Afridi rescues Pakistan after Holder burst

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                                            Mohammad Hafeez was comprehensively bowled

Pakistan revamped their batting for this series, but there were some familiar sights after they were put in on a drizzly day in Providence: the top order keeled over at the slightest sight of movement, Misbah-ul-Haq again played a hold-it-together innings scoring at a slow rate that riled Pakistan fans, and Shahid Afridi again showed his penchant for the big moment with a innings-transforming 76 in his comeback game to set West Indies a tricky target.

West Indies' punt in picking the towering Jason Holder for Tino Best paid off spectacularly early on. Holder, playing only his fourth ODI, ripped through the new-look Pakistan line-up in a searing opening spell of 8-4-8-4 in which he had the ball swerving both ways, befuddling the batsmen.

His first two wickets, both of which came with the batsmen attempting to leave the ball, showed the problems he posed. Ahmed Shehzad, playing his first ODI in two years, tried to shoulder arms but Holder got the ball to jag away late and Shehzad ended up inside-edging onto the stumps. Mohammad Hafeez, with three single-digit scores in his previous four ODIs, also looked to let the ball go but the delivery darted in to take the offstump, and leave Hafeez looking foolish.

Holder then dismissed the usually reliable Nasir Jamshed, who was wrongly adjudged lbw for 6, and Asad Shafiq fell for a golden duck to a superb diving catch from wicketkeeper Johnson Charles, leaving Pakistan at 23 for 4. Another comeback man Umar Akmal was then in all sorts of bother - there were edges short of slip, several beatens, a clear caught-behind that was turned down and a difficult stumping chance. Pakistan lost three wickets for eight runs in a 10-over spell ending in the 14th.

Misbah was his usual patient self, showing off his watertight technique as he kept out everything West Indies hurled at him. With the ball nipping around, run-scoring wasn't on his mind; he was focused on guiding Pakistan through the difficult period, hoping the pitch would settle down as the innings progressed.

When Akmal holed out to mid-off another comeback man, Shahid Afridi, walked in, and he had only run-scoring on his mind. Pakistan were 47 for 5 and the team's last recognised batting pair was in the middle, but that didn't prevent Afridi from launching his third delivery for six over long-off. Given his kamikaze style of play, a quick end to his innings wouldn't have surprised. It almost did after he belted another six and a four, but Chris Gayle put down a tough chance at slip.

After that, he could take lesser risks despite scoring rapidly as West Indies' bowlers offered several boundary balls. Marlon Samuels offered long hops and full tosses that were dispatched beyond the rope, Darren Sammy was cleverly dinked over the shoulder before his half-volley was pounded through extra cover to bring up the half-century off 35 deliveries. The man who was expected to be the biggest threat, Sunil Narine, was caned out of the attack, taken for 32 in three overs. On a track where everyone else struggled, Afridi was at ease, showing the insouciance and big-hitting that make him such a fan favourite.

Once Afridi fell for 76 towards the end of the Powerplay, the onus was on Misbah, who couldn't lift the rate but went on to yet another half-century. He perished in the 48th over, after 120 deliveries of defiance, but was still not satisfied, punching the air in dejection and admonishing himself after his dismissal. His and Afridi's efforts guided Pakistan to 224, which should prove challenging for the West Indies batting order.

Anderson 10th Clinches Victroy

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James Anderson led England to the brink of victory in the first Investec Test as he took three of the last four wickets to fall in a steadfast spell of fast bowling on a wonderful final day at Trent Bridge. But the brink was not enough. After an extended morning session, at lunch an epic Test match was still not over. Australia, nine down, needed 20 to pull off a staggering victory.

The importance of Anderson to England was doubly emphasised when he finally took a break. At that stage, Australia still needed 71 but with Anderson withdrawn, the last pair of Brad Haddin and James Pattinson immediately believed that they could hit their way to victory. At lunch, their stand was worth 60 in 13 overs and Haddin had been dropped at deep square by Steven Finn on 64, Graeme Swann's visions of victory banished.

England were so shaken they ended the session with a shameless display of timewasting - Stuart Broad to the fore, under his captain's instructions, with needless boot repairs. The umpires made then have another over anyway.

Much is made of Anderson's skill, but was his stamina that was also to the fore as he produced a gruelling spell of 13 overs off the reel. Anderson was entrusted first with the old ball, and then dismissed Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle with the new. He has bowled 54 overs in the match, taking nine for 158 in the process, and has passed Fred Trueman in England's all-time list during the game.

Turn to your leading bowler when it most matters. In relying upon Anderson, England's captain, Alastair Cook, was returning to basic principles, and aware also of his excellent record at Trent Bridge but he would have had a few qualms about giving Anderson such an arduous spell with the Lord's Test only four days away.

There is no doubt who is most invaluable to England in this Ashes series. It is not Cook, Jonathan Trott at his most unflappable or even Swann, whose superior spin bowling gives England an obvious advantage. It is Anderson.

