Thorpe, White put
England in control

Graham Thorpe scored a patient 118 and Craig White 89 not out as England took control of the first Test against Pakistan, reaching 393 for six at the end of the second day on Thursday.

The left-handed Thorpe batted for most of the day, facing 301 deliveries during an innnings of more than seven hours before he became off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq's sixth victim on a slow track at the Gaddafi stadium.

Thorpe scored just one four before reaching three figures, the only Test player to have scored a century with so few boundaries.

All-rounder White, scoring much faster than his partner, made his best score in tests as the two put on 166 for the sixth wicket.

Thorpe said: "It was probably my best innings for England.

"We have managed to bat for two days on a (difficult) wicket and against bowlers that people said we could not play against.

"We are up against world-class spinners on their own patch. I had to work for those runs.

"They came slowly but we are now in a good position on a track that will get harder to bat on."

Saqlain, who caught Thorpe off his own bowling in the final session, had removed Graeme Hick lbw for 16 in the morning and finished with six for 131 from 57 overs.

England had resumed on 195 for four after opting to bat on Wednesday.

Scoreboard

England (1st innings): (overnight 195-4)
M.Atherton c Yousuf Youhana b Saqlain Mushtaq 73
M.Trecothick c Salim Elahi b Saqlain Mushtaq 71
G.Thorpe c&b Saqlain Mushtaq 118
A.Stewart lbw Saqlain Mushtaq 3
N.Hussain c Wasim Akram b Saqlain Mushtaq 7
G.Hick lbw Saqlain Mushtaq 16
C White not out 89
I Salisbury not out 0
Extras (b-3 lb-4 nb-9) 16
Total (for six wickets, 161 overs) 393
To bat: Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Andrew Caddick
Fall of wickets: 1-134, 2-169, 3-173, 4-183, 5-225, 6-391.
Bowling: Wasim Akram 16-6-29-0 (nb-4), Abdur Razzaq 17-5-47-0 (nb-1), Saqlain Mushtaq 57-14-131-6 (nb-3), Mushtaq Ahmed 39-6-116-0 (nb-1), Shahid Afridi 18-6-38-0, Qaiser Abbas 14-3-25-0

Mail Cricket Editor