Monday, September 05, 2011

Pakistan cruise through to victory

It was a poor show by Pakistan in the first innings with the ball as Zimbabwe made 412 but they bounced back superbly to win by 7 wickets.

Pakistan skipper Misbah ul Haq called correctly but chose to bowl as there was a greenish tinge on the pitch. However, his new ball bowlers could not extract any juice out of it and they were carted to all parts by Vusi Sibanda and Tino Mawoyo. Towards the end of the first session, Saeed Ajmal finally foxed Sibanda, getting him stumped for 45. Zimbabwe then went in to Lunch at 71/1, with a Castrol Index of 16 wile Pakistan were at 9.

Pakistan spinners maintained the lid on the scoring rate in the second session and picked up Hamilton Masakadza and skipper Brendan Taylor early after the break. Mawoyo and Tatenda Taibu then saw off the remainder of the session with ease, taking the hosts to 162/3 at Tea on Day 1, with a value of 35 and a lead of 19.

The visitors struck early again after Tea and got Taibu caught by Adnan off Sohail for 44, breaking the 65-run stand. But that was all about it as Mawoyo and Craig Ervine saw off the rest of the period without any sweat, taking Zimbabwe to 245/4 at Stumps on Day 1. Mawoyo carrie his bat through, scoring 82 from 273 balls. The hosts had reached 52 points on the Index with a lead of 34.

Zimbabwe continued their progress on Day 2, losing only one wicket in the first session. Ervine was dismissed by Junaid Khan for 49 after a 94-run stand with Mawoyo. But no wicket fell after that and Zimbabwe went in to Lunch on Day 2 with their score on 314/5, earning a Castrol Index of 66, with Pakistan on 23.

It seemed that Zimbabwe were getting into the skins of the Pakistani bowlers. Another big partnership of 95, this time between Mawoyo and Lamb but once the latter fell, the hosts collapsed, eventually getting bowled out for 412. Tino Mawoyo became only the third Zimbabwean player to carry his bat through in a Test and finished unbeaten on 163 with a Batting Momentum of 139. There were starts in the middle order without any conversion. For Pakistan, Aizaz Cheema and Saeed Ajmal finished with 4 wickets apiece. Ajmal earned a Bowling Efficiency of 176.

Zimbabwe started brilliantly with Kyle Jarvis trapping Taufeeq Umar LBW for 4 in the second over. He then induced an edge of Mohammad Hafeez, only to see it being dropped by Brendan Taylor in the slips. Hafeez took full toll of that and along with Azhar Ali, added an unbeaten 108 for the second wicket, taking Pakistan to 116/1 at Stumps on Day 2, trailing by 296. The visitors moved to 79 points on the Castrol Index with Zimbabwe on 95.

Hafeez and Azhar carried forward the good work on Day 3 and nearly saw the entire session through. But in the last over before Lunch, Hafeez threw his wicket away and Pakistan were 196/2, trailing by 206 runs. Hafeez had gone for a lovely 119 and had earned a Batting Momentum of 163. The visitors had gone past Zimbabwe on the Index and had gone to 95 points, with a lead of 3.

Second session too, saw slow progress for both sides, with Zimbabwe picking up only one wicket and Pakistan scoring 84 runs. Azhar Ali was the man dismissed for 75 by Lamb, with a Batting Momentum of 61. The visitors were now in a very comfortable position at 280/3, trailing by 132. They had galloped to 113 points on the Castrol Index, with a lead of 15.

Session 3 continued at the exact same pace as the other two. But just when Pakistan were trying to up the ante, they lost skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and in the last over of the day, Umar Akmal was dismissed in an unlucky fashion, getting caught by the ball rebounding of short leg. That gave Zimbabwe something to take from the day with Pakistan 357/5 and trailing by just 55. They ended Day 3 with a Castrol Index value of 129 with Zimbabwe on 107.

Pakistan began Day 4 cautiously with neither Younus Khan nor Adnan Akmal interested in accelerating. A mad run out of Adnan then led to a collapse as Pakistan folded from 415/5 to 460/8 at Lunch. The burst of wickets took Zimbabwe to 152 points while Pakistan were at 124. In that short spell, Younus Khan had also been dismissed which meant that Zimbabwe had a chance of keeping the lead to a minimum.

Sure enough, the innings did not last long after the break and Pakistan were bowled out for 466, earning a lead of 54. Mohammad Hafeez top scored with 119 and a Batting Momentum of 223, well supported by Younus Khan(88), Azhar Ali(75) and Misbah(66). For the Zimbabweans, Greg Lamb was the pick of the bowlers with 3/120 in 28 overs, gaining a Bowling Efficiency of 61.

Zimbabwe would have been extremely happy at the innings break to have restricted Pakistan to a lead of 54. But they were not prepared for the cyclone coming next. Aizaz Cheema struck in the 4th over to remove Sibanda for 5 and a procession of wickets followed. In what can be termed as a mad session of play, Zimbabwe crumbled to 55/5, just managing to get past the lead. Pakistan had leapt to 209 points on the Castrol Index and had opened up a lead of 60.

Hafeez continued his impressive bowling display by dismissing Greg Lamb and Brian Vitori, to pick up 4 wickets. However, after that, just when Pakistan were dreaming of a finish a day earlier, Tatenda Taibu and Kyle Jarvis stuck it out for the hosts, with an unbeaten 66-run stand for the 9th wicket. Zimbabwe went in to Stumps on Day 4 at 135/8 and the lead had reached 81. Courtesy this stand, Zimbabwe had reached 165 points while Pakistan were on 210.

Day 5 expected some surprises but got none. Aizaz Cheema dismissed both Taibu and Mpofu early and Zimbabwe folded up for 141. Taobu top scored with 58 and finished with a Batting Momentum of 52. Cheema and Hafeez picked up 4 wickets apiece and Cheema earned  Bowling Efficiency of 191.

Set a target of 88, Pakistan did not waste much sweat and lost only 3 wickets in the process. Ray Price picked up 2 wickets but that could only delay the inevitable.

Mohammad Hafeez was named the Man Of The Match for his all-round efforts and finished with an overall Index of 199.

Pakistan finished with an Overall Index of 251 while Zimbabwe managed only 188. The two teams now clash in the first of a 5-match ODI series starting on Thursday, 8th of September, 2011 at 0730 GMT.

Sunday, September 04, 2011

Incessant rain abandons first ODI

India finally batted with intent in the first ODI at Chester-le-Street, mustering 274 but poor weather conditions denied them a victory.

England won the toss and elected to field. India, missing the services of some key players thanks to injuries, were given a solid start by their openers. Parthiv Patel 95(107) and debutant Ajinkya Rahane 40(44) played authoritatively.

The former will be disappointed for narrowly missing out on a maiden hundred. At the end of their 50 overs, India finished at 274 for 7. The other contributors were Virat Kohli 55(73), Suresh Raina 38(29) and MS Dhoni 33(36).

Rohit Sharma retired hurt after facing just one short-but-nasty delivery by Stuart Broad which left him with a fractured finger. For the hosts, Broad and Bresnan had two wickets a-piece, while Anderson, Dernbach and Samit Patel pitched in with a dismissal each. Rahul Dravid, playing his farewell ODI series, was given out via DRS and might feel a tad unlucky with the decision not going his way.

Have a look at the scorecard.

The visitors looked to be in the driver’s seat having scalped both English openers cheaply. Alastair Cook 4(10) and Craig Kieswetter 6(19) were dismissed by Praveen Kumar, and when the rain came, England’s innings was suspended at 27 for 2 in 7.2 overs. After a long wait for the official cut-off time, incessant rain forced the game to be abandoned.