CRICKET/Pakistan v England: Yesterday all three of the Durham boys left their mark, with Paul Collingwood falling four short of a maiden Test hundred in the morning and Liam Plunkett gathering his first Test wicket after lunch.
But Steve Harmison struck the blow, literally, that might prove decisive in this final Test. To the naked eye it appeared routine enough: a short ball, delivered at pace on the line of the substantial body of Inzamam-ul-Haq and climbing towards his chest.
Inzamam stood tall, on his toes, bat raised vertically, and to all intent and purpose deflected the ball down comfortably into the vacant leg side before ambling through for a single - one more to Inzy, bedding himself in nicely and on 35 while Mohammad Yousuf was playing with fiery brilliance at the other end.
Except all was not well. Without histrionics, the Pakistan captain placed his bat down gently, removed his right glove and flexed his fingers. Even in pain he seems incapable of hurry.
Then we saw the replay. At first sight the ball appeared to strike the splice of his bat. A second and third look, however, showed it to have thudded into his unprotected wrist. After lengthy consultation a dejected Inzamam was led away.
X-rays revealed only bruising, and Inzamam will resume today, but, if his batting is affected, it could dent severely Pakistan's ambition to retain a hold on this match and so take the series.
Inzamam has been a tower of unflappable strength for his side in each innings he has played: 53 and 72 in Multan; 109 and 100 not out in Faisalabad. Without his resistance England would now be contemplating delivering a whitewash.
Yesterday he and Yousuf were resurrecting the innings after Matthew Hoggard's incisive new-ball burst and Plunkett's post-prandial intervention had reduced Pakistan to 68 for three, this in reply to England's 288.
Inzamam had allowed Yousuf to dominate the early stages of their fourth-wicket partnership which had reached 80 when Harmison struck.
His departure took the secure, measured nature from the innings. Inzamam and Yousuf were using all their experience to create a position of strength from a fallible one. Suddenly Yousuf found himself with Hasan Raza, a firebrand player, all wrist, angles and cockiness, who briskly contributed 21 more runs before clipping a deserving Harmison, as the close loomed early once more, low to Andy Flintoff at a floating third slip.
It left the onus on Yousuf, who at stumps was unbeaten on 84, an innings punctuated from the outset with drives and flicks.
Guardian Service
Overnight: England 248-6 (P Collingwood 71 no, M Vaughan 58, M Trescothick 50).
England First Innings
P Collingwood c Kaneria b Akhtar 96
S Udal c Kamal b Kaneria 10
L Plunkett b Sami 9
M Hoggard not out 1
S Harmison c Akmal b Sami 0
Extras (lb5 nb5) 10
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Total (94 overs) ... 288
Fall of wickets: 1-101, 2-114, 3-115, 4-183, 5-201, 6-225, 7-249, 8-280, 9-288.
Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 22-6-45-1, Naved-ul-Hasan 20-3-76-2, Mohammad Sami 18-2-57-2, Shoaib Malik 14-1-58-3, Danish Kaneria 20-2-47-2.
Pakistan First Innings
Shoaib Malik c Plunkett b Hoggard 0
Salman Butt c G Jones b Plunkett 28
Asim Kamal lbw b Hoggard 5
Mohammad Yousuf not out 84
Inzamam ul-Haq retd hurt 35
Hasan Raza c Flintoff b Harmison 21
Shoaib Akhtar not out 0
Extras (b1 lb5 w1 nb5) 12
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Total (4 wkts, 52 overs) ... 185
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-12, 3-68, 4-180.
Bowling: Hoggard 8-2-22-2, Flintoff 14-5-34-0, Harmison 17-2-56-1, Plunkett 8-0-37-1, Udal 3-0-19-0, Collingwood 2-0-11-0.
