Cricket Update: Oval yet again embraces Pakistan; Victory a morale booster- Waqar Younis says England series still alive
Pakistan cricket team has once again done what it is famous for- making a surprise comeback usually after going 2-down or 3-down in a series. The men in green, facing Strauss’s confident men on the field while http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Scotland-c756 Yard off the field, at last replied
back to the former by clinching a 23-run win over the hosts in their third fixture of the five-match ODI series.
Once again, Oval embraced the cricket nomads with its open arms but let’s not un-cross our fingers yet as the ICC’s Anticorruption and Security Unit is said to be investigating the prospects of match-fixing.
The Pakistan coach, Waqar Younis, hauled his side’s performance at the Ovals that helped them make a comeback in the series while also negating England’s prospect of a 5-0 whitewash. Waqar said that the side was desperate for a victory in order to regain
their confidence as they enter the last week of their three months long, exhaustive and contentious tour of England which had started in the last week of June.
Pakistan’s win came on the same day as the Scotland Yard’s squad, investigating into the spot-fixing allegations, submitted its file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). With this, the spot-fixing scandal has moved to its next phase after
several agonizing weeks in which the visitors were deprived of the services of their three key players. These included Pakistan’s both ne-ball bowlers, the teenage quick Mohammad Amir and also Mohammad Asif which severely jolted the strong bowling department
of the visitors already struggling with their batting line up.
After negating the prospects of a devastating 3-0 score-line and two dead rubber fixtures at the home of cricket, Lord’s, and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rose-c86842 Bowl, the inexperienced visiting squad has been imbued with fresh sanguinity. While talking to the reporters, Waqar added that
the Oval win has left his side with the hopes of a comeback in the series but players would have to work really hard as there is plenty of work still to be done.
"After the two losses, we really needed something like this. The series is still alive, and this gives us the incentive that we can come back and maybe win the series now. It's been a really tough tour on the field and off it, so we're pretty pleased to
be back, but there's still plenty of work to be done," said Waqar. Umar Gul’s match winning performance once again proved him to be the most influential seamer in the bowling department of Pakistan. Gul bowled full-length reverse-swing to crush the lower order
of the hosts bagging Pakistan 23 runs win with his career-best 6 for 42 from 10 overs.
Waqar praised Gul’s match-winning performance saying that he bowled remarkably and had a crucial role in Pakistan’s victory. He outlined that the only chance to win the game was to bowl out the hosts which the Pakistan bowlers led by Gul did successfully.
Waqar Younis, who has once been http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s leading pacer, also appreciated Shoaib Akhtar’s role. He added, “Shoaib Akhtar was important too, because we really needed early wickets, but this wasn't a fluke. The boys really played well as a team effort, and
the entire thing was what we needed."
This victory would surely be a morale booster for Pakistan’s dejected players, who have been continuously facing Scotland Yard’s enquiries. Both teams will now be heading to Lord’s, where they would meet yet again on Monday for the 4th fixture
of the five-match ODI series.
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