Pakistan off to impressive start (19 May 1999)

19 May 1999

Pakistan off to impressive start

Tony Becca

The World Cup is still in its early stages and it is too early to pick a winner. So far, however, the odds-makers appear to be spot on.

Going into the tournament, the bookmakers posted South Africa as favourites, followed by Australia, Pakistan, England, the West Indies, India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand and after the first four days and six matches, the favourites have obliged.

In three of those games, the strong were up against the weak and with Australia defeating Scotland, Zimbabwe putting away Kenya and New Zealand taking care of Bangladesh, there were, as expected, no surprises.

The real test, however, were those matches in which six of the top favourites went at each other and with England defeating Sri Lanka, South Africa putting away India and Pakistan taking care of the West Indies, there were also, despite the expectations of some, no surprises as the bookmakers smiled and said, I told you so.

Although there is hardly likely to be any shock result as there was in 1996 when Kenya knocked off the West Indies, as the tournament progresses, there may be, there could be, there almost certainly will be some surprises, and especially with India putting up a good show against South Africa and the West Indies scaring the daylights out of Pakistan and hardly likely to make the same mistake again re the selection of their team, it will be interesting to see what will be the outcome if and when they meet again and at a stage when victory is all important.

So far, however, the bookmakers are on target. Of the top four, although Australia looked a bit out of sorts against Scotland, no one can doubt their pedigree, England seem at home in their own environment and could be the team to make the bookies really proud and South Africa and Pakistan appear simply awesome.

Against India, South Africa justified their number one tag. They were magnificent in every department of the game and with the match apparently heading for a tight finish, they went for the whip and cruised to victory in style.

The pick of them all, however, was Pakistan.

In a show of supreme confidence, Pakistan not only omitted veteran pacer Waqar Younis and their master leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, but they also won the toss and despite conditions ideal for their bowlers, they went to bat and nailed the West Indies after falling to 42 for four in 19 overs, to 135 for six, and after the West Indies were well positioned at 101 for three in the 22nd over.

Some may say that their batting is brittle and historically that is true, and others may say they were lucky to recover after a poor start and that may be true.

The fact is that Pakistan recovered because with Azhar Mahmood, Moin Khan and Wasim Akram in the bottom half, their batting is not only explosive, but it also goes deep in the order.

What was impressive about Pakistan, however, was their bowling. There was no Waqar and there was no Mushtaq. There were, however, pacers Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq and Mahmood, and offspinner Saqlain Mushtaq. Although he was not called on, Pakistan also boast a decent spinner in Shahid Afridi.

That is a lovely attack. In fact, with opening batsman Afridi available to bowl his leg-spinners, with left-hander Akram still swinging the ball prodigiously even though he has lost some pace and with Akhtar bowling so fast, straight and on a good length, it is a dangerous combination.

South Africa versus Pakistan? After what has gone on so far, if the West Indies do not make it, that, it appears, is the final Jamaicans would love to see.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner