Pakistan prevail in thrilling finale
Pakistan's long, long wait for a Test victory over Australia finally came to an end amid scenes of excruciating tension on the fourth morning at Headingley
Pakistan's long, long wait for a Test victory over Australia finally came to an end amid scenes of excruciating tension on the fourth morning at Headingley
Pakistan win by three wickets and level the series 1-1. Fabulous scenes, handshakes all round and Rudi, with a tear in his eye, picks up a stump and leads the players off the field. The Pakistan team give him a souvenir T-shirt which is a lovely touch. There is a lot to like about Salman Butt and he has a very gifted young side under him. Tough tour this for Ricky Ponting and Australia, they lost the one-day series to England, lost the Twenty20 to Pakistan in his absence and could not beat Pakistan in the Tests.
Paul Allott leads the presentation ceremony which begins, fittingly, with a special presentation to Rudi Koertzen - a sculpture depicting Rudi with his infamous 'slow death' dismissal.
One again there are two men of the match. Which is odd, this spirit of cricket lark has gone too far you'd think. Shane Watson is named Australia's man of the match, for his bowling, which, though laughable, has been very good all Test. The Pakistan man of the match is Mohammad Aamer, now he can bowl. In a brief interview he says, "when I smile it gives me confidence." That's the spirit of cricket.
Ricky Ponting, somewhat predictably says he wouldn't have batted first if he knew the wicket would have done so much on the first day and congratulates Pakistan for their tense win. Tantalisingly, he says if he can keep scoring runs, he might return to England in the future.
Salman Butt thanks the crowd, his young side and all the supporters back home who haven't had the chance to see the team. He says that if this young side can perform like this under these conditions they could go on to become world beaters. He might be right as well. I'll say it again, Salman Butt is an awfully suave fellow - reminiscent, actually, of a certain Imran Khan.
Hugely entertaining match which finished with a hugely entertaining morning, to try and get a flavour of it all check out Andrew Miller's bulletin. That will be all from me today, Pakistan are back in action soon, beginning their four-Test series against England at Trent Bridge on Thursday, so I hope you'll join us then. If this game was anything to go by, it will be an absolute cracker.
Umar Gul is the new man. One run, that's all it is....
Kamran Akmal c Hussey b Johnson 13 (31m 26b 3x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
Pakistan player now waiting on the boundary. They're going to go berserk here!
Azhar Ali, the Pakistan batsman who played a crucial role in the Headingley Test victory, is pleased to be a part of the team that broke a 15-year losing streak against Australia
Ricky Ponting knows his batsmen let the team down in both innings at Headingley, but he is not yet considering the idea of Steven Smith taking Marcus North's position at No. 6
t was only a week ago that Ricky Ponting said he and his men had one eye on the Ashes series later this year
This morning's grandstand finish was never really in doubt, even though Pakistan resumed their chase with just 40 runs required
Pakistan's long, long wait for a Test victory over Australia finally came to an end amid scenes of excruciating tension on the fourth morning at Headingley