Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Can Pakistan bounce back in the T20Is?

After a terrific display in the Test series, one expected Pakistan to clean sweep the ODI series as well, but it was the other way round as they were whitewashed. With a 3-match T20I series coming up, Pakistan will surely expect a turnaround.

Throughout the Test series, in spite of being on the winning side, Misbah-ul-Haq always lamented about one fact - that his side was not producing enough runs. Though his bowlers covered up in the purest version, a determined English side exposed their kinks in the limited version. What was supposed to be a cakewalk for the Asian giants turned out to be a nightmare as England clean swept them 4-0 in the ODI series.

The problem for Pakistan has been their batting. It has not clicked at all apart from a few good knocks here and there and the batsmen have simply failed to kick on after getting starts. Well, now, they are reaching a stage of cricket where it is starts that matter.

T20I cricket - where a couple of overs can change the momentum for either side. Also, before the start of the Test series, they were the underdogs and now, even before the start of the T20I series, they are the underdogs, with England being the World Champions. Will that be enough to motivate Pakistan?

Unfortunately, the batting does not enough firepower needed in a T20I but the spin department has plenty of venom to outclass the opposition. Alastair Cook has been asked to stay over by the ECB to boost the T20 squad which looks relatively inexperienced. Kevin Pietersen looks a big danger, now that he is back in form.

England, on the other hand, are quite a different side from the one that won the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. The captain, Paul Collingwood himself has disappeared and this series would be marked as a preparation for the upcoming World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Having done well in the ODI series, the bowling will back itself to deliver, but can the batting line-up come up with the goods? Amidst the batsmen, Cook and Pietersen are the only ones in  form while Morgan is sadly struggling. The others will have their task cut out to play in the middle east. 

These two teams have played each other twice at this venue and won a game each. The Brits start off with a value of 196 points on the Castrol Index with Pakistan way behind on 157. But given the nature of the game and the talent in Pakistan, one does feel that is a misleading fact by a long margin.

Auckland - No respite for bowlers as another run-fest on the cards awaits

After the big hitting by Richard Levi at Hamilton, the series now moves to Auckland, where, one feels, there would not be much joy for the bowlers owing to the short boundaries again.

New Zealand knew they were in trouble when the scoreboard read 170 to win for the Proteas with short boundaries at Hamilton. But little did they expect the carnage which was in store for them. A carnage by the name of Richard Levi.

He literally tore into the Kiwi attack and it was not any slogging which was taking place. It was a demonstration of clean hitting to which, the Kiwis had no answer. At the end of the day, the home side realized that 170 was just a mockery of a target at this venue.

What next then? The Kiwis have made re-enforcements to their squad. They have strengthened their batting line up by bringing in Jesse Ryder who makes a comeback from injury. That is a great addition, as it gives a much needed boost to the batting. In spite of the drubbing received at Hamilton, New Zealand should not be too perturbed and would like to put it down to a one-game fiasco.

The Proteas bounced back strongly in the not only in the batting but also in the bowling. What was impressive was the fact that they managed to restrict the Kiwis to 170 on a small ground. Nearly every bowler was impressive.

However, though the batting did display a comfortable victory, there are still some issues over there. Hashim Amla’s failure is becoming an increasing cause of concern while the middle order looks brittle except for de Villers, due to the increasing poor run of Duminy.

On paper, due to the home conditions, New Zealand start as favourites for this encounter though, on the Castrol Index, they have a value of 125 with the visitors way ahead on 181.