Shouting from the Hop

England will go into the last day of the first test match on 25-1, needing 174 more runs to beat Pakistan.

The game looked to be slowly dragging along until, against commentators advice, Trescothick took the new ball with Pakistan on 263-3. Immediately, Hoggy had Haq LBW and the game turned on it's head. Freddie (left) chipped in with two wickets, Hoggy got another (century maker Salman Butt), then Ashley Giles picked up another thanks to a good sharp catch by Ian Bell. Tinker Harmison claimed the final two, to leave Pakistan 198 ahead. The last seven wickets went down for 75 runs.

Amazingly, Kevin Pieterson took the final catch, his first in test cricket, after dropping six previously!!!

The other main controversy of the day was when the umpires called for the TV replay on consecutive balls, after run out appeals. The first decision saw Haq rightly given in although his bat was temporarily raised over the crease, but the second replay was much closer. Collingwood's return from the deep had Butt scampering the second run; Jones took the ball and in one move had the bails off. It looked initially as if Butt was just out, but the TV umpire Asad Rauf adjudged that the bails were not sufficiently removed to give the decision against the batsmen. Every commentator said that they would have given the decision England's way...

An intriguing final day still to come then; can England get the runs required having already lost Captain Trescothick or will the Pakistan bowlers prevail? It could be tight. I think that if the pitch fails to turn, then England may be OK. If Kaneria gets his leggies to go too, then the pressure on survival at both ends - spin plus the pace of Akhtar and seam of Shabbir - may be too much to handle.

Hopefully, by the time I rise from my slumber tomorrow, there will be good news to be heard on the radio...