Pakistan Tour of England: What a comeback by Pakistan!
Who would have thought that a Pakistan which was down in the series by 2-0 would be able to make a miraculous comeback by winning the next two matches, bringing the series alive? This has been one of those rare instances where we have seen the Pakistan side
not give up under any circumstances.
The tour of England has not been the best of tours they have faced so far, in fact it can easily come in the category of the worst. The touring Pakistan team was not treated well, as every match is being looked at with an eye of suspicion due to the marring
spot-fixing scandal. There were several controversies targeting several Pakistani players in match fixing, and to make matters worse, Pakistan had been struggling with their cricket hence maintaining a losing streak. Therefore there were pressures on the team
on and off the field.
It all changed in the last two matches they faced with England, it seemed like the team was playing with a new vigor and their morale were raised to a new unknown level. The Pakistan captain, Shahid Afridi, led the side enthusiastically, despite the pressure.
In the third match, it was the devastating quick bowling of Umar Gul which tore through the middle batting order of England, hence costing them the match. It was a glorious victory for Pakistan as Umar Gul ended up with the brilliant figures of six for forty-two
(6/42), leading his team off the field.
The second match was yet another interesting match; http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 chose to bat first after winning the toss. Even though openers started out well helping Pakistan in stabilizing their innings, however, it was the middle-order yet again, which collapsed. This
ended up putting more pressure on the lower-middle order which did manage to deliver.
Something worth mentioning is the useful knock of Abdur Razzak lower down the order. He made around 40 runs in the last two overs – hitting eight fours, 1 six and 1 double (2 runs). He pumped up Pakistan’s score to 265/7. This was a huge achievement for
Pakistan, considering the fact that at one point, their projected score was 230 and the run rate in the middle of the innings was quite dismal.
When Pakistan came out to bowl, their bowlers struggled in the first ten to fifteen overs as the English batsmen had taken the batting power play and had started off with a flying start. Their run rate at one point was around seven runs per over, and Pakistan’s
ace bowler Shoaib Akhtar was the most expensive bowler in the first spell, where his economy rate was almost ten runs per over.
Abdur Razzak, though relatively more economical, was not able to take wickets from the other end either. This left Pakistan under pressure as Andrew Strauss and Davies were playing brilliantly. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 then brought the spinners on early as his seamers
did not seem effective. Saeed Ajmal provided the breakthrough for Pakistan by taking the crucial wicket of Davies; he was on 49 when he was dismissed. Despite the fall of a wicket, Strauss continued to slog, hitting shots all around the ground, maintaining
a healthy run rate of about six and a half.
At this point, Afridi made the great decision, of bringing Akhtar back into the attack, this would put pressure on the new batsmen at the crease. The bowling change proved to be fruitful as it got rid of Andrew Strauss, and Fawad Alam took a brilliant catch
in the process.
Jonathan Trott came to the crease but did not last too long as he was unluckily bowled by Shahid Afridi. The run rate at this point started dropping significantly. The boundaries started becoming harder to get and the required run rate started creeping up.
David Collingwood was out of nick in the ODI series and it also showed with his shot selection in this match, he was very uncomfortable on the crease and was struggling in getting a connection between the bat and ball. Umar Gul’s second spell bowled him.
From then on, it started to look a touch difficult for England even though there was plenty of batting to come. The England wickets then started falling in quick succession leaving Morgan as the only hope for the team, as batsmen from the other end continued
to fall. However when the wicket of Morgan fell, it was all over for England. Pakistan was successful in tying series this far, leaving the last ODI to be a do or die match for both the teams.
Credit to Pakistan for a brilliant display with the bat and the ball despite the added pressures they faced on and off the pitch, they came out as true fighters. It remains to be seen what happens in the last match though.
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