Pakistan draw first Test vs England
Pakistan draw first Test vs England
Pakistan, which hasn't lost a series in England since 1982, was never in a position to chase the target.

London: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdul Razzaq shared an unbroken stand of 73 on Monday to guide Pakistan to a draw in the first Test against England at Lord's.

Set 380 to win after England had declared on 296 for eight, Pakistan finished on 214 for four from 73 overs -- eight short of the required number after the captains had agreed a result was unlikely.

Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar had followed Matthew Hoggard's two wickets before lunch with two dismissals of his own in the second session to leave England 32 overs after tea to take the six wickets.

But Inzamam hit six fours in 112 balls to score 56 in almost two hours, while Razzaq was 25 not out.

England had started the day on 258for seven. Liam Plunkett hit four boundaries for a Test-best 28 in a 43-run stand for the eighth wicket with Hoggard before he was caught by Kamran Akmal off Razzaq.

England declared immediately at 296 for eight, and Pakistan was 0-1 when Hoggard struck with the first ball of the innings.

The left-handed Salman Butt walked across his stumps and was out lbw to an inswinger that may have been drifting down leg.

Imran Farhat was out in the 13th over when he tried to back-foot drive a ball from Hoggard that was too close and Paul Collingwood, who hit 186 as one of England's three century-makers in the first innings, caught him at third slip.

Pakistan had gone to lunch on 43 for two, still 336 runs in arrears.

Mohammad Yousuf and Faisal Iqbal added 50 chance-less runs in the first hour after lunch, content to occupy the crease as the run-rate required grew to negate thoughts of victory.

Iqbal lifted one ball from Panesar for six down the ground, before the pair brought up Pakistan's 100 from 206 balls.

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In the 36th over with a partnership with Iqbal worth 83, Yousuf misread a sharply turning ball from left-arm spinner Panesar and was out lbw for 48 with Pakistan on 116-3.

Yousuf, who had hit 202 in the first innings to become the highest scoring Pakistan batsman at Lord's, managed eight fours from 62 balls.

Eight overs later, Iqbal was out for 48 when he prodded forward to a ball from Panesar that caught the bat's outside edge and was caught by Alastair Cook at gully.

England had 32 overs left after tea with Pakistan, at 151 for four, needing more than seven runs per over to win.

Panesar continued extracting enough turn after tea to not allow either batsman to feel settled, but Steve Harmison at the other end often relieved the pressure with his wayward line.

Panesar had appeals on three consecutive balls against Razzaq turned down by umpire Steve Bucknor in the 56th over -- two for lbw and the third for a catch to Ian Bell at short-leg.

With 15 overs left and six wickets still to take, part-time offspinners Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen were used on a hard, flat pitch offering turn but little else for the bowlers.

Panesar took two wickets for 60 runs from 27 overs, while Hoggard had two for 31.

Pakistan, which hasn't lost a series in England since 1982, was never in a position to chase the target.

In 112 Tests at Lord's since 1884, the highest ever successful run-chase was in 1984 by the West Indies in pursuit of 342.

While Pakistan's best is 315 for nine against Australia at Karachi in 1994.

The next Test is at Old Trafford in Manchester from July 27.

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