Spot-fixing toll apparent on Pakistan cricket team in T20’s
Pakistan was looking to find some respite when they took England in Cardiff for the first T20 match at Cardiff but http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 and his men were bitterly disappointed when the hosts, steered by Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy, defeated them with a lot of ease.
Pakistan came to this match after suffering from a magnanimous spot-fixing row and the toll of this controversy impacted on their performance at Cardiff. England fully justified their T20 champion status as they won the match convincingly with a margin of five wickets. Eoin Morgan and Michael Yardy were instrumental for England as their 67 run stand put the hosts firmly in control of the match. Similarly, Swann was also phenomenal as he took 2 for 14 to restrict Pakistan for a nominal total of 127. For Pakistan, positives were few and far. Shoaib Akhtar marked his return to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s national side with a wonderful bowling spell.
Pakistan’s fielding was their Achilles’ heel once again as Morgan was dropped by Akhtar at short third man. This proved to be disastrous for the visitors. It also turned out to be England’s point of revival in the match. Morgan’s unbeaten 38 runs from 24 balls was characterized by his typical T20 innings which consisted 6 boundaries. On the other hand, Yardy gave an all-round performance as he followed up an invaluable bowling performance with 35 vital runs from the bat. He was later awarded the man-of-the-match award for his performance. Kamran Akmal, who had just cleared his name from the spot-fixing controversy, was sloppy with gloves as he dropped Yardy on 11, costing Pakistan the match.
After winning the toss, Paul Collingwood decided to bowl as overcast conditions welcomed both teams. England started the match confidently as they removed Kamran Akmal early in the match. English bowlers bowled tight lengths as they restricted Pakistan to score freely. The hosts did drop some catches in the field as well but they were quite difficult in comparison to Pakistan’s missed chances. Pakistan’s batsmen failed to open themselves as they scored just eight boundaries in their innings with no sixes. It was for the first time in Pakistan’s T20 history that their batsmen failed to hit a single six in the match.
In order to strengthen their fragile batting line, Mohammad Yousuf was brought back into the T20 squad. This was Yousuf’s second T20 match of his career and the first one in the last four years. Yousuf looked confident as he played some delicate and lofty shots early in his innings. However, he became Swann’s first victim when Pakistan’s veteran batsman was caught out at midwicket in Swann’s opening over. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahzaib-Hasan-c2488 was the next man to go back to the pavilion as he was stumped by Steve Davies off the bowling of Swann. Yardy supported Swann on the other end as his tight bowling frustrated Fawad Alam’s attempts to break the shackles in a bid to accelerate the run rate. Alam scored 20 from 29 balls before he was put out of misery by Yardy. Afridi looked more comfortable but was unable to add to his total after he removed for 16 despite getting 2 lifelines.
On the other hand, England also made a lackluster start to their chase. Kieswetter struggled with bat once again as he was removed by Shoaib Akhtar. Ravi Bopara, who came in place of Kevin Pietersen, became the victim of Akhtar, who through some brilliant fielding from Mohammad Yousuf on the boundary, sent him back to pavilion. Davis on the other hand showed brave resistance in the face of successive onslaughts by Pakistani bowlers as he made 33 from 27 before he was trapped by Umar Gul as T20’s highest wicket-taker marked his return to fitness.
Similarly, Afridi, who is considered one of the best players of the T20 format, once again proved his match-winning ability when he took two wickets in a single over. He first trapped Collingwood for 4 before sending Luke Wright back for a duck. Afterwards, it was England’s game as Yardy and Morgan stabilized their innings to guide the hosts to an emphatic win over beleaguered Pakistani side.
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