Background
A buoyed up Pakistan faced the hosts in a key ODI at Napier. The Kiwis absolutely thumped Pakistan in the first match of the series, the Pakistanis then launched a comeback in the rain abandoned match at Queenstown before leveling the series in convincing style at Christchurch. The Pakistani batting was in destructive form, their bowling was clicking, could they put their unpredictability aside and continue their momentum? With the series tied at 1-1 and three matches to play, this was a crucial game for both teams.
Brief Match Analysis
The pitch at Napier has a reputation for being an absolute belter, so much so that in the build up to this game the local commentators were saying that a score of around about 300 would in fact only be a par score! Both teams were therefore chomping at the bit to win the toss and bat first. As it turned out it was Daniel Vettori who called correctly and elected to bat rightaway. If Pakistan weren’t careful this could be a definitive early setback for them in this game.
As expected the Kiwis got off to a flyer, with Guptill in particular laying into the Pakistani opening bowlers, epitomized by a cracking six that flew into the midwicket stands off Razzaq. However very much against the run of play, the Kiwis starting throwing it away. Tight and pinpoint bowling from Wahab Riaz and Razzaq saw the Kiwi top order throwing their wickets away. From a position of strength, the New Zealanders slipped to 44-3 on a flat batting paradise of a pitch!
The severe fluctuations in this match had only just begun though, New Zealands all rounders played aggressively to stage a good fightback lower down the order and in the end allow their team to post a relatively respectable total of 262-7.
The Pakistani openers walked out knowing that on this pitch, they should achieve their target at a canter, however they soon found themselves at 84-3 despite the powerful hitting of Ahmed Shehad. Pakistans steady middle order duo of Misbah and Younis Khan added 90 odd runs together….before we got the customary batting collapse! Pakistan were reduced to 198-6 and NZ were back in it!
Perfect time then for the Razzler to hit his straps and when he smashed a boundary and a six it looked like game set match to Pakistan…not quite though. Razzaq spooned a catch to Vettori of Hamish Bennett and when Wahab Riaz had an epic brain failure and swiped across the line to give McCullum an easy catch, Pakistan were suddenly 250-8. Still needing another 15 runs to win from 12 balls and just 2 wickets in hand.
It was Misbah ul Haq who was holding the Pakistani innings together, with a classy knock that included a good mixture of rotating the strike, and some big hits of his own. A very calm and collected….almost masterful knock and that too at above a run a ball! In the end Sohail Tanvir cracked three boundaries to get Pakistan over the line, with Misbah finishing on 93 not out. A thrilling match but in the end Pakistan taking the plaudits as well as a 2-1 lead in the series with another two matches to play.
Osiris's Views
Most cricket websites appear to be saying that Pakistan made a mountain out of a molehill in chasing a target of 263. While this is true to an extent, I do not completely agree with this assessment. The pitch was excellent for batting, but in my opinion also a bit slower than the pundits expected. A target of 263 was not as easy as it was made out to be and that too under lights. Pakistan were never really in complete control, even at 173-3 the required run rate was still rather high, and when Pakistan lost wickets in the batting powerplay in my view the Kiwis held all the aces.
Therefore the Pakistanis deserve a lot more credit than they are getting for overhauling this target, Misbah’s batting was nothing short of coolness personified and in the end he was unlucky not to get what would have been a very much deserved century.
Pakistan are gaining some much needed momentum ahead of the world cup and this is crucial to say the least. However there are worrying signs as well, I personally feel that Sohail Tanvir’s bowling is simply not upto the mark and in the sub-continent he will be cannon fodder. Perhaps this is not such a bad thing though, since he can quite easily be replaced by a spinner, either Abdul Rehman or Saeed Ajmal. Pakistan have now won 2 matches on the bounce but there are still 2 matches to go, no matter what happens in this series, the Pakistanis will still be underdogs at the world cup and that is testament to the massive challenge that faces our cricket team. How they respond to this challenge remains to be seen.
Signing off till the next game!
Osiris
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