Leeds, Pakistan beat Australia in a test for the first time since 1995 after winning by three wickets in an excruciatingly tense finish today to level the two-match series at 1-1. Imran Farhat was Pakistan's top scorer with 67 while Azhar Ali scored 51 from 107 balls with six fours at Headingley. Ben Hilfenhaus was Australia's most potent bowler with 3-39, while Doug Bollinger finished with 3-53 after a nerve-shredding morning session.
"To win against the world's best is always an achievement," Pakistan captain Salman Butt said. "We would have loved to have done it in front of our home crowd, but we need to tell them that we remember them and we hope we will be playing in front of them soon. "It's a new beginning for Pakistan cricket and especially for a young side."
Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted his side had been struggling ever since it was bowled out for 88 on day one, having won the toss and decided to bat.
"Looking back, we were surprised how much it swung on that first day," Ponting said. "We were definitely playing catch-up from the start. They were probably the most difficult conditions any of us has ever batted in. But we had an opportunity yesterday to bring ourselves back into the game and, if we're being harsh on ourselves, we probably let an opportunity slip in the second innings."
Umpire Rudi Koertzen, officiating in his 108th and final test before retiring, was given a guard of honor by the players as he walked on to the field. It was the last peaceful action of the morning as Pakistan, starting day four on 140-3, lost six wickets for 42 runs.
If Australia was to stand a realistic chance it needed Bollinger to fire early and the initial signs were discouraging, as his third delivery was a full toss that Ali smashed through the covers for four, bringing up his first test 50. However, Bollinger's next ball tempted Ali into a rash prod outside off stump and he was caught behind by Tim Paine.
Umar Akmal had already edged Hilfenhaus for four through the slips when he was caught behind off the same bowler for 8, leaving Pakistan five wickets down with 30 still needed.
Having lost 4-13 in 53 balls, Pakistan looked increasingly jittery, particularly when Bollinger made loud but vain appeals from successive deliveries at the end of the 43rd over.
Australia was also affected by nerves, however, with Michael Clarke dropping Shoaib Malik at second slip after he nicked a ball from Bollinger in the 45th over, when Malik was on 4.
Marcus North then produced a sensational catch to remove Malik for 10 off Hilfenhaus an over later, but a beautiful cover drive from Kamran Akmal off Bollinger in the next over reduced the target to 15. Akmal played and missed at Bollinger's next delivery, but steered a ball from Hilfenhaus through the vacant third slip area for four in the 48th over.
Akmal carved the final ball of the over through point for another four, slashing the target to six. Australia captain Ricky Ponting replaced Bollinger with Mitchell Johnson at the Kirkstall Lane End for the 49th over, and his fourth delivery generated controversy when Michael Hussey claimed a catch.
Akmal refused to walk and with television umpires unable to prove the ball hadn't bounced, he was given not out.
"I always go on the player's reaction and Michael Hussey was 100 percent certain he'd caught it,' Ponting said. "But that's the system we have. We know when a catch is referred, 99.9 percent of the time it's going to be given not out." In the next over, Aamer edged a four through the slips from Hilfenhaus to level the scores.
Akmal fell to a sensational catch on 13 from Hussey in the 51st over, but Umar Gul took Pakistan over the line with a single from the next ball, ending a run of 13 consecutive victories for Australia against Pakistan. Butt admitted the January test in Sydney, which Pakistan lost to Australia by 36 runs after squandering a first-innings lead of 206, had been playing on his mind.
Asked if he thought Pakistan had blown the game, Butt said: "Seeing the history, yes. "I think maybe at the end the guys were a bit nervous, I certainly was, but that's the way the game goes," he added. "When you have this added responsibility (as captain) you have to think a bit more." (AP)
