Beyond the boundary - The Other Side Of Midnight (17 June 1999)

17 June 1999

Beyond the boundary - The Other Side Of Midnight

Shakil Kasem

Everything was blazing hot at Old Trafford yesterday. Brilliant sunshine coupled with a baked hard batting surface, promised action aplenty. The first of the semi-finals lived up to its billing and Pakistan looked well on its way to reaching the final in exemplary style, even before half the day had elapsed. Unnatural, but there it was.

After winning seven matches on the trot in the 1992 World Cup New Zealand had come a cropper in a high scoring match against Pakistan. If ever there was an opportunity for New Zealand to square accounts, this was it. But Stephen Fleming never had the required resources to avenge that nightmarish defeat seven years ago. In fact his bowling armoury did not even create any impression. The bizarre lay just an inch below the surface, although Fleming had done the right thing by calling the coin correctly. Matters then really went out of hand, as the Kiwis found out before the day was dead.

Pakistan relied on the same team to see them through to the final. Shoaib Akhtar was given full rein to his brazen pace and hyper-aggressive antics. True to form they paid dividends. New Zealand, who needed a good start to make their intentions known, never really got off the starting blocks. Nathan Astle scratched and fidgeted for a while before Akhtar tore through his defences. It was a question of time before the Pakistanis could break through. Fittingly, it was Shoaib Akhtar that made the crucial difference. The skipper gave him three spells and he picked up a wicket in each. The outcome of the match was determined by some searing pace from this young man,who had decided at the very outset that the day should belong to him. And so it certainly did.

Roger Twose and Stephen Fleming put up some semblance of resistance to suggest that the Kiwis were not ready to go down tamely. When Chris Cairns also chipped in with forty odd runs, the total reached some respectability. It was the highest total that Pakistan would need to score in the second innings of a match. Since the fate of their World Cup campaign hinged on achieving this total of 242 runs, even the bravest of punters could have been forgiven for hedging their bets. Pakistan did well with the ball, especially Akhtar, Razzaq and the captain himself. The fielding was atrocious and the 47 extras they gave was cause for concern. It was left to the batsmen now to ensure Pakistan's presence at Lord's.

To the horror of the Kiwis, and the utter and unmitigated surprise of all and sundry, Saeed Anwar and Wasti strung a partnership together, that all but made this match the most one-sided and foregone, as far as this competition was concerned. While Saeed Anwar, fresh from his exploits against Zimbabwe and with his wealth of experience at this level, was expected to perform in this match, it was his young batting partner, who was actually the revelation. Wasti has certainly been the find for Pakistan. He has a mature head on his young shoulders. Added to a compact defence and an ideal technique against the new ball, Wasti also has a temperament that compensates for the maverick nature of the antics of the middle order. He was singularly unfortunate to have missed out on a hundred. Not so the old and seasoned pro Anwar, who dutifully and methodically chalked up his second consecutive ton. In the process, they totally shut New Zealand out of the match with a partnership of 194.

Pakistan then coasted at leisure for a place in the final, far easily than they themselves had surmised several hours earlier. New Zealand paid heavily for having an attack that was too thinly spread. Medium pace bowling on a good batting track is not really the recipe for cooking up an upset. Geoff Allott was the quickest of the Kiwis, but even that was not good enough to test the determined and watertight technical expertise of the Pakistani opening pair. The rest of the bowling was pedestrian, and with Allott unable to make the early breakthrough, the New Zealanders were resigned to accept the inevitable.

It was an absorbing contest in as much as the target was concerned. The outcome was never in doubt once the Pakistanis got past the first twenty overs without losing a wicket. Old Trafford was not quite expecting an anti climax today, but the legions of Pakistani fans would have not had it any other way. Wasim Akram was a more than pleasantly surprised man himself.

Today's combatants would do well to keep in mind the new found resurgence of the Pakistani side. They have stamped their mark on this World Cup in no uncertain manner and would like nothing better than to lift the trophy for the second time. What is of even more concern for the remaining finalist is that this Pakistani side has the necessary self belief to carry out their threat.

Once again, my predictions came wrong. I had merely thought Pakistan just might make it. Oh well, we live and learn.

Source :: The Daily Star