Leeds, July 24: Pakistan captain Salman Butt praised his young side and their supporters after leading the team to a first Test victory over Australia in 15 years in his first game in charge.
Pakistan just about held their nerve to complete a three-wicket win on the fourth day of the second Test at Headingley here on Saturday as they finished on 180/7. And when tailender Umar Gul hit the winning run at 11.35am local time on the fourth day, it meant Pakistan had ended a record run of 13 straight Test defeats by Australia stretching back to 1995.
They lost four wickets for 40 runs on Saturday before Gul hit Mitchell Johnson for the decisive single. Pakistan had blown a seemingly gilt-edged chance against Australia in Sydney in January when, chasing 176, they were bowled out for 139 in a 36-run defeat.
“Knowing the history, it was a bit nerve-wracking,” opening batsman Butt told reporters afterwards. “Thank God it went positively and we won.”
This series was played in England because no major international cricket has taken place in Pakistan since an armed attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in March last year.
“Beating the world’s best is an achievement which I owe to this young team,” Butt said.
“We owe it also definitely to the people back in Pakistan. We would have loved to have won this match in front of our home crowd but unfortunately that is not possible at the moment. But still we need to tell these people that we still remember them and we will be back soon hopefully.
“It means a lot. It’s a new beginning for Pakistan cricket and the young side,” the left-hander added.
Meanwhile Australia captain Ricky Ponting insisted this loss would not damage his team’s morale ahead of their two-Test series against India in October and their subsequent bid to regain the Ashes from England on home soil. “I don’t think it will do too much to dent our confidence,” Ponting said.
“It just goes to highlight we’ve got some work to do. We’re not shying away from that fact.” The star batsman said of his decision to bat first after winning the toss: “There’s no doubt it’s had a big impact.”