, Silverwood took 12 runs off Salisbury in two balls, hitting him straight to the Pavilion rails and then over mid-wicket. But a brace of Saqlain lbws soon confirmed a Surrey victory by 203 runs.Saqlain, once again proving almost unplayable, finished the match with 11 for 104. He has taken 35 wickets in Surrey’s last four games, including bags of five or more in five innings. His last four yesterday came in 14 balls at a cost of nine runs. Salisbury, with six wickets in this match, completes the most potent spin attack on the circuit.