England v Pakistan

At Lord's, June 21, 22, 23. England won by nine wickets with two days and half an hour to spare. Again, they were much too strong for Pakistan, who made a useful recovery in the second innings without ever threatening to save the game.

Originally unchanged, England eventually were without Pullar and Statham because of injuries. They were replaced by Stewart, the Surrey opening batsman, and Coldwell, the Worcestershire fast-medium bowler, who each gained his first Test honour. Pakistan brought in Farooq, fast-medium, for Intikhab, the leg-spinner, and Alim was preferred to Ijaz Butt.

A heavy atmosphere and a green pitch indicated that the side batting first would not find things easy and Burki would probably have preferred to lose the toss. He decided not to risk batting last and from the start the Pakistanis were struggling.

Trueman bowling at his liveliest on a pitch which helped him, and Coldwell, making clever use of his slower ball, caused a complete breakdown. By lunch six men were out for 76 and the innings ended three-quarters of an hour later.

Trueman finished with six for 31 and his second wicket gave him 200 in Test cricket in fewer balls than any of his five predecessors to this mark. Cowdrey held three good catches at second slip. The Pakistanis once more showed their dislike of the swinging and lifting ball.

Cowdrey made 41 of the opening stand of 59 and England went ahead with one man out. Stewart struggled for two and a quarter hours, but Dexter, in fine form, hit ten 4's in 65 which took just over an hour and a half. Pakistan came back slightly when Farooq dismissed Dexter and Barrington with successive balls and at the close of the first day England were 176 for four.

Graveney dominated the second day. His partners, apart from Trueman who helped to add 76 for the ninth wicket, did little. Graveney, last out, batted beautifully for just over four hours and his 153 included twenty-two 4's.

This was his third century of the tour against the Pakistanis, apart from his 97 in the first Test. His cover driving was superb and he did not make the slightest error. Because of a slightly sprained ankle, Farooq did not bowl towards the end of the innings.

Pakistan, 270 behind, lost their first four wickets for 77. Burki and Nasim came together half an hour before the close and were not separated until after lunch on Saturday when 20,000 saw them add 197, a record for Pakistan's fifth wicket in any Test and their highest stand for any wicket against England.

Both batted in fine style, going for their strokes whenever possible and hitting cleanly. Lock, in particular came in for heavy punishment. Nasim's first century of his career took three hours and included one 6 and fifteen 4's. Burki, who made his third century against England in five matches, stayed three and three-quarter hours and hit fifteen 4's.

Coldwell dismissed both and finished with six for 85. This gave him nine for 110 in his Test debut. Trueman claimed nine for 116, the opening bowlers taking all but two of the Pakistan wickets.

England needed 86 to win with an hour and a half left on Saturday. They began carefully, but after Cowdrey left at 36, Stewart and Dexter hit off the remaining 50 in twenty minutes, Dexter once taking four 4's in an over from D'Souza.

The possibility of an early finish on the third day led to an exhibition match being arranged if play ended before 3.30 p.m., but the fine batting of Burki and Nasim made this unnecessary.