It was a contest between Pakistan’s formidable bowling and Kiwi’s long and dependable batting line up. Pakistan proved too good on the day and brushed aside New Zealand with so much ease that at no point New Zealand looked like competing. Saeed Anwar and tear away bowling sensation of the day, Shoaib Akhtar taught them separate lessons on batting and bowling respectively.
New Zealand chose to bat on a hot sunny day but found Wasim Akram and Shoaib too hot to handle. The Rawalpindi Express was bowling around 92-95 mph and the batsmen Matt Horne and Nathan Astle were hopping in the crease playing and missing repeatedly. Astle’s misery ended when his stumps were shattered by Shoaib in the 5th over. Akram made light work of Craig McMillan while Horne who had played a few pretty shots in between some awkward prods was clean bowled by a brilliant Abdul Razzaq yorker for 35. From 58 for 3, Stephen Fleming (41 0ff 57 balls) and Roger Twose (46 off 83 balls) took the score to 152 in the 34th over. Fleming who was playing fluently was knocked over by Shoaib who had returned for his second spell. After Fleming had hit him for two fours in the over Shoaib fired in a lightening quick in-swinging yorker which sent his leg stump cart-wheeling. In his 3rd spell he bowled a bewildered Chris Harris with a lovely slower one. Chris Cairns lifted New Zealand to 241 for 7 with a brisk but an out of character knock of 44 off 48 balls which contained only 3 fours. It was a fighting total thanks, in part, to Cairns but mainly it was the generosity of Pakistan bowlers which gave New Zealand total the respectability. Extras top scored with 47 including 17 wides and 12 no balls. Apart from Shoaib’s 3 for 55, Wasim Akram and Abdul Razzaq took 2 wickets each.
When Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti strolled out to bat, there was an air of expectation all around. New Zealand supporters were counting the positives and signals from the first innings that conjectured a possible Kiwi victory while Pakistan was confident too though wary of a collapse. Both started confidently and faced no difficulty in posting 50 after 9 overs. Anwar was in his usual silky mode but Wasti too showed he had more than one gears as far as batting is concerned. Hundred was brought up in the 24th over. For a change, Wasti reached to his 50 first off 84 ball with 6 fours. New Zealand brought back Geoff Allot, their bowler of the tournament, for a second spell but he too could not have any impact on these two batsmen. To rub salt to the wounds, it was Wasti not Anwar who hit the first 6 of the match. Anwar gradually upped the tempo leaving Wasti behind in the scoring rate and played some delicious drives on both sides of the wicket. Wasti nearing his maiden hundred slowed considerably and got out after making 84 off 123 balls with 10 fours and a six. First wicket stand of 194 was the best in the World Cups at that time.
Ijaz Ahmed came and started using his bat like an axe in his usual style. Saeed brought up his second consecutive hundred and 17th of his illustrious career off 137 balls with 8 fours. It was a not a usual destructive sort of innings from him but a controlled one ensuring the match is won securely. At 235 for 1 the raucous crowd of mostly partisan folks clad in white and green invaded the ground and bizarrely held up the play for 9 minutes. In the 48th over Anwar sealed the match with an airy shot and Twose instead of trying to catch ran towards the pavilion in order to evade the marching fans. Ijaz was not out on 28 off 21 balls while Anwar remained not out for 113 but the Man of the Match award was given to fiery Shoaib who despite conceding runs had broken the back of Kiwi batting.
With this thumping and expected win, Pakistan marched into the final, their second in the World Cup. The manner in which they had disposed off New Zealand raised expectations back home of a repeat of 1992. What happened next was anything but worth treasuring.
Published in SportPulse.net
ReplyDelete- http://www.sportpulse.net/content/pakistan%E2%80%99s-kiwi-slaughter-en-route-final-293