It was a consolation victory for England in the fifth and last one-dayer at the Rawalpindi Stadium by a narrow margin of six runs though one thought that with more effort the target of 207 set by the visitors may have been achieved. The final score of the five-match rubber was 3-2 in favour of Pakistan.
It was a moot point as to why captain Inzamamul Haq decided to take a rest and coach Bob Woolmer gave a chance to Mohammad Asif and Yasir Hameed in place of Mohammed Sami and Shoaib Akhtar to play. The last named reportedly was unfit and could not have been risked in the match with an ankle injury, for which the doctors had advised a treatment and convalescence for a period of six weeks.
In any case without experimentations in the last encounter Pakistan may have cantered home. The series then may have ended with 4-1 in the home side's fervour, to the full content of Inzamam and the crowds who wanted to see Pakistan triumphant.
Even though the target to be chased was not a heavy one perhaps the hosts' efforts were spoiled, after the fall of openers Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal, by Mohammad Yousuf and Yasir Hameed, both of whom were excruciatingly slow, when the score moved at a snail's pace. Yousuf, an experienced player and Yasir should have thumped and assailed the English bowlers to quicken the run-making. The supporters of the third wicket stand may point out that it yielded 101 runs, the most productive in the Pakistan innings, but the initiative had by that time snatched by England.
This was the time when the spinners Udal and Blackwell were straining the nerves of the Pakistani batsmen with their seductive flight and shrewd turn. Soon three wickets had been claimed by the combined effort of Udal and Blackwell. Both Yousuf and Yasir struck half centuries.
Then came the controlled medium-paced bowling of James Anderson, a super sub, who did not allow Shahid Afridi and Razzaq to farm the bowling. In fact both were ill at ease against the accurate stuff delivered by Anderson.
Afridi was yorked failing to properly time the ball and Razzaq was picked up in the slips. In both the cases the bowler was James Anderson.
Could Pakistan have won with their score standing at 177 for 8? The leeway to be made was 29, the deliveries 22 and only the tail left, which too had become frail with the return to the dressing room of Navedul Hasan caught by Collingwood at deep mid wicket off Anderson.
Rana had clouted a six over long-on to make the crowd cheerful and excited and give them hope. Yet in the very next ball a desperate Rana tried another big hit which went into the hands of the deep mid wicket fielder. This was at 191. Fifteen runs were to be made by the last pair of Arshad Khan and Danish Kaneria in 15 deliveries. Both made vain attempts to reach the needed target but victory, to satisfy the English side on the last day of their tour, went surprisingly to the visitors.
Was it a fair result? Could not the Pakistan formation, with better judgement and determination, subdue England when their batting endeavour was below par? Pakistan's performance was poor considering that only a few weeks are left for the Indians to cross the border and lock horns with Pakistan. Will our spirits be high after this defeat in a low-scoring match? The Indians have shown strength against Sri Lanka and South Africa recently.
The PCB officialdom can only explain the reasons for the stumble in the final ODI as also if Pakistan would still have an edge over arch-rivals India.
For England only Flintoff (39), Collingwood (33) and Vikram Solanki (49) had the guts to face the variegated Pakistan attack. Mohammad Asif, medium-pacer, bowled well enough to claim two wickets for 14, a praiseworthy effort.
Both the legendary all-rounder and former captain Imran Khan and ex-Test speedster, Sarfraz Nawaz, have the feeling that Pakistan will be better off against India after the former have exhibited the fortitude and all-round capacity to carry away the series against England.
The latter had come to Pakistan with their spirits soaring after beating Australia in the Ashes Tests. India, even though, appeared fine-tuned on their soil against Sri Lanka and South Africa, the fast tracks may provide a perfect platform for Pakistan for an impressive showing against India, now that the home side's batting is also clicking.
Comments
Comments are closed.