At Leeds, August 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. England won by 167 runs. Toss: England.
If the enduring image of the summer of 2005 was that of Andrew Flintoff consoling
Brett Lee following "The Greatest Test" at Edgbaston, this game provided a snapshot
of 2006.
Shortly before tea on the third afternoon, Inzamam-ul-Haq tried to sweep a delivery
from Panesar, only to overbalance, as the ball bounced into his midriff, and fall back
towards the stumps. Despite a desperate effort to hurdle the wicket, Inzamam knocked
off the bails as he bellyflopped to the ground. As England's fielders celebrated and a
sell-out crowd chuckled, the poor old batsman sat bewildered and stunned, his
expression worthy of Oliver Hardy.
If the sideshow was comical, the main event was clinical. At 2.55 on the final day,
England's second successive resounding victory clinched their first series triumph since
regaining the Ashes. Although it lacked the devastating efficiency of the win in
Manchester, it was no less impressive for being hard-earned. After months of picking
half-heartedly at the opposition, England's appetite had returned.
So, too, had the stylish wicketkeeper Chris Read, finally selected ahead of Geraint
Jones, who had played 31 consecutive Tests since displacing him in Antigua in April
2004, but now paid the price for a paucity of runs: only 91 in his last ten Test innings.
Pietersen's drought was hardly comparable - but, with 160 runs in six innings since
his two hundreds against Sri Lanka, he also felt the need to reassert himself. His teammates
had shared six centuries at Lord's and Old Trafford, leaving Pietersen with the
air of a peacock that had no tailfeathers. As England opened up with 515, however,
he was back in full strut.
He still rode his luck, and so did England. Four times on the opening day they
benefited from controversial decisions, three by Hair, one by Doctrove. Strauss and
Cook should have been given out caught behind from edges, while Pietersen could have
been lbw twice. He was also caught off a no-ball and dropped, before being forced to
retire hurt with cramp in his left arm, shortly after completing his fifth Test century.
"I had breakfast at 8 a.m. and since then only one banana before retiring hurt at
4.30, so the cramp was probably due to a lack of salts or something," he explained.
Even in his absence, the bowlers could not get away from him: a giant mugshot of
Pietersen stared down from an advertisement high above the arm at the Kirkstall Lane
End, like a deity surveying the captive crowds.
He resumed next morning and advanced to 135 before skying to deep mid-off, while
Bell maintained his marauding form to become the first Englishman since Graham
Gooch in 1990 to score hundreds in three successive Tests. His innings, allied to some
lusty lower-order thumping, elevated England from 347 for six; Umar Gul persevered
to take five for 123.
Pakistan quickly lost both openers before a recovery to electrify the senses. At 3.23
on the second day, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf came together and marched
relentlessly on until 2.39 the following afternoon, at which point Yousuf gloved a catch
down the leg side off Harmison after a stand worth 363 in 84 overs.
Their alliance was the fifth-highest for any wicket against England, Pakistan's highest
against England, the third-best in a Headingley Test, and the biggest in all Test cricket
in a losing cause. They scored more than the entire Pakistan team managed in two
innings at Old Trafford, where 20 wickets tumbled for 341, and it was their fifth century
stand in six Tests since January.
Yousuf, whose off-side play kissed perfection, departed eight short of his third
double-century in four Tests against England, while Younis, all upright defence and
judicious aggression, perished through that signature Pakistan dismissal: a calamitous
mix-up with Inzamam. It was one of four run-outs executed by England's gleamingly
professional out-cricket. From 447 for three, Pakistan lost three for four in ten balls,
including Collingwood's first Test victim with his 381st delivery. It took a last-wicket
stand of 42 between Shahid Nazir, recalled after a seven-year hiatus, and Danish Kaneria
to eke out a slender advantage. Though the lead was theirs, the momentum was
England's.
Trescothick and Strauss built on that impetus, opening the second innings with 158.
Strauss progressed to a tenth Test hundred, and second in three matches, his batting
apparently empowered by the captaincy. After Read had punched a maiden Test fifty,
which bloodied the noses of one or two critics, Pakistan were left requiring 323 on
the last day: more than they had ever scored in the fourth innings to win, though it
looked quite possible on a sporting pitch.
In scenes reminiscent of the Ashes, more than 15,000 turned up for the finale, and
the queues snaked back along St Michael's Lane. When Younis and Yousuf were holding
court at 68 for two, Pakistan's supporters dared to dream. But the day turned on the
run-out of Yousuf, beaten by Collingwood's brilliant underarm shy from backward
point as they tried to purloin a foolhardy single. Younis was later undone by a beauty
from Panesar that pitched on middle stump and shaved the top of off.
Panesar finished with six wickets at a venue where only one had fallen to an English
spinner in seven Tests. Meanwhile the other England bowler with Asian ancestry, Mahmood, made light of taunts from Pakistan supporters who accused him of forsaking
his heritage; he claimed four for 22, his best Test analysis yet, as the tourists crumpled
inside 48 overs. Only Younis and Inzamam, who could not bat until No. 7 after missing
much of the fourth day with a rib injury, exceeded 17.
It was only the tenth instance of a team losing a Test after scoring 500. The match
aggregate of 1,553 was the highest for a five-day Test in which all 40 wickets fell,
though four timeless Tests had beaten it over six or seven days.
No sooner had England completed their first home series triumph over Pakistan for
24 years than Panesar was made several bookmakers' favourite to be named BBC
Sports Personality of the Year. And the name "Monty" was in headlines to an extent
perhaps not seen since El Alamein.
Man of the Match: Younis Khan.