Skip to main content

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


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Enthiran

There was a time , when I was a Chiranjeevi fan, to an extent that I even defended his flop movies such as Rickshavodu, Big Boss and others of the same ilk. For me he was was the ultimate star- the superstar. And hearing tales of Amitabh Bachchan from my father did nothing to alter my views on Chiranjeevi's superstardom Towards the end of my graduation, that is circa 2005 in April, two movies released- Mumbai Express and Chandramukhi. I went to Mumbai Express for the first day first show and was not impressed. Rajnikanth, coming off a colossal flop called  Baba  and Chandramukhi was touted to be his comeback vehicle. Since we had nothing to do, we dragged ourselves to Chandramukhi and I was impressed with the fact that as a superstar, he allowed the female protagonist to run away with the credit Well when Sivaji released, I got to see Rajni mania first hand and what a sight it was! I was in Bangalore and there was a serpentine queue to procure the tickets. The sheer ...
3 comments
Read more

Who is Shane Watson?

There is a dialogue in the novel Atlas Shrugged , which goes like this “If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders-what would you tell him to do?" "I . . . don't know. What . . . could he do? What would you tell him?" "To shrug." You   would not be mistaken if you can put Shane Watson in the place of Atlas in the above dialogue, just that as an Australian fan you would not want him to shrug It became more apparent from yesterday's match that Watson is the premier Australian cricketer now. That's quite an achievement from where he found himself in the early and middle part's of the last decade Watson was basically hyped up as the next all-rounder for Australia as soon as he en...
3 comments
Read more

Jab Harry met Sejal

  I am writing this after Shahrukh Khan came out of the box-office rut with a movie called “Pathaan”. I am writing this about a movie that contributed to the box-office rut; Jab Harry met Sejal.   What can you say about the movie that’s unsaid? It’s an Imtiaz Ali movie. It will showcase travel. It will have the protagonists mouthing philosophical dialogues about love, life and relationships. It will have the protagonists “finding themselves” during the journey.   Shahrukh Khan and Anushka Sharma put in earnest efforts in the movie, but the movie lets them down. While I was watching the movie, the person next to me (who wasn’t even watching) asked if Anushka Sharma was playing a Gujarati in the movie. That in my eyes is Anushka Sharma nailing her bit.   The problem with the movie isn’t the premise but how the director deviates from the premise often. While it may be deliberate, it does seem that the director wants to leave his “signature”. At times, the mo...
Post a Comment
Read more