Cricket Update: A ray of hope for the Pakistanis as the three-day tour match ends with a draw against New Zealand
Pakistanis were able to draw the match against New Zealand Cricket XI on the last day after being in a terrible position at one stage of the game.
The three-day tour match started on January 2 and the hosts went off to a great start.
The two openers made a fabulous display of batting showing no mercy to Pakistani fast bowlers and gave an opening stand of 162 as they tormented Pakistanis for 36 overs. Wickets were hard to come by on the first day. The Pakistani bowlers struggled and suffered
only managing four wickets on day one coupled with Brendon McCullum’s double century that came at a rapid pace to add more misery to the Pakistani bowlers.
The dawn of the second day came with a shock for the black caps. With McCullum’s departure from the batting crease in the later part of the first day, the other batsman failed to impress the audience. The kiwis lost six wickets for a total of 42 run the
second day and failed to capitalize on the start given to them by the openers.
Umer Gul and Sohail Tanvir were not the only ones to do wonders on the second day, the kiwi pace-men didn’t hold back and removed three of the Pakistani top order batsmen in a matter of 22 runs all edging the ball back to the wicket keeper facing CG Martin.
Azhar Ali soon followed giving http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Trent-Boult-c2708 his first wicket as Pakistanis were collapsing at 39 for 4.
The captain of the Pakistanis fought back and had good support from the lower order to save the day for Pakistan. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 played out the entire day with wickets tumbling up and down the other end. Not only did he score important runs to eat out the
lead for New Zealand Cricket XI, he also stayed on the crease for 275 minutes on the second day to ensure that there was not enough time left for the Kiwis to come back at Pakistanis.
The third day was more like a practice session for the two teams. After bowling out Pakistanis, the Kiwis came out to bat and finished the game at 111 for the loss of four wickets. The important thing for Pakistanis though was Umer Guls six overs that brought
him two wickets.
Poor performance in warm-up matches and ordinary performances earlier on in tournaments is not something new for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755. In fact, Pakistan lost most of its group matches in 1992 but once they won a match there was no holding back. In the Natwest series
2010 Pakistan was able to pull off a win against England in England with one of the worst batting line-ups in world cricket right now; they managed to draw the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 when until the fourth day in both test matches it looked as if South
Africa were in for a treat.
While inconsistency is something that professional cricketers dread, the Pakistani fans rejoice it. After being down and out, they came out like champions. An example would be like that of a sleeping lazy lion that does not care what’s going on around it
but once cornered it rips the opponent apart.
With the fight-back from the bowlers on the second day and the courageous display of batting by Misbah-ul-Haq and the tail, Pakistan will surely be hoping for a good show against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754. The kiwis don’t only seem to have the advantage of their home
grounds but the captain himself is nothing less than a blessing for the black caps; arguably the best spinner in the world. Pakistan definitely seems to be lacking what New Zealand has in their side, a quality spinner with the ability to take wickets in test
matches. Though Saeed Ajmal and Adbdur-Rehman are good bowlers when it comes to one-dayers but bowling in test matches is a different ball game and they sure have a lot to learn from the best.
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