The Road to the ICC World Cup 2011 quarter-finals: Pakistan – Part 1
With the Group stages now over, it is time to look back at the team’s journey that led them to the knock-out round of the tournament. Topping Group A was something very few expected from the nation that lost its rights to co-host the World Cup due to security
concerns surrounding the country. A country with a passion for cricket, Pakistan was disappointed at losing the opportunity, but it seemed to spur them on the cricket field.
Placed in the same group as host nations http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045, Kenya and
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Canada-c748.
Pakistan played their first match in the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kenya-c752. They started their campaign with a huge 205 run victory that earned the Men in Green their first two points.
Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal all reached their half centuries on their way to posting a final score of 317 runs. From the bowling side, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 was magnificent, as he took five wickets for just 16 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s campaign was off to a great start, with both batting and bowling departments having performed well.
Sri Lanka was the next in line to face the Pakistani side in what was deemed as a crucial match. In what was a thrilling encounter, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325 scored 83 and 72 runs respectively on the way to a total of 277 runs against the host side.
Afridi again starred for the Pakistani bowling attack, taking another four wickets in his 10 overs. In the end, the effort of the Pakistani bowlers was enough to subdue the Sri Lankan’s for a total that was 11 runs short of the required target of 278 runs.
Pakistan got their second win of the competition and another 2 points in the group.
Some would call it over-confidence, others a bright bowling display by the Canadians, but whatever the reason for the Pakistan team being bowled all out for 184 runs, the Men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umar-Akmal-c94595 was the only notable form of
resistance from the Pakistani’s with his 48 runs.
Afridi was again on song as he ripped through the Canadians taking another five wickets, as he continued to dominate the World Cup when it came to bowling. In the end, Pakistan was lucky to escape with the two points, as the Canadian side collapsed for 138
runs. Pakistan, the victors for the third straight match with an unconvincing and nerve wracking 46 run victory.
Next up was Pakistan’s bogey side of New Zealand. Pakistan seemed the favourites going into the match, but Kamran Akmal had other plans. Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122 could have
prevented it, but he dropped the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 batsman twice, very early on in his innings.
In response, the Pakistani batting line-up collapsed in their chase of the 303 run target. They managed a meager 192 runs with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Abdur-Razzaq-c41689 providing the only resistance for the batting side with his 62 runs in the end.
Pakistan lost their first match of the World Cup and questions were raised about Pakistan’s consistency and the depth in their batting line-up, especially the ability of the wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.
Continued in Part 2
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