Pak skipper Butt admits that nerves nearly got to his team before defeating England by four wickets
Pak skipper Butt admits that nerves nearly got to his team before defeating England by four wickets
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Umar Akmal and Mohammad Amir held their nerve to guide the tourists to a four-wicket win in what was almost a repeat of their defeat of Australia at Headingley recently when they lost seven wickets chasing 180.
"It was a bit nervous but this time it was by four wickets instead of three," said Butt. The result leaves the tourists 2-1 down in the series with one more Test to play at Lord's starting on Thursday.
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| Pakistan skipper Salman Butt |
Set 148 to win on the fourth day, Pakistan got off to a flying start thanks to Butt (48) and Imran Farhat (33) but wobbled when they lost three wickets for eight runs with their target in sight.
But Akmal (16 not out) and Amir (four not out) steadied the ship and Pakistan now head to Lord's with a chance of levelling the series.
England were given a glimmer of hope just before the break when Graeme Swann had Butt caught at slip for 48, to give him his second wicket of the innings.
And they were given further hope after lunch when Azhar Ali was run out by a combination of Swann and James Anderson, Mohammad Yousuf was bowled by Anderson for 33 and Kamran Akmal padded up to Swann and was given out leg before.
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| Umar Akmal punches the air in celebration after hitting the winning run to help Pakistan to a four-wicket victory over England in the third Test on Saturday. Pic/Getty Images |
"The main mistake was the run out," said Butt. "There was no need for that but in the end the guys did really well."
For England it was a disappointing end to a six-match winning streak. "None of us like losing," said captain Andrew Strauss.
"We lost because in the first session of the game we lost five wickets and on Friday we lost six wickets quickly which cost us dearly.
"When you lose five or six wickets you are putting yourselves under pressure unnecessarily. "We need to make sure it does not happen again but in this game Pakistan were better than us and deserved to win."
England scented victory and with Anderson and Swann blocked off the runs to try and force Umar Akmal into an aggressive shot.
But the Pakistani batsman refused to take the bait and got his 16 runs from 36 balls before winning the match by nudging Swann to mid-wicket and starting his celebrations before he had completed the run.
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