A rare opportunity for Pakistan team
on January 4th, 2010 at 4:39 pmAfter the second days play Pakistan are in a strong position to win this match they are leading Australia by 204 runs and still have one wicket in hand. A lead of 300 could have been decisive on this pitch but they lost quick wickets after Ponting took the new ball.
Misbah and Kamran Akmal failed to sieze the initative for their team by staying on the wicket and taking the lead to 300 and fell because of their own mistakes.
Mohammad Yousaf and Umar Akmal played aggressively and made sure that they milk the old ball as much as they can but unfortunately Yousaf got out just before the new ball was taken. Misbah Ul haq, Faisal Iqbal, and Kamran Akmal failed again. Pakistan’s lead would have been far less if Umar Akmal had not played aggressively. Yousaf this time around allowed him to play his natural game but was visibly nervous aboout it.
Both Akmal brothers are playing a bit over aggressively for this format especially Kamran Akmal he knows how to stay long on the wicket but in his last three or four innings he fell after scoring a quick 15-20 runs, I think he should be admonished for his lack of match awareness and temprament.
204 is a handsome lead with a disciplined line and length Pak bowlers can make life difficult for the Aussie batsmen as the pitch still has something for the bowlers. Pakistan would expect from Sami and Asif to repeat their performance of first innings.
I don’t expect Australia to collapse as they did in the first innings but if we didn’t dropped any catches then I don’t expect them to score 400+ runs in their second innings either.
The pitch is easy to bat on but if the seamers pitch it up and bowl in the right areas they can produce an occasional unplayable delivery and their were some cracks developing in the pitch if Kaneria exploited them to his advantage we will see this match ending within 3 days.
Nathan Hauritz made a few balls turn viciously but for the most part he was benign it’s yet to be seen how well Kaneria can bowl on this pitch.
The Australian bowlers erred on both their line and length they bowled too short or too wide for the most part. Except for the delivery on which Mitchell Johnson took the wicket of Salman Butt his line and length was erratic, he was one bowler in the Australian line up if he had pitched the ball up and had kept his line right he could have been more effective.
The Australian bowlers for some odd reason didn’t bowled as fast as they bowled in Melbourne, Bollinger and Siddle were consistently bowling around 135k, both bowlers bowled around 145k in Melbourne.
Pakistan’s feilding was good in the first innings they dropped only one catch, judging by Pakistani standards it is quite a feat, they will have to repeat this performance in the second innings and make sure that they do not help the Aussies in coming out of the hole they are in.
It is a rare opportunity for Pakistan team to beat Australia after 10 years and they should not let it slip away.
Stani
That’s true he was having some problem in bowling also as I have never seen him gifting one or two full tosses in every over, he bowled pretty badly to be very honest, but in every over he bowled one or two good deliveries which really troubled the batsmen, I thought Akmal’s bad run as a keeper was behind him but with the return of Kaneria he is exposed again.
I don’t think that he would be required to bat as the lead is not enough. I would be surprised if we collapsed there are no demons in the pitch.
Wasim,
I think Kaneria’s drop can be excused because him nursing an injury and the ball travelling at pace. As for Akmal, how frustrating was he? If he is needed to bat today, he better step up to the plate. This could have been an innings defeat!
I’m not sure its gonna be that easy you know Wasim. They’re naturally aggressive and are gonna attack even more because of a low target. Then, there’s our batsmen and their ability to empty their bowels when under pressure. Butt and Farhat need to do a repeat and totally snuff the early aggression.
Cant wait for today’s play
Danish Kaneria redeemed himself by taking four wickets.
Mr Butter fingers decided to make a comeback in the most important match Pakistan played in last 10 years.
Kamran kept well aganist kaneria in New Zealand but dropped three simple catches of Hussey on Kaneria’s bowling. Australia coud have gotten an innings defeat if Pakistan had held on to their catches.
Anything under 200 will not be hard for Pakistan to chase no matter what the Australian commentators say, it is going to be a nasty chase,they don’t know how to win, it will be difficult for Pakistan if the lead is above 100 and blah blah blah.
The fact is that the wicket has further eased and through out this match the Aussies have been on the floor and I see no reason why Pakistan won’t be able to win it from here.
Stani
I don’t think a few players in the team want to win this one, Kaneria has gifted at least one full toss in every over dropped two catches, Kamran Akmal after failing with the bat dropped an easy catch and and missed an easy run out. If we didn’t took two quick wickets Australia are going to score 400+ runs.
Wasim
After our openers hard work, the other batsmen thought the work was done. I think they’ve given the Aussies a bit of hope.
Agree, Akmal’s not using his brain, trying to compete with his brother who has a better eye.
Danish has already dropped one and the bowlers are bowling no balls. We need to nip this in the bud and not allow the game to drift and let the Aussies back in because they will pounce. Hope Danish can get the break through.
Australia will try to play aggressively to wipe off the lead quickly, what should be the strategy of our bowlers to keep them on the back foot?