By Suneer Chowdhary
With law of averages catching up with Shahid Afridi’s bowling and Ross Taylor’s batting and refusing to catch up with Kamran Akmal’s wicket-keeping, New Zealand got to 302 for seven in the 50 overs in the Group A league game against Pakistan at Pallekele, here, today.
Published: Mar 08, 2011, 06:39 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 08, 2011, 06:39 PM (IST)
Ross-Taylor-(L)-of-New-Zealand-plays-to-the-legside-as-wicketkeeper-Kamran-Akmal-(R)-looks
By Suneer Chowdhary
Pallekele: Mar 8, 2011
With law of averages catching up with Shahid Afridi’s bowling and Ross Taylor’s batting and refusing to catch up with Kamran Akmal’s wicket-keeping, New Zealand got to 302 for seven in the 50 overs in the Group A league game against Pakistan at Pallekele, here, today.
Akmal and Taylor were the two protagonists who would remember this innings for a long time. While Akmal floored Taylor twice before he had got to double-figures, the batsman took toll of the tiring Pakistani bowling in the slog and smacked his first ODI century in more than 50 games. Along with Nathan McCullum first and then Jacob Oram, Taylor overturned his batting form on its head.
At one stage with the Kiwis at 188 for five in 44, they would probably have been happy with a 240. Afridi went for 14 in the 45th. The target would have been upped to 250. Shoaib Akhtar was bashed for three sixes and a couple of fours in the 47th. Abdur Rehman conceded 15 in the next and Razzaq for double those in the 49th before 19 came off the last over to ensure that 114 runs had come off the last six overs of the innings!
Batting first, New Zealand went the ‘Six and Out’ way, with Brendon McCullum smacking a free-hit off Shoaib Akhtar before being deceived and bowled off a slower ball from him. This was the first over of the game and Shoaib was to bowl two more no-balls after, both of which were followed by boundaries off the free-hit.
Most of the damage was done by Martin Guptill, who had earlier topped the batting lists in New Zealand in the five-match series against Pakistan. Guptill scored an unbeaten 45 of the first 69 runs and compensated for Jamie How’s 29-ball four runs.
After Gul had trapped How out lbw, Taylor was dropped twice by Akmal in the same over from Akhtar. The first edge was left alone by Akmal for the slip despite being nearer while the next one went into his gloves and popped out like a freshly made pop-corn. It was Taylor’s birthday today and even without the celebrations, the gifts had begun to arrive.
While it can barely be said that Taylor took full toll of the dropped chances given his own travails with technique and inabilities to get the big one, he did ensure that he stuck it out in the middle. At the other end, Guptill had looked solid and for most part of the innings, he had continued to exhibit the same form that he had shown earlier.
It took the highest wicket-taker of the tournament to break the stand between Taylor and Guptill (57). It was Guptill who had to bite the dust off a delivery that drifted in off the air and yorked the batsman to peg the stumps back. James Franklin, who some feel bats a spot higher than he should was also sent back, lbw to Mohammad Hafeez for one, and New Zealand slumped for the second time at 113 for four.
It took Scott Styris’ 28, helped by another dropped catch from Kamran and his partnership with Taylor that stalled the fall of wickets and got them some vital runs. Sixty two were added by the pair, but as with the others, the stand took its time coming.
Interestingly, the two pace bowlers, Gul and Akhtar managed to get swing through the entire duration of the innings. This should encourage the likes of Tim Southee and Kyle Mills, both of whom rely on the bounce and the swing. The floodlights should only assist the bowling department in the second innings and with the Pakistani batsmen having shown signs of brittleness in the past, New Zealand will be favourites to win it from here.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 302 for 7 in 50 overs (Ross Taylor 131*, Martin Guptill 57; Umar Gul 3 for 32, Mohammad Hafeez 1 for 26) vs Pakistan.
(Suneer is a Mumbai-based cricket writer and can be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com and Tweets here @suneerchowdhary)
Pictures © Getty Images
