Review of the 1999 Cricket World Cup Final

Anticlimax! The team was out of gas. The players were emotionally drained. There was no fight left in them. They did not make a whole lot of effort. No, I am not talking about the team that played a tie in the semi final. I am not talking about the team that had to win the last seven games they played to win the world cup. I am not talking about the team that came as close as one Hershel Gibbs catch to being out of the world cup. I am not talking about Australia. I am talking about Pakistan. The young Pakistanis were overwhelmed by pressure of adversity in a big occasion and never climbed out of the hole they dug for themselves. In the end, the more seasoned and veteran team won. Pakistan could only find solace in the words of Vital Signs “Haro gaiy tau haro na, maza aey ga jeet ka”. Lose; lose if you have to. It will make the victory that much more sweeter.

Pakistan won the toss and that is about all that went in their favor the whole day. There had been some showers and the weather was overcast too but the right thing to do was bat. Pakistan’s strength is their bowling and they can defend totals. The wicket was dry and the wet ground would make it a little difficult for the Australian fast bowlers. The start vindicated Wasim’s decision only for a little while though. Saeed looked in good touch as he square cut and drove Fleming to the cover boundary. Wasti was out of sorts. He looked nervous and edgy. McGrath bowled very accurately and beat him consistently. Fleming on the other hand was wayward. He bowled wides and no balls to let Pakistan off the hook as McGrath bowled a tight spell. When Pakistan reached 21 trouble started. Wasti tried to play one to third man only to find Mark Waugh diving from 2nd slip to 3rd slip for the catch. Saeed had to change his bat grip after the end of the over and somehow the commentators started to say that there was some ulterior motive to it. I did not get that. That stemmed of bias to me. I mean a batsman is entitled to change something in his gear, which is not the way it should be. So what is the big deal. The umpire Shepherd went up to Saeed and said a few words. That might have shaken him up or infuriated him because he drove wildly at the very next ball from a below par Fleming. To indicate that it was not Pakistan’s day, the ball hit the inside edge then the inside of his back leg and then hit the stumps. 21/2 and Pakistan were in trouble.

Razzaq had been sent in one down again and Ijaz walked in at number 4. Both players tried to stabilize the innings. They played very cautiously from then on. Razzaq took his time like always. Steve Waugh brought in his weak link Moody to get his overs out of the way at this time when Pakistan was on the back foot. It worked, as the batsmen could not get him away. Warne was kept back and Pakistan still could not score runs. Reiffel was bowling steadily at one end. Razzaq got impatient and tried to hoik one over mid off. There was a long off there and that shot made no sense. McGrath however dropped an absolute sitter. One thought that would make Razzaq think a little and he would put his head down and play more responsibly as Ijaz was getting more confident at the other end. Razzaq however threw it all away with a lofted drive that Steve snared at cover. Moody got the wicket and Razzaq had left for 17 off 51. Inzi walked into a pressure cooker situation. Ijaz was the key here as he was well set. Warne was brought on to break this crucial stand. Ijaz played to one that pitched up on leg. He should have played forward to that. The ball pitched and spun and hit off. Ijaz left for 22 and Pakistan were 77/4 in the 24th and under tremendous pressure. Moin was promoted in the batting order to join Inzi. He came in with his usual busy style and got a couple of twos to start his innings. Warne had by that time settled into a great line and length. He looped one outside off that Moin half drove at, only to get an edge. Moin left for 6. Pakistan was now looking at 175. Afridi walked in. He came in a positive frame of mind. He launched Warne over mid on for a good four to release some pressure. Inzi had by now settled in. Reiffel was bowling out his quota from one end. Shepherd has been our bad luck charm since the 1987 semi final. He proved fatal once again. Inzi played at a Reiffel ball outside off. His bat hit his pad as the ball went through to the keeper. Shepherd gave him out caught behind. Shepherd has been a good umpire but it is time for him to hand it up like Bird did long ago. The look on Inzi’s face as he slowly and despondently walked back to the pavilion said it all. Pakistan’s back was broken. It was obvious that it was not their day. Warne kept bowling a good line. He tossed one up to Afridi, which pitched on off. The ball was a leg break, which pitched very close to Afridi’s front pad who played across the line and swept it. Bucknor nodded to an LBW shout and Pakistan were 113/7 after 32 with the game all but over. Wasim tried to resurrect Pakistan with a 6 over wide mid wicket off Warne but Azhar left to a bowlers back drive which went straight to Moody. Wasim tried to hoik Warne over mid wicket again only to find Steve. When Saqlain fended at one from McGrath, who had come in to finish it off, Ponting pulled off a blinder at third slip to end Pakistan at 132. Australia had done marvelously well.

