The Right Stuff:

They came to Lord’s with a point to prove – several actually. “Of course I want to capture headlines for the right reasons,” Pakistan manager Waqar Younis said after watching his side claw their way back into the ODI series on Friday. “We’ll definitely look to going 2-2 at Lords. It’s been a real tough tour. We just want to concentrate on the cricket.”

They were not allowed to do that as yet more spot-fixing allegations surfaced. Determined to let their cricket talk for them they compiled an impressive 265 for 7. Built on the foundations of a solid 64 by Fawad Alam, captain Shahid Afridi and even more so Abdul Razzaq punished England’s bowling. Afridi made 37 from just 22 balls, including a huge straight six into the pavilion, ruining the final analysis of England’s best bowler, Graeme Swann, whose 4 for 37 had threatened to derail Pakistan’s progress before Afridi cut loose.

Razzaq took ten balls to get the measure of the pitch and bowling for just 4 runs. He faced another ten – five each from Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan. He scored 20 from each of them, including a six and three fours from Broad and five consecutive fours off Bresnan. It was a Man of the Match performance, although Umar Gul had an arguable case again.

England’s openers Andrew Strauss put on113 for the first wicket. Umpire Richard Kettleborough must take some credit though, gifting England’s captain 27. Mohammad Hafeez trapped him plumb leg before wicket. Height was not an issue and it was hitting middle stump. Kettleborough’s decision was mystifying. Strauss’ reaction to the decision: “I just get on with the next ball.”

Jonathan Trott got  a life too. Billy Doctrove, officiating in his 100th One-Day International got it wrong. Trott, who had an altercation with Wahab Riaz before the match started only profited by four runs before Saeed Ajmal exposed his technique against a quality leg-spinner. His inside edge onto pad trickled onto his stumps. The spinners – Afridi, Ajmal and Hafeez applied the breaks, conceding 89 runs between them from their 7 overs apiece.

The in-form Strauss made his second consecutive half-century to follow his hundred at Headingley. He was out for 68, caught by Fawad Alam. The Rawalpindi Express, Shoaib Akhtar took the wicket.  He finished with 3 for 59 from his full allocation, including ten wides.

Idiocy:

Both sides put on a fine display of cricket in a match that almost did not take place. PCB Chair Ijaz Butt’s ill-considered comments, accusing England players of corruptly throwing the match at the Brit Insurance Oval on Friday rightly enraged England. Younis was offered the opportunity the opportunity to dissociate himself from those comments.

He declined thrice, suggesting that a response had to come from the PCB, but there was another cricketer with cause to be aggrieved – a Pakistani. Butt’s idiotic comments disrespected an exceptional performance by Gul – his best ever in ODIs – 6 for 42. Pakistan won because Umar Gul destroyed England with superb bowling. Today he repeated the dose. “Umar Gul is a fantastic bowler,” said Younis. “He got the Man of the Match [on Friday], so he has been given credit.”

But not by Butt. Gul has a right to share England’s outrage and Afridi too. His use of Gul showed judgement and tactics. Gul didn't need his full allocation today. 8.1 overs was enough to claim 4 wickets, all bowled. Paul Collingwood was the first, bowled for 4. Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad were no match for Gul either. Gul took 4 for 32 as Pakistan won by 38 runs with 23 balls to spare.

Steven Davies was unfortunate to miss out on a half-century, bowled by Ajmal for 49, who benefited from fielding support. Substitute fielder Azhar Ali took a smart catch to send Ian Bell back to the pavilion for 27. Ali was not the only fielding revelation in the much maligned Pakistani side. They dropped catches galore – some baffling ones in the Test Series, but today they showed their mettle. Mohammad Yousuf failed with the bat, but took a sensational diving catch at mid-on from a swirling mistimed drive to dismiss Eoin Morgan for for 28. Akhtar was the beneficiary.

“Both sides played the game in the right spirit,” said Strauss. More cricket of this standard in the decider at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday would be just what this series needs.