Cricket Update: Lack of middle order depth resulted in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s loss at Lord’s
Pakistan once again failed to find killer blow, as Pakistani middle order crumbled to give Aussies another Test victory. Pakistan top order batsmen provided sound foundation but it was the middle order which was once again the culprit. With exclusion of ‘Big Three’ i.e. Yousaf, Younis and Inzamam, it was not surprising to see this results. Ironically, it was a team from the sub-continent which struggled against spin of Marcus North, as he took figures of 6 for 55 to register his name on new neutral honours board at Lord’s.
Despite heroics from Salman Butt earlier in second innings, Pakistan’s middle order once again failed to find their feet as North ripped them apart. Set an improbable target of 440 in fourth innings, Pakistan started their chase boldly as Salman Butt, who made a fluent 92 in a 102-run stand for the second wicket with the debutant Azhar Ali steered Pakistan innings at the end of third day and in the opening session of fourth day. At one stage, Pakistan was firmly established in the match with the scoreboard showing score of 152 for 1. With more than five sessions of the match remaining, fans and pundits alike were starting to fancy a miraculous victory in the making. However, it was North's introduction which swung the balance in Australian’s favour once and for all.
Butt, was the first victim of North as he took his wicket on his first delivery of the match. He had a sudden rush of blood, moved out of his crease only to be stumped down the leg-side by Tim Paine. Butt was utterly disappointed as he left for pavilion. Salman Butt could not believe his lapse in concentration facing Marcus North's first ball as he returned back marginally 8 run shorts of his 100. Umar Akmal was the next batsman, who was sent back by North. Umar Akmal displayed immaturity as he jabbed a lifter to slip just before the lunch. Umar’s wicket was perfect example of ill-disciplined and ill-planned batting. Pakistan kept on losing wickets as debutant Umar Amin once again failed to deliver. The last sign of hope for Pakistani fans was gone when the skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 once again could not control his temperament as he lashed his fourth delivery down deep midwicket only to be caught out. He made nominal 2.
Kamran Akmal provided some resistance in his 54-run stand with Aamer but it was too little, too late, as Aussies wrapped up Pakistani lower order with clinical bowling. In the end, Australian took the match with 150 runs. For Pakistan, there are number of things which turned out on front as a result of this match. The fragility of Pakistan’s middle order was exposed. It failed to deliver in both innings. Secondly, after the retirement of Afridi for Test, Pakistan needs to find appropriate replacement. With the retirement of Afridi, Salman Butt would most probably assume the responsibility of captainship. He will be fifth Test captain for Pakistan since 2009.
Earlier Afridi was quite honest with himself and with the press as he announced his retirement. Talking to media, Shahid Khan Afridi said, “With my temperament I can not play Test cricket. It is better a youngster comes in my place, probably a genuine batsman or even a genuine bowler. I picked up a side injury during the Asia Cup and unless you are 100 percent fit you can't perform in Test cricket.”
He further added, “I wasn't interested in playing Test cricket but the board asked me to go and take a look as they didn't have a choice. So I took up the responsibility. They asked me to take a chance and may be I would enjoy it. But I wasn't really enjoying Test cricket but I tried. I wasn't good enough.”
It would be interesting to see how Pakistan will manage two captains for different formats, as the Pakistani side is already notoriously famous for infighting and politics.
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