England v Pakistan Live Blog: Day four at Lord's

Live Test Match Blogging / Andrew Hughes / 29 August 2010 / Leave a Comment

Can Finn take more Pakistani wickets on day four?

England should seal a series victory with an innings defeat of Pakistan today - Andrew Hughes talks you through Sunday's play at Lord's

Close. 12.36 Pak 147-all out
Finally it is all over. Asif departs having hit the ball into his boot and Swann has five wickets. A remarkable Test match in many ways, but everything, including unfortunately, the validity of what Trott and Broad did yesterday and Friday, has been overshadowed. Only one thing will be making the headlines tomorrow and it won't be England's performance.

WICKET Pak 147-all out
M Asif c Collingwood b Swann

12.27 Pak 138-9
Brave, belligerent and brilliant batting from Umar Akmal. He is playing Swann with a stick of celery at the moment. Not literally, but you get the idea. Just checked the weather forecast, but no Biblical downpours are imminent. England are just waiting for the final wicket to happen.

12.13 Pak 120-9
Umar Akmal has brought some respectability to the scoreline at the very least and is showing what an easy pitch this is to bat on. Could he keep this match going till lunch? Seems unlikely, but you never know. Fair to say the atmosphere at Lord's is somewhat muted.

11.55 Pak 97-9
Suicidal run from Ajmal and he keeps on going back to the pavillion. No booing for Asif but he isn't exactly striding out Viv Richards style.

WICKET Pak 97-9
S Ajmal run out 8

11.51 Pak 94-8
Umar Akmal is throwing the bat. Hilarious footage of Anderson attempting to stare at Akmal as he walked back to his mark. About as intimidating as being glared at by a five year old. In fact, not even that intimidating. Doesn't help that Akmal wasn't even looking at him.

11.37 Pak 75-8
The immediate problem is that the upcoming Twenty20 and One Day International fixtures will inevitably be overshadowed by these allegations. Technically, since nothing has yet been proven, the PCB would be justified in taking no action against the players concerned, but could Salman Butt and co really take the field with this hanging over their heads?

11.33 Pak 73-8
Tame shot from Riaz, easy catch for Pietersen, another wicket for Swann's pile. All be done by midday, I reckon.

WICKET Pak 73-8
W.Riaz c Pietersen b Swann 0

11.21 Pak 65-7
David Lloyd is wittering on about how marvellous Swann is. I know that the commentators have to be a little careful legally, but let's get real, these are easy wickets. It is pretty clear that these Pakistani batsmen want to get out of there as soon as possible. I reckon I could have got Amir out. He walks back to silence.

WICKET Pak 65-7
M.Amir b Swann 0

11.16 Pak 64-6
Kamran Akmal manages an even shorter stay at the crease than usual. Amir walks out and there were one or two boos at Lord's. This is an awful day for cricket.

WICKET Pak 64-6
K Akmal c Prior b Anderson 0

11.12 Pak 63-5
Muted celebrations for Swann as Azhar Ali is castled. This is the pall that match-fixing casts over the game. Once you start to question whether an event on a cricket field is in any way suspicious, the whole sport is undermined. Match fixing has the potential to do to cricket what drug cheating is doing to athletics. Kamran Akmal is out there now.

WICKET Pak 63-5
A Ali b Swann 12

11.07 Pak 54-4
Bright start for Pakistan, runs flowing from the bats of Azhar Ali and Umar Akmal. Weather is overcast and a little gloomy at Lord's, as is the mood of most cricket people. For what it's worth, the draw as high as [65.0]. It will need to rain for that to happen. It will need to rain a lot.

11.00 Pak 41-4
The Pakistani batsmen have taken the field, so there's no question of a repeat of the 2006 Oval no-show. Ramiz Raja says he is ashamed. You have to feel for him, he has spent the summer trying to explain the inexplicable and find hope in the hopeless and now this. Agree with him that the PCB have to act now, not wait for the results of investigations.

10.56 Pak 41-4
Gower and co are wittering on about England's performance. Nobody cares this morning, chaps. Bigger picture, please.

10.37 Pak 41-4
Good morning all. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for Pakistan, the News of the World story that broke this morning has cast a final shadow of ignominy over another shambolic tour. At this stage, we only have allegations and a police investigation and as we understand it, play will take place as normal today. What state of mind the Pakistan players will be in is anyone's guess. Email me with your thoughts.