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World Cup- Pakistan V Kenya- 23rd February


It was just yesterday that Netherlands performed well against England and kept the Associates flag flying high. They almost embarrassed ICC’s decision of having only 10 teams from 2015 World Cup on. It did not take ICC more than a day to get back the feeling of being right

Kenya were at the receiving end from Pakistan and found the going tough, generally. On a pitch that aided New ball, the Kenyan bowlers did well to restrict Pakistan and take two wickets as well. The introduction of Odhiambo and the arrival of Kamran Akmal to the middle, seemed to have the opposite effects on the respective sides

The spinners failed to have the restrictive line going for themselves and all the bowlers were erratic, which could be found out from the extra’s they conceded. Pakistan playing their first match in the tournament exactly showed where the strength in their batting lies- the late order surges

This match clearly showed what their tactics would be going further- Keep Younis/Misbah as the pivot of the innings and allow the lower middle order to explode in the final fifteen overs. It can, however come unstuck if both of them have an off day. With all their league matches being played in Sri Lanka, they wouldn’t have the problem of acclimatising to different venues and weather

Umar Akmal seems the balancing factor between the top order and the lower middle order. Though it’s a tough task for him to perform, he seems to be getting into the warrior mode. It will be the matches to follow that would test his utility in the role

The bowling wasn’t tested much as the Kenyan batting did not put too much pressure against them. They found the going tough against Afridi who mixed up the leg spinners, off spinners, faster ones and the googlies well. He finished with not only the best bowling analysis by a Pakistan bowler at the World Cup but also the best bowling analysis by a captain

Kenya in the initial overs- both batting and bowling- seemed to have shrugged away the indifferent performance against New Zealand. It turned out to deceptive as they imploded again to gift a full member an easy win

Their team seems to be full of weaknesses and it would be tough to expect them to pull of a win or an upset. The bowling seems to lack the bite and batting the spine.  They would have to continue taking battering from the top teams unless there is a huge change in approach

With ICC having clearly chalked out the future course, it’s a tough life to be an associate member. A good performance will stand all the members in good stead and a bad performance will set the progress of many a countries a few steps back. It’s unlike a full member who are responsible for their own performances


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