World Of Cricket

Left arm pacer Sohail Tanvir joins Pakistan One day squad in South Africa as a cover for Mohammad Irfan and Umar Gul.

Sohail Tanvir joins Pakistan squad as cover for Gul and Irfan © Associated Press

Pakistani touring team were in meeting with left arm pacer Sohail Tanvir who was already in South Africa playing for Highveld Lions. He was with the team in sunday’s match and he will be with them in the remaining ODIs.

Sohail Tanvir was not picked initially in the ODI squad, he was not part of the team in India as well he was only selected for t20s there, now he is awaiting for a recall in Pakistani side.

Sohail Tanvir was picked up due to poor form shown by Umar Gul in this tour and also because Mohammad Irfan was struggling with his fitness, Mohammad Irfan could not complete the quota of his 10 overs in the last game and went off the field for treatment.

On the other hand Umar Gul had a poor tour thus far, he is Pakistan’s most experience bowler and he has performed only once in this tour, Umar Gul also did not play the last game.

The next game will be played on 21st March at Durban.

The first ODI between Pakistan and South Africa will be played tomorrow at Bloemfontein. Both teams aim to start series on a positive note, a thriller is expected.

Umar gul will look to repeat his t20 performance © AFP

Pakistan and South Africa start the one day series with high hopes of claiming the ODI series. Pakistan has never won against South Africa in a ODI series. Both the teams last met in U.A.E for a bilateral ODI series which South Africa won by 3-2.

But the fact is that Pakistan cricket team was going through a turmoil at that stage and now this is a more settled unit in the leadership of Misbah-ul-Haq who has led the team in difficult stages.

South Africa on the other hand will be aiming to dominate shorter versions of the game in a similar way as they are dominating it in tests. They last played a ODI series against New Zealand which they lost.

THE FAVORITE:

Pakistan will have a slight edge over South Africa, they have many game changers and players who can turn the game on its head. They have a calm leader in Misbah and a settled side. They will begin the match with high hopes.

Players to rely on:

Umar Gul had a fine t20 match where he claimed his second five-for. He will be leading  the bowling department and he can be real handy for Pakistan with his reverse swing in later parts of the game.

Ab de Villiers will be captaining the side in one day series, If he gets going then it will be hard to stop him.

Teams:

South Africa(most probable): 1 Graeme Smith 2 Hashim Amla 3 Colin Ingram, 4 AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5 Faf du Plessis, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 Ryan McLaren 8 Robin Peterson 9 Rory Kleinveldt, 10 Kyle Abbott, 11 Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Pakistan’s(most probable): 1 Nasir Jamshed, 2 Mohammed Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Saeed Ajmal 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammed Irfan

Lahore: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced their squad of ODIs and T20s against South Africa. Shahid Afridi to make a comeback in ODIs.

Afridi makes a comeback in ODIs against SA

Former captain Shahid Afridi has made a comeback in Pakistan’s ODI squad after being dropped from Indian tour last year.Squad for the 5 ODIs is: Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Imran Farhat, Abdur Rehman. ODI squad seens to be a balence squad in the presence of Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz who will strengthen Pakistan’s squad.

Squad for 2 T20s is: Mohammad Hafeez (Captain), NasirI Jamshed, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Gul, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Amin, Zulfiqar Babar, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan. Pakistan will play 5 ODIs and 2 T20s against South Africa.Sohail Tanvir is dropped from T20 squad and Wahab Riaz who has performed well against Afghanistan and in domestic tournament seems to be a good choice as he is a swing bowler who can swing the bowl in both ways and he has also got pace.

Kandy: Pakistan has started series with flying colours as they defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets (D/L method) in a match which was interrupted by rain several times.

Pakistan's Umar Gul (2nd L) celebrates with teammates taking the wicket of Sri Lanka's captain Mahela Jayawardene during their first One Day International (ODI) in Pallekele June 7, 2012 © Reuters

Captain of Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and decided to bat first. It was a surprise decision as it was raining continuously for some days and the conditions were damp too.

Pakistani fast bowlers Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir ripped-off the Sri Lankan top order and froze the flow of runs. Dilshan (5) got out by playing a stupid shot. Jayawardene was given a lucky break by umpires who gave a poor decision without seeing all camera replays, he was caught out on Tanvir’s delivery but question was whether his foot landed behind the line or on the line, umpires saw the 1st replay camera angle which wasn’t clear and showed that Tanvir’s foot was over the mark and gave signal of no-ball. But later television replays from different camera angles showed that the foot of Tanvir was landed just before the line/mark and Mahela must had been given out.

