http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Northamptonshire-c824: Last warm-up match before Australian T20 series.
Pakistan, after its comprehensive performance against Essex, will face Northamptonshire today in a warm-up match in County Ground, Northampton. This will be Pakistan’s last warm-up match, which will be followed by a series of competitive matches against Australia and England.
Pakistan performed brilliantly in all departments against their previous game against Essex in a T20 encounter. Pakistani batsman got yet another opportunity to practice their skills on English conditions before the real test begins for them. Pakistan posted a heavy score of 204 in their allotted quota of 20 over’s. Almost all those who batted added value to the score line. Pakistan in recent times have been depending heavily on Captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783 unless he is hundred percent match fit.
Waqar Younis said, “The scan showed a small muscle rupture in his side. He has been asked to rest for two days and have some treatment, then we will reassess things, but we're hopeful he will be fine”.
No matter how big the cricketing crisis may be in Pakistan, they have always performed well in the T20 format of the game. Chances are that Northants will get the same beating as was handed to Essex a day earlier. Two warm-up matches will allow Pakistan a good practice before they make a comeback into the T20 format against Australia. It’s a good opportunity for Pakistan to experiment with the batting line-up with a number of youngsters on the tour. Team selection will face a tough task since all players in the batting line performed in the game against Essex. The hard-hitting Shahzaib Hassan, with a strike run rate of 135.29 and an average of 29.13, will fancy his chances for a permanent place in the T20 squad. He played a good innings against Essex by scoring a quick 49 off 33 balls.
The controversial S’s in the shape of Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar will be under scrutiny in the warm-up matches and the series that follows. Both cricketers made it to team despite a lot of criticism by a number of former cricketers. Shoaib Malik scored 38 runs off 32 balls and remained not out. The final warm-up match will give Umar Gul a chance to regain his past form. The Pakistani bowlers were not tested in the game against Essex since the batting line-up had posted a score that was very easy to defend. Pakistan has dominated the T20 format since its inception in the cricketing world. Team http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 ended in a stalemate. Pakistan’s performance in the T20 format against Australia has not been as successful as its overall reputation. Unpredictable Pakistan has faced Australia on five different occasions in the T20 version of cricket where Australia came out victorious in 3 matches while Pakistan won on 2 occasions. These two T20 matches against Australia will give Pakistan a chance to get their act together against Ponting’s strong side. Pakistan will like to forget its last series against Australia where they were whitewashed and had to face humiliation in the form of a ball biting act by ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754. Australia has an added advantage of coming into the series against Pakistan after playing some competitive cricket with their arch rivals England.
Pakistan will try to give some final touches to its side in their last warm-up game against Essex. Fielding has always remained a headache for Pakistan and they will ideally like to work out on their fielding and bowling. This will be the last option for them to experiment before the tournament starts.
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