West Indies won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch which was bound to assist seam bowlers, it was a brave decision but proved disasterous when they lost their top 7 wickets for just 47. But Umar Gul, Rana Naved and Afridi gifted too many overpitched deliveries and the West Indian tail Enders took full advantage of them. Pakistani bowlers especially the senior ones lost the plot and probably got a bit too impatient and tried too many varieties and adjusted the line and length a bit too much, the wicket was offering a lot of assistance to the seamers the bowlers just had to bowl one line with the seam up and leave the rest on the pitch.
Afridi looked flat as a captain and as a bowler he was the most expensive bowler in the Pakistani line up and one would question his wisdom of bowling 8 overs himself when he was not troubling the batsmen and was also going for runs, he should have persisited with Aamer and Rana both had 3 over left. His bowling changes and field placements were questionable. There was no need to change Aamer so quickly and there was no need to bring himself on so early.
Pakistan should not have played two spinners on this pitch, they should have played Asif instead.
West Indies scored 133 in 34.3 overs, its not a big score, poor captaincy and poor bowling allowed West Indies to post a total of 133, given the fragility of Pakistan’s batting line up on pitches like this Pakistan might get in trouble. Imran Nazir is already out, Pakistan are 9/1 after 3 overs.
Malik, Misbah, Kamran Akmal , Umar Akmal and Afridi all of them are in form Pakistan should get this total easily. Malik just hit the ball out of the stadium on a free hit. It will all depend on how the West Indian bowlers exploit the conditions or else it will be an easy win for Pakistan.
Pak
Stani
I don’t expect much from Younis and you are right about him. As regards Rana he is good with the bat and has some variety as a bowler but he leaks too many runs because he strays too much with his line and length. If Asif is in form he will cause a lot of trouble the ball gets changed after 35 overs so his problem of not being a good bowler with the old ball will not affect his performance.
Yes, Younis has bigged himself up about wanting to play against India but if he makes a low score it will look silly as a batsmen job is to make runs. If they fail that then they have hardly anything left to do in a game. It reminds me of when boxers mouth off before a match and then end up getting knocked out.
I would not replace Rana with Asif. Rana can bat and has the best slower ball in international cricket in my opinion.
I’d be quite happy if they went in with the same team to be honest.
I completely agree with you Stani but unfortunately they will drop Nazir. If it was upto me I will keep YK injured he has become a liability due to his recent form.
Asif will play in place of Rana.
Wasim,
I dont think we should drop Nazir for Younis’ return. He’s just come back so needs more chances I think. It’s probably out of Malik and Misbah.
Nazir will win us a game soon. Even if he stays in for 6-7 overs then we’re bound to benefit from it. Afridi was critical of the opening pair though in the after match interview.
Worried why they didnt include Asif for a under strength Windies. There’s no point bringing him in against India unless he was amazing in training. Although it could be a good thing as I think he’ll cause the Indian batsmen some trouble.
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SP
I am only disappointed with Misbah, I knew Akmal and Nazir won’t survive on this pitch for long but at Centurion they will perform much better as the conditions over there are more like subcontinent.
Qazi faisal Welcome to cricketfiles.
I think Afridi made a few mistakes on the field he changed Aamer too early and then he brought himself a bit early and continued to bowl when he was getting hit his field placements were also questionable.
But the main culprits were the bowlers who kept on bowling half volleys and gifting easy boundaries to the West Indian Batsmen.I think if the bowlers had kept their line and length WI could not have crossed more than 75.
Imran Nazir and Akmal failed, almost everybody knew that they will fail on this pitch as both of them like to get on with their strokes and can’t hold them for more than a few balls. Malik looked solid for a while but then got carried away, Yousaf was not out. Misbah should take a leaf out of Umar Akmals book and learn how to leave the ball he was trying to block every ball and finally edged one to the slips.
Zain Welcome to cricketfiles!
Next time plz I want to hear your opinion about the match too.
ultimately it took the innings beyond his age from umar that pakistan is smiling easily…
Muje khusi hai k hum apna pela match jeet gey lekan agar dakha jey to ye match ek kamzoor team se tha or jo proformace batsmanon ko deyni chahy thi wo ni di, matlab 25 over tak match end ho jana chahy ta anyway ab next match ma humri team ko both mehnat ki zaroort hai or humri dua hi k Pakistan winer ho.
good analysis
Pakistan put themselves in trouble because of their own negativity. Misbah just got out he had no idea what to do with the ball was trying to block every ball instead of leaving it and finally fell because of his own nervousness. Afridi is on the crease both him and Umar should play their natural game and try to score as many runs as they can to give their team a chance no need to see of bowlers.
Pakistan are in deep trouble, they are 61/4, Yousaf was a bit unlucky to get out his bat was no way near to the ball but was given caught behind. Still 73 runs required under these conditions its quite a difficult task.
Imran Nazir failed again, I think if Younis became fit Nazir will be dropped against India although I still think he should be played against India because if he gets going then he can single handedly win the match and Centurions Pitch is more like the Subcontinent pitches Nazir might score some runs over on it.
India recieved another set back when Yuvraj singh was ruled out for six weeks due to a fracture in finger.
Pakistan’s next game is against India at Centurion, it would be interesting to see if Pakistan plays Asif against India. Pakistan should play him in place of Rana Naved.