Gul in the next overs took the revenge and beat Jayawardene (3) with pace and swing. The ball came back sharply and umpire didn’t hesitate in raising his finger for giving lbw. The pressure which Pakistan had built on Sri Lanka’s batting resulted into another wicket when Chandimal (0) played one back onto stumps, Umar Gul was the bowler once again.

The misery continued for Sri Lanka as their another top class batsmen Kumar Sangakkara after scoring 9 runs off 31 balls got out to the yorker of fast and furious Mohammad Sami.

Fall of Mathews wicket added salt to the wounds of Lankan Loins. Thrimanne tried to become a wall in front of Pakistani bowling line-up but Thanaga left him after getting out at the ball of M. Sami.

Perera tried to become the bridge between the score and Sri Lanka by supporting Thrimanne. Couple of interruptions confused Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq as he tried to use his spinners against them but didn’t get things very fine. Part time spinner Mohammad Hafeez who is now at no.4 in ICC ODI bowlers got rid of Perera (17) with an arm-ball.

Kulasekara extended the stay of Sri Lanka by adding 18 vital runs but he was caught out by Tanvir at the ball of M. Sami. Lahiru Thrimanne remained not-out at 42 with Herath; who faced only 1 ball but didn’t score.

8 overs were deducted because of the interruptions caused by rain. Sri Lanka ended up with the score of 135/8 in 42.0 overs. Pakistan who started with flying colours scrapped their performance by giving 31 extras (lb 7, w 23, nb 1) and dropping 4 catches. Sri Lankan top order once again misfired and put the weight on middle and lower order.

Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami took 3, 3 wickets whereas Mohammad Hafeez took 2 wickets. Bowling figures of Pakistani bowlers were pretty economical.

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Pakistan started the chase with Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali. Both openers adopted cautious approach as ball was wobbling. This approach cost Pakistan when Azhar Ali gave his wicket to an ordinary delivery of Malinga, it was going away and Ali tried to slice it but the scenario ended with a catch in the gloves of wicket-keeper Sangakkara.

Stay of Younis Khan was not small, he stayed at the wicket for 23 min. , faced 16 balls but scored only 5 runs. He fell to a beautiful delivery of Nuwan Kulasekara. The score of Pakistan was 27/2 in 7.1 overs.

Once again captain Misbah-ul-Haq came in to rescue Pakistan from this situation. He build partnership with Mohammad Hafeez and also gave him confidence in raising his arms. He kept blocking the deliveries but on couple of occasions struck handsome boundaries.

Mohammad Hafeez after settling on the crease played some fine shots but unfortunately got stumped. His foot was on the line and 3rd umpire gave him out at the ball of Herath. Before getting out he scored 37 runs off 57 balls in his stay of 95 minutes and struck 5 FOURS & 1 SIX.

Young Umar Akmal came in to finish the things, he took the bowlers on and slashed them hard. It was an eye-catching moment to see two generations on crease, at one end there was 37-year old Misbah-ul-Haq and on other end there was 22-year old Umar Akmal. Both supported each other and played their game in favour of Pakistan.

Just when Pakistan was at the brink of victory, Misbah-ul-Haq got run-out. He faced 79 balls, stayed at the crease for 119 minutes, struck 4 FOURS to score 30 runs. His innings gave Pakistan a stability which was the team was looking for in uncertain situation.

His departure brought BOOM BOOM Afridi on the crease who clinched the victory for Pakistan by taking 2 runs. Umar Akmal also remained not-out at 36 runs including 6 FOURS which he scored off 48 balls.

Pakistan chased the target of 135 in 34.1 overs and sacrificed 4 wickets. Sri Lankan bowlers gave 22 extras (b 2, lb 13, w 6, nb 1). Malinga, Kulasekara and Herath bagged 1 wicket each.

Umpiring standards were down to earth as umpires gave several wrong decisions. The 2nd ODI will be played here again at Pallekele on June 09, 2012.

Result: Pakistan won by 6 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Umar Gul (Pakistan).

Dhaka: Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by 6 wickets. Incredible performance by the captain Misbah-ul-Haq and his bowling unit.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal put on 152 for the fourth wicket © AFP

Mahela Jayawardene (12) – skipper of Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. He and ex-captain Dilshan (20) started good and struck couple of boundaries to Aizaz Cheema who came back seriously and blew the Sri Lankan top order by sending their both openers back in the pavilion.

Chandimal (0) was undone by Umar Gul courtesy to a smart catch by Younis Khan in the slip. Thirimanne (7) was the next one who lost ground but this time the bowler was Hammad Azam.

The score of Sri Lanka was 65/4 in 14.3 overs. After this collapse, Sangakkara and old opener Tharanga stuck together at the crease to add some runs to the Sri Lankan innings.

