Amir finds his feet in England

Mohammad Aamer returned to the venue of his first-over burst against Sri Lanka last year which ignited Pakistan’s spirited performance in the final of the 2009 World Twenty20 and continued from where he left off.

Then, with a white ball in front of a capacity crowd on a sunny solstice afternoon, Aamer jolted the opposition with a inspired barrage of short balls resulting in Tillekaratne Dilshan’s prized scalp. On Tuesday, with drizzle, dampness and a stack of empty seats at Lord’s, Aamer dictated proceedings yet again.

Denied a wicket in the third over of the day, Aamer, mostly operating with four slips and effectively implementing the newly-acquired skill of bringing the ball back into the right-hander, finished with his second-best figures in a Test innings, four for 72.

However, Simon Katich, the Australian opener who benefited from the umpire’s decision early on in the innings, remained confident his bowlers can replicate the swing and movement Aamer and Mohammad Asif used for Pakistan’s benefit.

“It was a tough day throughout but if the conditions stay put, as they were while we were batting, Pakistan will certainly find it difficult,” said Katich following close of play on Tuesday. “Credit to Aamer as well who’s an outstanding young bowler. We were impressed with him when he played in Australia on those flat pitches as he bowled with good pace. He’s certainly a good prospect for Pakistan.”

Pakistan vice-captain Salman Butt echoed Katich’s view on Pakistan’s bowling but reminded his batsmen of the hard work ahead of they were to end their 15-year losing streak against Australia.

“Bowling first, we wanted to dismiss them for under 200 given the conditions,” said Butt. “They got a couple of good partnerships going but out third session comeback got things under control for us. We now need to ensure we bat sensibly.”

Unfortunately for Pakistan, their batsmen failed to take cue from their bowlers and finished 105 runs short of Australia’s first-innings total to hand the initiative back to the ‘tourists’.

© Faras Ghani 2010
Published in The Express Tribune July 15, 2010