All three wickets fell to catches by Cook at first slip, as Anderson found awayswing from both around then over the wicket. The best of them was a diving effort to his left to dismiss Peter Siddle, atonement for dropping Siddle in the same position in Anderson's previous over. When you have set a field with a solitary slip - generally justifiable on this low pitch, but not necessarily when Siddle was having a lash - it is advisable to develop spring heels.

Trent Bridge has lapped up a wonderful Test. It was sold out for all five days, and with Australia, six down overnight, needing another 137 to win, there was enough in the game for the vast majority to turn up for the final phase of a gripping Test.

There is more than one way to seek to turn a Test that seems to be tipping against you. Agar, with the eagerness we have already come to expect, fancied scampering a single or two to get the intensity up. The old timer, Haddin, wanted to do nothing of the sort, preferring to hunker in and communicate a sense that Australia would not yield. Twice, Agar almost ended up in mid-pitch, leaving his older - and slower - partner to have a calming word.

The ball was 71 overs at start of play, the floodlights broke through the morning haze and a slow pitch was as inhibiting for the batsmen as ever. Cook was satisfied enough to watch Australia make painstaking progress, so cautious that he even set a long on and long off for Swann's offspin, but it was deadlock.

In 11 overs, Australia made 18. Haddin slog-swept Swann for four, Agar, driving with big backlift and loose limbs, deflected Anderson to the third boundary. After 82 overs, Cook had seen enough and took the new ball. But Anderson, his go-to bowler, had already bowled five overs with the old one. Finn had become an option that Cook did not entirely trust.

If the harder ball did not swing, Australia had an opportunity to step up the scoring rate for more than an hour before lunch. Instead, with the fifth over of the new ball - Anderson's eighth of the morning - Agar fell to Anderson.

Agar prefers to stay leg-side of the ball, foot not always to the pitch, to free up his off-side drives; Anderson, shaping the ball away from around the wicket, found the perfect retort and Cook held the edge at first slip. His 14 had taken 71 balls, in sharp contrast to his first-innings spree, but it was not just the increased pressure second time around, but could also be put down to the debilitating nature of the pitch.

Australia's lower order is no pushover: their bottom three - Starc, Siddle, and Pattinson share a combined Test average of 70. But Anderson had not finished. Starc received another excellent delivery which left him - this time from over the wicket - and Cook again held on.

With eight down, and 100 still needed, Siddle decided that adventure was called for. Cook missed an inviting opportunity to his left at slip, but then caught a blinder in Anderson's next over. At 240 for 9, Anderson finally had to stand down.

With 80 needed, Haddin decided that a concerted assault upon Finn, who has been thoroughly out of sorts throughout this Test, was Australia's last remaining hope. He took 15 off Finn's first over, passing 50 in the process, crunching him over the leg-side on three occasions. Finn looked bereft. Finn's second over went for nine, including four byes.

England could afford one bowler to be broken; they could not afford two. Pattinson slogged Swann over midwicket for six as the last-wicket stand reached 50. England turned to Broad, but any fond imaginings that they might return to Anderson were forgotten when he tried to stretch and limped off to the pavilion.

England then missed a run out with 28 needed, Haddin and Pattinson caught in mid-pitch as they became mixed-up over a leg-side single, only for Jonny Bairstow's shy at the stumps at the keeper's end to miss the target. Watching from the Australia dressing room, the coach, Darren Lehmann played with a stress ball.

Broad responded well, first settling matters then delivering an excellent off-cutter to Pattinson. But Finn allowed a challenging running catch to slip through his hands at deep square-leg with Haddin 64 and 26 needed.

At lunch, a late lunch, too, this Test would just not lie down and die.

Murray To Cash In After Rating Bonaza

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Andy Murray’s historic win in the Wimbledon final was the most-watched television broadcast of the year in Great Britain, the BBC has reported. A peak audience of 17.3 million tuned in for Murray’s three-set win over World No. 1Novak Djokovic, shattering the earlier record for 2012.

1. At peak viewership, 79.6 percent of all televisions in use were tuned to the final. An average 12.1 million UK viewers watched the full match for a 73 percent share. In Murray’s home country of Scotland, the peak audience of 1.9 million represented a 90 percent share of all televisions in use.

Before Sunday, the most-watched TV programme in the United Kingdom of 2013 had been the final of Britain’s Got Talent, with an average of 11.1 million viewers and a 13.1 million peak.

In related news, advertising executives have said that Murray’s effort to become the first British men's Wimbledon champion in 77 years could earn him anywhere from $12 million a year to a jaw-dropping $74 million a year in endorsements. “The sky really is the limit for him,” branding consultant Jonathan Gabay told Bloomberg News.

Late Wickets Lift England In Victory Pursuit

Four days of enthralling, gut-wrenching and at times quite remarkable Ashes cricket came to rest at Trent Bridge with England favourites to take a 1-0 lead in the Investec Test series. Favourites, but not so confident that they would sleep soundly. Nobody sleeps soundly at the start of an Ashes series.

Australia will begin the final day still 137 runs short of victory with four wickets left, aware that the first Test tilted towards England in the final hour when they accounted for Michael Clarke, Steve Smith and Phillip Hughes within 17 balls. "Cut off the serpent's head," Graeme Swann had urged before the series began and the loss of Clarke, caught at the wicket off Stuart Broad, caused the Australian body to begin thrashing.

