Katich grinds Pakistan down

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Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office Sunday. — FE Photo

Simon Katich ground inexorably towards the century that he missed out on in Australia's first innings, as Pakistan's bowlers endured a frustrating third morning of the first Test at Lord's, according to website cricinfo.
Despite another day of dank weather, which eventually brought about a 15-minute delay for rain, their seam attack was thwarted in their bid for early breakthroughs, with the nightwatchman, Mitchell Johnson, proving to be the only wicket of the session.
By lunch, Katich was entrenched on 83 not out to add to the 80 that he racked up on Tuesday, meaning that his personal match tally had already exceeded Pakistan's first-innings total of 148.
He nudged a single to fine leg in the third over of the morning to reach his second fifty of the match, and by lunch, he had added five more fours to his overnight total of nine, to leave Australia healthily placed with an overall lead of 293, and five wickets still intact.
After their late success on the second evening, in which four wickets fell in 10.1 overs, Pakistan had resumed in a buoyant mood and came agonisingly close to a breakthrough from the eighth ball of the day, when Johnson padded up to an inswinger from Mohammad Asif, only for umpire Rudi Koertzen to declare, correctly, that the delivery would have zipped over the top of middle stump.
Emboldened by his narrow escape, Johnson responded with outright aggression, as he walloped Mohammad Aamer's next over for three fours in four balls, before greeting the legspin of Danish Kaneria with a powerful slog-sweep over wide mid-on. Umar Gul, whose two wickets in two balls had ignited Pakistan's fightback on the second evening, was a disappointment in his initial foray, as he struggled to find the right length in the damp conditions, and eventually resorted to offcutters to keep control of the run-rate, rather than probe for wickets.
Gul did eventually make the breakthrough after an hour's play, when Johnson lost sight of an attempted yorker and had his stumps splayed by a low full-toss for 30. But Shahid Afridi at this stage was midway through a speculative five-over spell of legbreaks, and the lack of intensity suited the under-pressure Marcus North just fine, as he avoided his pair with a clip off the pads for two off Gul.
By lunch, North was growing in confidence on 20 not out, and signed off for the session with an ambitious swipe for four over mid-on to put another dent in Kaneria's figures. Pakistan's hopes of a first Test victory over Australia since 1995 were fading fast.
Score: At lunch Australia 253 (Katich 80, Aamer 4-72) and 188 for 5 (Katich 83*, North 20*) lead Pakistan 148 (Butt 63, Watson 5-40) by 293 runs.