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Your support makes all the difference.The England selectors asked for Durham's Simon Brown to play in this game. They were even rumoured to be coming up north to watch the country's leading wicket-taker. They did not, which was just as well because Durham won the toss and batted.
Pakistan rested Waqar Younis, but Durham soon came to rue his replacement, Shahid Nazir. Their openers, Sherwin Campbell and Stewart Hutton, easily saw off the Test bowlers Wasim Akram and Ata-Ur-Rehman. Wasim lolloped in off nine paces whereas Ata-Ur-Rehman bustled in. But both were dispatched by a series of drives, cuts and hooks.
Durham, who have not beaten a first-class county in a game of any length this season but traditionally do well against tourists, were coasting at 62 without loss off 16 overs. On came the 18-year-old fast bowler Nazir in his third game of the tour. He dropped his first ball short, Campbell's eyes lit up, but his hook dropped down long leg's throat. In Nazir's second over, Hutton inexplicably let a straight delivery between his bat and pad and was bowled. For 27 balls John Morris poked and prodded about before Nazir tempted him to snick to third slip. Despite inside-edging two boundaries, the one-time England batsman fell five runs short of his season's average of 17.
Three wickets in 26 balls was enough for Nazir and he left the field. He reappeared after lunch wearing a corset, and when Mike Roseberry and Jimmy Daley ended up at the same end of the pitch, Nazir's wild throw from the deep allowed them time to sort themselves out. Wasim advised the prodigy to retire to the pavilion once more.
Pakistan have another frighteningly talented teenager in their squad: Saqlain Mushtaq, who was kept out of the Test team by Mushtaq Ahmed. Roseberry and Daley consolidated without looking comfortable against the off-spinner. Both offered good chances to short leg.
Yet it was Wasim who did the damage - physically. He struck Roseberry on the finger, forcing the Durham captain to retire. In for the kill, Robin Weston's first ball received in his first first-class innings of the season was a vicious bouncer; the third was a nasty inswinger, and he departed leg before. Wasim intimidated Daley into deflecting the ball to the wicketkeeper and Saqlain enticed John Wood into a swipe to long- on, yet the visitors were remarkably kind to the recovered Roseberry when he returned to the crease. They helped him to his fifty through 10 overthrows.
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