Clarke's dismissal possessed the high drama that already this series is producing at will. The umpire, Aleem Dar, strolled to square leg to discuss whether the ball had carried to Matt Prior, and it was such a critical juncture that he would have probably asked for a TV verdict if he had caught it above his head. Then Clarke upped the tension by reviewing, only for the third umpire, Marais Erasmus, to confirm the decision dint of the lightest mark on Hot Spot and by audio.

Steven Smith followed to the next ball - the first wicket for Swann, in his 22nd over. Swann has never made a match-winning contribution at Trent Bridge, his home ground, and even though this worn pitch seemed made for him, it was so pedestrian that it allowed time to adjust, and left the shrewdest, most adaptable batsmen scenting that runs were possible.

But, uplifted by Clarke's dismissal, Swann suddenly summoned more turn. Smith fell lbw on the back foot and Hughes followed for 0, the ball just pitching on leg stump and spinning back sharply for another lbw verdict.

No side had ever scored as many as 311 in the last innings to win a Test at Trent Bridge, but the heavy roller further deadened the pitch for a prolonged period and Australia also drew sustenance from the hottest day of the year and a lack of extravagant swing for the new ball.

Their first task was to gnaw away at England's expectations and they did so impressively in a first-wicket stand of 84 between Shane Watson and Chris Rogers. They lost Watson by tea but even that was unfortunate, as he fell to a marginal lbw decision for Broad.

Whereas Watson departed for 46 with sorrowful shakes of the head after his review narrowly failed to overturn Dar's lbw decision, Rogers did win a reprieve on 38 in the following over. He is a survivor: the gnarled gunslinger who pops out briefly from behind a rock and then disappears from view again.

"Caught behind?" he mouthed at Kumar Dharmasena after the umpire had upheld Swann's appeal. Lbw or caught behind, it did not matter; replays found him innocent on all counts.

Australia's new opening combination has already developed a presence. They complement each other naturally and not just because they are right and left-handed. Watson is a domineering figure, always eager to take up the cudgels; Rogers is more furtive, using his wealth of experience to maximum effect.

Upon Watson's exit, Ed Cowan came in on a pair. His first Ashes Test had brought him little pleasure: a first-ball duck and bouts of nausea. For 15 balls, he wondered where his first run would come from but then Steven Finn released the pressure with a short wide one that he gratefully despatched.

On the brink of tea, England's conviction that they could win the first Test soared - and it came from an unlikely source. Joe Root's first Test wicket could hardly have come at a more opportune time. Cowan, enticed into a drive against an offspinner that turned out of the rough, edged to first slip. Rogers chipped a slower ball from Anderson to mid-wicket, a dismissal plotted at tea which brought a celebration between the bowler and David Saker, the England bowling coach, applauding on the balcony.

England's morning had been one of jubilation. As they added a further 51 for their last four wickets, two batsmen walked off to standing ovations as recognition of efforts largely made the previous day. But for Ian Bell and Stuart Broad, the messages were very different.

The applause for Bell was appreciative, regard for perhaps the finest innings he has ever played for England, the deftest of Ashes hundreds made when England needed it most. The ovation for Stuart Broad carried more meaning: a significant show of public support on a day when he was castigated in the media for allegedly betraying the spirit of cricket for not walking when Dar erroneously gave him not out for a blatant edge to first slip, off the wicketkeeper's gloves, on the third evening.

If Broad was going to receive public support anywhere, it was from his home crowd in Nottingham but when he edged James Pattinson to Brad Haddin on 65 and approached the old pavilion, he will have been moved by the response.

At stumps, Clarke offered unabashed support to Broad on Sky TV. "I've always been a believer that umpires are there to take decisions," he said. "If everybody walked, we wouldn't need umpires. It is an individual decision but I don't think any less of Stuart for what he did."

They were wise words: less than an hour earlier, Clarke had also legitimately stood his ground when he probably knew he had hit it. His edge was considerably less obvious than Broad's but personal morality cannot be decided by how obvious something is. For Australia, though, frustration was understandable. The odds favoured England from the moment that Bell and Broad amassed their seventh-wicket stand of 138 in 48 overs.

If the Broad furore made him the victim of overstatement, Bell's 109, his 18th Test hundred, possessed understated excellence. He was 95 not out overnight and could not have hoped for any more munificence than the immediate present offered up by Mitchell Starc, a low full toss which Bell carved through gully to reach 99. He scampered a hundred off a misfield in Starc's next over. Starc finally silenced him, caught at the wicket, but not before he had reprised the deft cover drives and back cuts which had been the hallmark of his innings.

Broad, 47 not out at start of play, passed 50 to rousing cheers when he edged between Watson and Clarke at first and second slip. Australia must have reflected that it was not the time for the two, who have not always seen eye to eye, to behave to each other with infinite politeness.

When Broad fell for 65, edging a back-foot force at Pattinson, Australia rounded up the rest within nine overs. England's innings ended when Swann again invited Watson and Clarke to take a slip catch, both dived and this time Clarke came up with the ball.

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