Who would have predicted that: Umar Gul 6/42 dazzles England with top-notch reverse swing in 2010

In our feature series - Who would have predicted that? – we are looking back at matches where there were big upsets or extraordinary individual performances that turned matches on their head.

In 2010, England won the Lord's Test against Pakistan by an innings and 225 runs. Later, the ICC banned Pakistan's Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif after they were found guilty of spot fixing during the match.

 

Match Summary

Pakistan 241 (49.4 overs) - Fawad Alam 64 (86), Asad Shafiq 40 (59); James Anderson 3/26 (10), Tim Bresnan 3/51 (9.4)

England 218 (45.4 overs) - Eoin Morgan 61 (74), Sir Andrew Strauss 57 (54); Umar Gul 6/42 (10), Abdul Razzaq 2/38 (7.4)

 Result - Pakistan won by 23 runs

 

Understandably, Pakistan had their backs against the wall on the tour. They had lost the infamous Test series 1-3 before losing both the T20Is.

In the 5-match ODI series that followed, they were trailing by 0-2 going into the third ODI at the Kennington Oval in London. The way the match was shaping, things were not looking good for Pakistan, again. The team was bowled out for 241 with top scores from Fawad Alam (64) and Asad Shafiq (40).

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Mohammad Hafeez, 1.6 ov), 2-8 (Kamran Akmal, 2.4 ov), 3-31 (Mohammad Yousuf, 9.1 ov), 4-95 (Asad Shafiq, 24.2 ov), 5-121 (Umar Akmal, 29.5 ov), 6-181 (Fawad Alam, 38.2 ov), 7-185 (Shahid Afridi, 39.1 ov), 8-227 (Abdul Razzaq, 46.3 ov), 9-234 (Saeed Ajmal, 47.3 ov), 10-241 (Umar Gul, 49.4 ov)

Chasing a smallish total, England were going comfortably at 201/5 with the required run rate around the 3 RPO mark. It was then that Umar Gul returned for his last three overs.

Gul had been out of form recently and had missed the last couple of Tests due to a hamstring injury. On the very first ball of the spell, Eoin Morgan was holed out at deep square leg. The ball had got scuffed up by now and had begun to reverse sharply.

Just two deliveries later, Tim Bresnan had his woodwork disturbed off a ball that went in through the gate. Stuart Broad failed to put bat to a sharply incoming yorker while Graeme Swann lobbed a simple catch to the covers.

From 201 for 5, England had slid to 211 for 9 and were finally bowled out for 218 as Pakistan won the match by 23 runs. Although Pakistan ultimately went on to lose the series 2-3, Gul's effort ensured that they did not go down without a fight. 

Fall of wickets: 1-35 (Steven Davies, 5.6 ov), 2-42 (Jonathan Trott, 8.6 ov), 3-77 (Ravi Bopara, 13.6 ov), 4-95 (Sir Andrew Strauss, 18.2 ov), 5-103 (Michael Yardy, 20.5 ov), 6-201 (Eoin Morgan, 38.1 ov), 7-201 (Tim Bresnan, 38.4 ov), 8-207 (Stuart Broad, 40.5 ov), 9-211 (Graeme Swann, 42.6 ov), 10-218 (James Anderson, 45.4 ov)

 

Teams

 

England - Sir Andrew Strauss (c), Steven Davies (wk), Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Michael Yardy, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson 

 Pakistan - Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Yousuf, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi (c), Fawad Alam, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Akhtar

 

Match Details

 

Match: ENG v PAK, 3rd ODI, Pakistan in England, 2010 

Date: Friday, September 17, 2010 

Toss: Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat  

Venue: Kennington Oval, London 

Umpires: Billy Doctrove, Richard Illingworth 

Third Umpire: Nigel Llong 

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe 

 

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