British coach Bob Woolmer must be relieved of pressure as his team has defeated equally weak and unpredictable West Indies by six wicket in their second encounter of the VB Cricket Series One-day Internationals (ODIs) at Brisbane on Wednesday.
While the Aussies are certain to play in the best-of-three finals, Pakistan appear the stronger side to march to the finals.
However, the day belonged to wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal, who hammered a confident 124. He was ably supported by all-rounder Shoaib Malik, scoring 60 runs to consolidate Pakistan's grip on the match.
Although Pakistan lost two early wickets of opener Salman Butt (10) and Mohammad Hafeez (two), young Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik rescued their team from the setbacks and provided solid foundation to the middle order comprising skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq with unbeaten 62.
Pakistan reached the victory target of 274 for six in the 47th over.
Earlier, the West Indies had done well with a score of 273 for loss of five wickets in allotted 50 overs. While medium pacer Naveed-ul-Hassan was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets, world's fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar got injured after bowling just 2.5 overs and again remained wicketless.
Anyhow, the win over the West Indies, who are as inconsistent and unpredictable as Pakistan, has not only restored the confidence of Pakistani batsmen, but also brightened their chances of reaching the finals.
A DIFFERENT SIDE: Before the start of the series, Woolmer claimed that Pakistan would be a different side in the VB series.
On January 16, when Pakistan took on Australia in their opener at Hobart, Pakistan were really a different team with Inzamam, Salman Butt and Shahid Afridi scoring half centuries.
Inzamam has now regained his form. He plundered 68 in 64 balls. Opener Salman Butt once again showed his class with 61 in 87 balls. But the hero of Pakistan's innings was none other than utility player and master blaster Shahid Afridi, who scored a hurricane 56 in 26 balls in the chilly and windy Hobart conditions.
Afridi clattered four mighty sixes and four boundaries in a devastating late spree of 56 from 26 balls.
It was Pakistan's bad luck to lose the match by four wickets, despite scoring 272. Pakistan were banking on Shoaib Akhtar, but he failed to target the Australian batsmen with his pace. Micheal Clarke spanked him three boundaries in one over. With short run up, he became less effective in the last overs in keeping Lehmann and Hayden quiet.
Pakistan's fielding was poor. Clarke was let off by Rana Naveed at seven and Pakistan had to pay a heavy price for the dropped catch. He minimised Pakistan's pressure and put Australia in a commanding position. This was Australia's six successive victory over Pakistan in One-day International cricket.
Australia after trouncing West Indies by 116 runs in the series opener and beating Pakistan by four wickets, are on top of standings.
Talent apart, unpredictability of both Pakistan and West Indies has made forecasting a winner a challenging task.
But an extraordinary performance of bowlers and top order batsmen in the remaining matches could help Pakistan steer to the final against the hosts, who will enter the field in full-strength with Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Jason Gillespie.
Pakistan batting has been plagued with the tendency to cave in under pressure and to overcome this problem, the coach and the captain have to chalk out a workable game plan and maintain discipline.
It is hoped that opener Salman Butt, who has emerged as one of the few positives, will provide required support to the middle order batting spearheaded by skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq and his deputy Yousuf Youhana.
In the bowling, pacer Shoaib Akhtar, who is unsettled by speed and hostility of Brett Lee in the first match at Melbourne, cannot be relied upon to give a good start to Pakistan.
Shoaib Akhtar is being trumpeted as the man for Pakistan to inflict damage on the rivals in the matches ahead, but most of the time he remains off the rails.
He has to come up to the expectations and prove himself the real danger to the opponents. Instead of generating speed, he should concentrate on line and length to help Pakistan remain in the quest for victory.
CHANGES: After a disappointing performance in the three-Test series, the national selection committee made five changes in the touring squad.
Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal, Danish Kaeneria, Muhammad Sami and Muhammad Asif were replaced by Azhar Mahmood, Muhammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar and Iftekhar Anjum.
The vision of the selectors in withdrawing Asim Kamal and Danish Kaneria was questionable as the two have performed exceptionally well in the Test matches.
Asim Kamal was called in the third Test match and he scored 87 in the second innings with tremendous confidence, at the time, when the other top order batsmen departed cheaply.
Similarly, Danish Kaneria became the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the Test series. He was dropped at a time when he has emerged as very mature leg spinner.
He may rightly be considered as a match-winner bowler in the one-day cricket.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) bosses should to realise their mistakes and ensure that unnecessary changes in the team will do no good to the game.
However, Pakistan have to repeat their Wednesday's performance in the matches ahead of the finals.
Comments
Comments are closed.