The match was over before Australia’s batting started. Gilchrist threw his bat around like all mediocre players do when their team is on top and the result inevitable. He edged one to third man for 6 as Shoaib’s pace worked against him. He clobbered Azhar and Razzaq over mid wicket. He drove everything fractionally up. Saqlain removed him in his first over as Inzi caught him and hurt his finger at mid off. But by that time Gilchirst had made 54 off 36 and Australia were 75/1 in the 11th. Mark Waugh was as calm as ever. Ponting mis-hit a pull over square leg for four but drove a full toss from Shoaib on the very next ball to put an exclamation point on the victory. Wasim brought himself back on to face the defeat like a man. He got Ponting with an away swinger that Moin took easily. Australia rattled off the runs in 21 overs to win by 8 wickets. A very happy balcony raised their arms to celebrate. Warne for his 4 wickets got the man of the match deservedly. Klusener deservedly got the man of the series though the Australian captain also deserved it in my opinion. One good thing from the game was that the Australian commentators and especially Tony Gregg was not given much time on the air. I thought that was great. Ian Chappell and Bill Lowry got some time but they are good anyway. Ian got to MC the ceremony. He asked Klusener if the car he got would allay the pain of the semi final. What a stupid question to ask. Klusener said no and did not talk much about the heartache he must have felt. I liked Klusener’s answers. He seemed very humble with his thank you after every answer. He must have been really hurting inside but was very graceful like Cronje the other day. Wasim did well too and gave all the praise to the Australians. He mentioned all his teammates and the selectors and the crowd for great support. He handled that difficult moment very well. Steve mentioned his unsung heroes along with the marquee players. Warne was uncharacteristically humble and mentioned the team effort.

Pakistan played a very bad game and Australia a very good one. This does not take away from Australia’s great come back in this tournament. It does not take away from Pakistan’s great run during the last two or three months either. Here is a team with Aamir and Saeed at the helm losing to Australia and Zimbabwe at home after clubbing West Indies under Wasim. The team had match fixing and other scandals hovering over their heads. They were dead in the water when Wasim took over again. He took the pressure on himself and won tests and one dayers against India and Sri Lanka. The team is very young and could not handle the adversity of a world cup final but that is ok. They will learn. There is a little soul searching to do however. I think Pakistan should go into every game with 5 batsmen. Saeed and Wasti should be followed by Ijaz and Inzi. No pinch blocker is needed because if your top four can not play straight in a one day game and play out some overs who can. The number 5 slot should be Youhana who would be in tears after missing the final like Robin Smith was in 1992. He could have done well for Pakistan. If one or two of the first five can not perform then they should be replaced by other top order batsmen rather than promoting an all rounder and just blocking one end. Moin should follow Youhana. I think only one out of the three all rounders should play in a game. So one out of Azhar, Razzaq and Shahid should play. Then Wasim, Saqlain, Shoaib and Waqar should be the bowling side. The batting of Azhar did not do much through out the tournament. Not because he is not a good bat but because he came at a stage where a batsman can not do much. And whoever says Azhar is a better bowler than Waqar needs to look at a record book for a change. If the wicket is spinning then one out of Waqar and Shoaib can be dropped to play Mushy but a strong five-bowler attack should play every game for Pakistan. This makes a very good and balanced side that will do well for Pakistan for years. The Pakistani people should be proud of this team even though they did not win the whole thing. They should embrace them with open arms when they get back home just like you embrace a POW that comes back home. Even though they did not win the war and were taken, they still battled their hearts out for their country.