WC99 Match Report - Pakistan versus West Indies

Certain things have been constant with a Pakistan team for a long time. An
unpredictable batting line up is one of them. Pakistani fans have been
accustomed to sudden collapses. We know that if it is upto the batting no
match is ever over. We can grab defeat from certain victory. Over the years
things have changed. Young talent has been uncovered and with that comes the
arrogance of youth (a direct quote from my brother Ahmed). These brash kids
do not understand the toil and hard work attached with success. They want it
all and they want it now. This gives the team an ingredient that was always
lacking and that is attitude. Serious serious attitude. The Pakistan batting
collapsed again today but at no point did I feel that we would lose the game
or that we were out of it. There is a quiet confidence that comes with this
team. This is a very different Pakistan team. They are aggressive when
pinned down. They remind me of the Windies of old. The focus of all this
energy is a man who has overcome huge odds to become what he is now. One day
everyone will agree with me and say that he is the best fast bowler ever. If
Pakistan do win the world cup this year it will not be because of his
bowling skills though. This time Wasim Akram will win because of his sheer
will power.

Pakistan were arrogant today. They won the toss and batted on a wicket that
was helpful for fast bowlers in conditions that were testing for batsmen.
The team comprised of the usual suspects with the only surprise being Razzaq
in place of Waqar or Mushtaq or Malik. The West Indians had some new names
in their squad. Powell replaced the retired Hooper. Everybody was talking
about the Windies going into this game with only three bowlers. The other
were part timers like Arthurton, Adams and Simmons. This would come back to
haunt them. There was movement in the morning and the openers had a tough
time. Walsh and Ambrose were right on target and tested both Shahid and
Saeed. Both of them plodded along with singles until Shahid got one outside
off from Walsh that lifted and moved away. He edged that to the keeper and
the slide was on. Saeed was dropped at first slip by Campbell off Ambrose.
It was a sitter and Ambrose was really unlucky. Saeed did not last long
though and got out playing a bad shot. Saeed tried to play to the on a Walsh
delivery which was on off and moving further away from the right hander. The
skier was judged well by Lara ambling back at mid on. Ijaz walked in and
played well. He steadily got things back together but Razzaq who was sent in
at number three was out of his league. Since he was sent in as a pinch
hitter, he should have looked for quick runs, for if the requirement was
consolidating and getting in Inzi was the man for that. I am a firm believer
that a team's best batsmen should get the most number of over so two pinch
hitters in the first three do not make sense to me. And they did not even
try to do their job. In my opinion, Razzaq should have tried to hit the
Windies out of their rhythm. He wasted too many balls and did not make any
runs either. He was bowled by Dillon off a beauty and made 7 off 34 balls.
He is technically pretty good though and can be useful as an allrounder but
should have clear instructions as to how to play. Inzi walked in and tried a
pull first ball. He top edged Dillon to the keeper and Pakistan were 42/4 in
dire straits. Like I said before I did not feel at this stage that we had
lost it. Such is the confidence of the Pakistani fans these days. Ijaz
played well and saw off along with Youhana the three West Indian front line
bowlers. When Lara tried his part timers things started to shift in favor of
Pakistan. Arthurton, while fielding at point, twisted his ankle really badly
and was taken to the hospital. This was a big blow to the Windies. Lara was
not helping by giving his part timers one over spells. A bowler needs some
time to settle down, especially the part timers. Just when things started
looking rosy for Pakistan and Ijaz and Youhana hit their slide, Dillon was
brought back on. He immediately removed Ijaz with an inswinging yorker. Ijaz
was given leg before but I thought the ball was missing leg. Ijaz badly
bruised his toe on this ball and limped back in multi-fanged pain. No word
on his injury yet. Youhana played steadily with Azhar Mahmood. A word about
the Pakistani all rounders here. They are extremely talented. Azhar played
really well. Very steady and well within himself. Youhana was looking really
good. He played an exquisite drive off Simmons before losing his head. He
will learn from this dismissal, one hopes. He played an old fashioned slog
to a part time bowler and skied one. There was no need for this shot and he
was in form by now. At 135/6 Pakistan needed someone to take charge. Wasim
took that responsibility and promoted himself over Moin. The decision was
probably prompted by the fact that a left arm spinner Adams was on. Wasim
mercilessly hammered him. He whipped anything on his legs over midwicket. He
picked the gaps. He also cleared the ropes with ease. When he started to
tire a little Azhar joined the act by hitting Adams for a straight six.
Pakistan crossed 200 with 3 odd overs to go and things were looking better.
Azhar lifted Ambrose for a four and six over square leg as he was brought
back on. The full toss on the waist and a flick of the wrists over the
fence. He lost his wicket the next ball being caught at deep square leg but
he had done his job. Wasim tried a couple of heaves and got a couple of
boundaries before being bowled by Walsh but he had hit 42 off 28 balls to
completely change the game. Pakistan ended with 229/8 and a match was on our
hands.

