Inzamam secures draw

Inzamam-ul-Haq steadied Pakistan © Getty Images

A fifty from Inzamam-ul–Haq, his ninth in consecutive innings against England, steered Pakistan to a draw in the first npower Test at Lord’s.

The tourists' skipper batted without great alarm alongside Abdul Razzaq after tea, and claimed the stalemate shortly after bringing up his half-century.

With Razzaq (25 not out) blocking at one end, it was up to Inzamam (56 not out) to provide the runs, and he reached 50 with a sweet cover drive off Monty Panesar.

But with the game going nowhere, he shook hands wth his England counterpart Andrew Strauss on 214 for four, well short of an unlikely 380 to win.

It was a disappointing end for England, who had started positively thanks to two wickets from Matthew Hoggard.

As early as the first ball of the innings, a swinging delivery from the Yorkshireman struck Salman Butt in front of the stumps to give England an immediate boost.

Pakistan showed little inclination to chase down their nominal target as some tight bowling from Hoggard restricted their run-scoring opportunities.

And, with Strauss backing his bowlers with attacking fields, Hoggard added another scalp before the break.

An indeterminate stroke from Imran Farhat took the outside edge, presenting a sharp chance to the safe hands of Paul Collingwood at third slip.

And, despite a frustrating afternoon, the home side had their hopes raised before tea thanks to a double breakthrough from Panesar, including the key wicket of Mohammad Yousuf.

A stubborn 83-run partnership between Yousuf and Faisal Iqbal had denied England for most of the afternoon session before the left-armer removed both for 48.

Monty Panesar © Getty Images

First Yousuf offered no stroke to a ball that struck his pad in front of middle stump and umpire Steve Bucknor eventually raised his finger.

Then Alastair Cook held a thick edge low to his right to remove Iqbal after 143 balls of resistance.

Panesar had made Iqbal’s life uncomfortable on more than one occasion, but the right-hander did manage to impose himself when he danced down the pitch to drive Panesar for six against the spin.

The wicket was just reward for the spinner who, along with Steve Harmison, looked dangerous all afternoon, passing the outside edge on numerous occasions.

With the pitch offering turn and bounce, there were still hopes of forcing a victory after tea, but Inzamam and Razzaq held firm.

Earlier, Strauss had called an end to his side's second innings on 296 for eight, with 38 runs added to their overnight score.

They started the day clearly looking for quick runs, with six coming off the first over, including four from the bat of Hoggard.

And Liam Plunkett struck two boundaries off one Umar Gul over to help him to his highest Test score of 28.

But runs were not easy to come by with the Pakistan bowlers keeping to a line wide of off stump, and the batsmen were forced into a number of heaves to speed things along.

It was one such shot which brought to an end Plunkett’s effort - he edged Razzaq through to Kamran Akmal for a simple catch.

That was the signal for Strauss to call his players in, leaving the tourists needing a total well above their highest successful fourth-innings run-chase, which stood at 315.