Cricket story by Dominic Taylor, Sun, 11 Dec 2005 21:16:00 GMT


LAHORE, Pakistan - Liam Plunkett had a dream debut as the England super sub on Saturday as the visitors beat Pakistan for the first time in the series. They beat Pakistan by 42 runs in the first one-dayer at Lahore.

England captain Marcus Trescothick won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat on a belter of a pitch at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. England got off to a roaring start and even though they lost their captain quite early, Strauss and Prior lent stability to the innings before Prior was out.

In came Kevin Pietersen and merrily breezed his way to 56 off just 39 balls. His little cameo included 2 huge hits over the fence. Andrew Strauss made a welcome return to form, but fell just six runs short of a well-deserved century. Later on in the innings, Andrew Flintoff with 72 and Paul Collingwood indulged in some lusty hitting towards the end overs to take England to a formidable 327-4 off their 50 overs.

If Pakistan were intimidated by the total they showed no signs of it as Younis Khan, who returned to the team and Salman Butt went hammer and tongs at the England bowlers after the early loss of Kamran Akmal. Butt in particular was very severe on the England bowlers and that set the tone for the rest to follow.

However, both Younis and Butt followed each other to the pavilion and when Inzamam was out for 13 England had a sniff at victory. Ian Blackwell bowled an economical spell and though Mohammed Yusuf and Shoaib Malik slammed quick 50s the target was always beyond them as Plunkett tightened the noose with a three-wicket haul. Flintoff also got three wickets and Pakistan fell short on the final stretch.

Andrew Strauss, who was declared the man of the match, was pleased with his effort, “The first half of the tour didn't go particularly according to plan for me, and those sort of times are a bit of a test of character. To come out and get 90 odd today was very, very satisfying," he said.

Inzamam-ul-Haq said that the target was always going to be tough because chasing 300 is never easy, "We still thought we had a chance when Mohammad Yusuf and Shoaib Malik were together - but once one of them was out it quickly became too much for us," he commented.

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