229 was a good score on that wicket but always gettable. The key ofcourse
was Lara and how many runs he got. Pakistan are a spirited bunch and they
looked the part when they came out to bowl. Now if someone had any doubts
about the pace of Shoaib Akhter, they should have been removed here. This
guy is unquestionably the world's fastest bowler (no offense meant to
Waqar). Wasim Akram was his usual wily self, beating the bat time and again.
Shoaib Akhter sent a lightning fast straight ball through the defenses of
Campbell when WI were 14. Actually Campbell's bat did not come down in time
and the ball clipped the top of middle stump. Wasim was unlucky and Jacobs
and Adams kept the score board ticking with the occasional boundary. Both of
them were steady though and kept the run rate up. Azhar was brought on along
with the crafty Saqlain. Azhar got the break through as Adams was caught
nicely at slip by Inzimam. Enter Lara and the most crucial part of the WI
innings began. Lara came in and blasted Azhar for two boundaries and looked
in very good nick with no signs of any wrist problems. The WI were doing
very well at 80 odd for two with the 20 over mark not reached yet. The need
was to play straight and consolidate. But that Viv Richard instinct took
over Lara as he tried to hoik Razzaq over leg to a ball that pitched on off
and went away a little. The ball skied to Mushy (substituting for Ijaz) at
cover and game was for all intents and purposes done. Chanderpaul is a very
good player but this team depends too much on Lara. Pakistan tightened the
screws. This new youngster Razzaq bowled one beauty after another. He beat
Jacobs and Chanderpaul again and again with the ball that leaves the left
hander. An occasional one that cut back would surprise them. He had some
problems with his control like Dillon earlier but settled nicely. He soon
removed Jacobs as he was caught at slip by a juggling Inzi. Powell stuck
around for a while but did not get many runs before he misread a Saqlain
straight one and top edged it to Youhana at midwicket. His one 4 was off of
Shoaib as he lifted him over cover. He might have promise for the future but
in this game looked pedestrian. Simmons joined Chanderpaul but was beaten
frequently by Razzaq. Razzaq finally got him caught one handed by Moin. The
Pakistan fielding over all was rock solid. Apart from a nonsignificant miss
or two they were good. Ambrose was sent in to increase the now dwindling run
rate but it was all in vain. He left soon and even the courageous Arthurton
could not stick around with Chanderpaul to save the WI. When Chanderpaul
finally skied one to Youhana at deep square off Shoaib WI were 27 runs
short.

The umpiring in this game left a lot to be desired. On one occasion, Azhar
fielded the ball with his foot outside the boundary. The umpires never asked
for the third umpire. Then Saqlain had one the clipped the wickets and went
to Moin. The bails fell a fraction of a second late but the batsman was
given not out. Wasim complained to Hair but he still did not ask for a third
umpire. The very next ball, the batsman was stumped and they finally asked
for the third umpire but the replays were not available. They need to
tighten up their act before they make a costly mistake in a crucial game and
four years of hard work and toil go the drain for someone. The third umpire
was asked to make changed to the no call for four when the replay showed
that the fielder's foot was over the line but he said that the umpire had
not asked him so he could not do anything. Michael Holding very rightly
pointed out to the third umpire that the rules said that he could call down
and change the call. Holding was very irate about the third umpire not
knowing the rules and aired his frustration. It all made for interesting
viewing.

Azhar got the man of the match though it could have gone easily to Razzaq or
Wasim. The energy and enthusiasm of a side tells you how much they want to
win. There was this one moment in the game that betrayed to me that Pakistan
wanted to win this tournament. The match was long over when Dillon came into
bat. Chaderpaul was hit on the toe by a indipper from Shoaib and Dillon
called for one. Shoaib ran for the ball that was lying on the wicket close
to Chanderpaul. Chanderpaul was hurt and could not run. Both the bowler and
Dillon got to the ball at the same time. Dillon slipped as he turned. Shoaib
picked the ball up and ran to the balling end. He extended his arms side
ways and glided to the wicket to take the bails off. That wicket did not
matter but when Shoaib reached Wasim at mid on for a hug, they were both
pictures of joy and screaming in delight. This team is hungry and all they
need to do is focus. I agree with Botham wholeheartedly when he says, watch
out world...Pakistan is firing on all cylinders!