Cricket: Pakistan take control, Australia on verge of victory

FAISALABAD/HOBART - Pakistan took control of the second test with England today, reaching a comfortable 300 for four at close on the first day.

Inzamam-ul-Haq (80 not out) and Shahid Afridi (67 not out) put on 99 for the fifth wicket to boost the innings after Mohammad Yousuf scored a superb 78 before falling to a contentious caught and bowled by Ian Bell.

Meanwhile, Australia looked set to wrap up a series win over the West Indies when they were set just 78 to win.

Pakistan's Inzamam scored his 42nd half-century while Afridi got his seventh. Play was called off nine overs early due to bad light.

Afridi savaged the England bowlers in the final session, taking just 62 balls for his runs and hitting four sixes and four fours. His half-century came from only 46 balls.

He was let off at 34 by captain Michael Vaughan who returned to the side after missing the first test due to a knee injury.

Vaughan put down a straight-forward chance at cover off Matthew Hoggard. Afridi made England pay as next he drove Shaun Udal on to the rooftop and then hit him for a six to mid-wicket.

Yousuf timed the ball flawlessly, hitting eight fours and two sixes in his 143-ball innings.

England's bowlers had been rewarded for a battling display before lunch when Pakistan lost Salman Butt (26), Younis Khan (7) and Shoaib Malik (27) in the space of 20 runs after an opening stand of 53.

Harmison had Butt caught behind, Younis hit Andrew Flintoff straight to Kevin Pietersen at mid-wicket and Malik fell to a fine one-handed diving catch by Flintoff at short extra cover.

In Hobart, an unexpected fightback from the West Indies was not enough on Sunday.

The Australians dismissed the embattled tourists for 334 on the final ball of the fourth day to leave themselves a full day to clinch an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-game series following their 379-run win in Brisbane two weeks ago.

The match looked certain to finish early when the visitors slumped to 140-6 before lunch, needing to make at least 257 to make the Australians bat again, before Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin led the recovery with a stubborn partnership.

Bravo scored a brilliant 113 and Ramdin made 71 as the pair piled on 182 for the seventh-wicket.

- REUTERS