Asif, Gul put Pakistan in charge on Day 1

LONDON: Mohammad Asif took four wickets to spark an England collapse on the opening day of the fourth and final test at The Oval on Thursday. The home side, having already clinched the series with emphatic wins at Old Trafford and Headingley, slumped from 54 for one to 173 all out after being put in.

In reply, Pakistan had reached 35 for no loss after 8 overs when scores last came in. Imran Farhat on 20 and Younis Khan, 0, were at the crease. Opener Mohammad Hafeez retired hurt on 8 after sustaining a leg injury.

Asif, playing his first game of the four-test series following elbow trouble, cut through the top order with some classic seam bowling and then switched to reverse swing. Asif, playing his first Test of the series after an elbow injury, struck twice in the 10th over.

He had England captain Andrew Strauss (38) edging behind where the opener was well caught by diving wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal. And next ball Kevin Pietersen, whose 158 on this same ground sealed England's Ashes series win against Australia last year, went when he advanced down the pitch only to nick Asif straight to Akmal.

Pietersen's second nought in 33 Test innings left England 54 for three. And it meant Asif, 23, was on a hat-trick at the start of his next over. But Alastair Cook denied him that with a solid defensive shot.

However, Asif - who in his five previous Tests had taken 25 wickets - did not have long to wait for another wicket with all-rounder Paul Collingwood, one ball after reaching 1,000 runs in Test cricket, lbw for five to a delivery that nipped back.

England had now slumped to 64 for four, with Asif's first spell in Test cricket since playing against Sri Lanka in Kandy in April an impressive 13-5-39-3. Collingwood's exit brought in Ian Bell, who was looking to become only the second England batsman since Ken Barrington to score hundreds in four successive Tests.

However, he fell for nine, inside-edging leg-spinner Danish Kaneria's fourth ball onto his pad and giving a catch to Faisal Iqbal at silly point. And Cook, having top-scored with 40 was lbw to a full length yorker from medium-pacer Shahid Nazir having faced 69 balls with six fours.

England were lucky that 112 for six did not become 118 for seven when Mahmood went down the pitch to Kaneria only for Akmal to miss the stumping. They'd resumed on 27 without loss after rain meant only eight overs were possible in the morning session.

Opener Marcus Trescothick, the only member of England's top six yet to score a century this series, having laboured nearly an hour for six, saw an edged drive off Umar Gul caught in the gully by Mohammad Hafeez.

England had the comfort of being an unbeatable 2-0 up in the series - their first Test campaign win anywhere since the Ashes and their first at home against Pakistan since 1982. They were unchanged from the team that won by 167 runs at Headingley but Pakistan, as well as bringing in Asif, went in with their fourth opening batting partnership in as many Tests.

Scoreboard:
England (1st Innings)
M. Trescothick c Hafeez b Gul 6
A. Strauss c Akmal b Asif 38
A. Cook lbw b Nazir 40
K. Pietersen c Akmal b Asif 0
P. Collingwood lbw b Asif 5
I. Bell c Iqbal b Kaneria 9
C. Read b Gul 33
S. Mahmood b Gul 15
M. Hoggard c Akmal b Asif 4
S. Harmison not out 8
M. Panesar b Gul 0
Extras (b4, lb4, nb7) 15
Total (all out, 53.2 overs, 262 mins) 173
Fall of wickets: 1-36, 2-54, 3-54, 4-64, 5-91, 6-112, 7-158, 8-163, 9-173, 10-173.
Bowling: Mohammad Asif 19-6-56-4; Umar Gul 15.2-47-4 (3nb); Shahid Nazir 11-1-44-1 (3nb); Danish Kaneria 8-1-18-1 (1nb).
Toss: Pakistan
Umpires: Billy Doctrove (WIS), Darrell Hair (AUS)
TV umpire: Peter Hartley (ENG)
Match referee: Mike Procter (RSA)