LONDON: Shane Watson was Australia`s unlikely bowling star as Pakistan collapsed to 141 for nine at tea on the second day of the first Test at Lord`s here on Wednesday.
Medium-pacer Watson`s return of four wickets for 40 runs in seven eventful overs helped leave Pakistan 112 runs behind Australia`s first innings 253.
Australia`s batsmen had struggled in overcast, swing bowler friendly conditions on Tuesday.
But, with the skies above Lord`s remaining grey, Watson took two wickets for no runs in four balls after being brought on by captain Ricky Ponting.
Only Pakistan captain and left-handed opener Salman Butt offered much resistance with a determined 63 in nearly three hours before he was bowled by a Watson inswinger.
The all-rounder`s return kept Australia on course for a 13th straight Test win against Pakistan, which would give them the outright record for most successive victories by one country against another, with Sri Lanka having also beaten Bangladesh 12 times in a row.
Ben Hilfenhaus, who did the early damage, took two for 38 in 11 overs and new-ball partner Doug Bollinger two for 37 in 12.
Danish Kaneria was 11 not out and last man Mohammad Asif nought not out.
Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, playing his first Test for four years, came to the crease with his team in dire straits at 83 for five.
Afridi responded in typical fashion by getting off the mark with a legside glamce for four against Watson.
And he followed that up by almost casually flicking Watson off his pads for six into the Grandstand.
Afridi then drove Watson through mid-off and guided him down to the vacant third man area for boundaries.
The counter-attack continued when Afridi, nicked-named `Boom, Boom` drove Watson over long-off for six.
But Watson had the last laugh when Afridi was out for 31 when he mistimed a drive and was caught by Johnson running round at mid-off.
Afridi hit two sixes and four fours in 15 balls but Pakistan were now 117 for six.
Pakistan were 54 for two, with Umar Amin avoiding a nought in his first Test innings, when bad light stopped play for nearly an hour.
But second ball after the resumption the 20-year-old Amin was out for one when caught behind off a thin edge against Johnson.
The swinging conditions would have been tough for even the likes of experienced Pakistan pair Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan to combat.
But in the absence of the duo, left behind following the fall-out from bans imposed by officials after Pakistan`s 3-0 Test series loss in Australia earlier this year, debutants Azhar Ali and Amin, in at numbers three and four respectively, managed just 17 runs between them.
Umar Akmal had been a thorn in Australia`s side during Pakistan`s two Twenty20 wins at Edgbaston last week.
But here he was lbw for five aiming across the line of a straight Watson ball. And brother Kamran fared even worse, lbw for nought when completely deceived by Watson`s inswinger to leave Pakistan 83 for five.
In the midst of the slump, Butt went to a 78-ball fifty when he cover-drove Johnson in textbook fashion for his 10th boundary.
Earlier teenage Pakistan left-arm quick Mohammad Aamer took four for 72.
But so few Pakistan batsmen looked like playing an innings of substance comparable to Australia opener Simon Katich`s painstaking 80 on Tuesday and Michael Hussey`s unbeaten 56.
This two-Test series was being played in England because of security concerns in Pakistan.
BDST: 2128hrs, July 14, 2010