Both silenced the cannons of Pakistan for some time and made a partnership of 96 runs. Saeed Ajmal was introduced by the Pakistani captain in the 3rd powerplay to break this partnership and he did exactly the same thing, he bowled Tharanga (57) through his gates.

He then erased Maharoof (2) who went for a wild hit but completely missed it. Nuwan Kulasekara (4) was picked up by the keeper at the good bouncer of Umar Gul.

Kumar Sangakkara (71) who was losing his partners tried to take on Pakistani bowlers all alone, cost him an inside edge on Cheema’s delivery which uprooted his middle stump.

Lasith Malinga (1) was the 4th victim of Aizaz Cheema. Suranga Lakmal went for a wild hit on the ball of the magician – Ajmal but was caught by long-off fielder Nasir Jamshed.

Sri Lanka was bowled out in 45.4 overs at the score of 188. Aizaz Cheema took 4 wickets for 43 in 9.0 overs, Saeed Ajmal took 3 wickets for 27 in 8.4 overs, Umar Gul took 2 wickets for 20 in 8.0 overs and Hammad Azam took 1 wicket for 21 in 4.0 overs.

Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed as usual started cautiously and this behavior cost Pakistan 3 wickets, it started with Jamshed (18) who threw his bat to a short-ball bowled by Lakmal, then Mohammad Hafeez (11) who played a ridiculous shot on the bowling of Prasanna and in the end Younis Khan (2) who punched a ball to mid-on where Maharoof took a good catch.

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Once again Pakistani top order failed to score and the burden fell on the middle-order specially on captain Misbah-ul-Haq.

He managed to keep his aggressive partner Umar Akmal cool and keep the scoreboard ticking, both took their time but in the end came out with some best shots.

Sri Lankan captain Mahela used his all available resources against these two brilliant batsmen but nothing went in his way. His key bowler Malinga who was rested in the 1st match against India because of injury wasn’t in form today, he was hit for 4 FOURS by Umar Akmal in 1 over.

There were some mighty SIXES struck by this couple. Both added 152 runs for the fourth wicket partnership. Junior Akmal who was playing at 77; in greed of finishing the match in style, he hit one high up in the air which in the end was caught out by Tharanga who earlier dropped him at 46.

Hammad Azam came in next, 4 runs were required off 6 balls to win the game with bonus point, he blocked first 4 balls but then took aerial rout to hit the 5th ball over mid-off for FOUR. Misbah-ul-Haq ran towards him, hugged him and was looking very delighted because of a bright smile on his face. He knew that Pakistan is now very close to the final.

It took 39.5 overs for Pakistan (189/4) to win the game. Misbah-ul-Haq remained not-out at 71 with Hammad Azam at 4. It is a highest score for Misbah-ul-Haq as a captain of Pakistan Cricket Team.

Suranga Lakmal was impressive, he took 2 wickets for 37 runs in 8.0 overs, Prasanna took 1 wicket for 49 in 7.5 overs and Maharoof took 1 for 23 in 7.0 overs.

Pakistan will now face India on March 18 and Sri Lanka will face Bangladesh on March 20.

Result: Pakistan won by 6 wickets.

Man Of The Match: Aizaz Cheema (Pakistan).

Dhaka: Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 21 runs in a nerve-wracking contest. Thanks to the all-round performances of Mohammad Hafeez & Umar Gul.

Umar Gul celebrates Nasir Hossain's wicket as Shakib Al Hasan watches, Bangladesh v Pakistan, Asia Cup, Mirpur, March 11, 2012 © Associated Press

Mushfiqur Rahim, captain of Bangladesh won the toss & decided to field first, it was a surprising decision for all cricket experts, even the captain of opposite side Misbah-ul-Haq was looking to bat first.

Mohammad Hafeez & Nasir Jamshed started watchfully but provided a good platform for the middle-order to stretch the innings.

Both openers added 135 runs together, Nasir who was making his comeback got run-out because of miscommunication with his partner, he played a handy knock of 54 runs (64 balls faced, hit 5 FOURs & 1 SIX).

Younis Khan didn’t trouble the score much as he caught out at 12. Junior Akmal tried to rebuild the innings but then Shahadat Hossain undone Mohammad Hafeez with a short ball who batted beautifully & scored 89 runs (126 balls faced, hit 7 FOURS).

Asad (4) was the next one to go, he also got out in the same M. Hafeez’s fashion. Umar Akmal, once again played a wrong shot just when he was looking settled, he went for 21.

Bangladesh received a huge bonus when BOOM BOOM Afridi (0) played the first ball he faced back to Shakib Al Hasan, it bounced of bowler’s hand, then hit on his left hand which went up on the right side where other batsman Misbah-ul-Haq was standing, the ball hit the grills of the helmet of Misbah and Shakib because of this favour completed a good catch. It was unlucky for Shahid Afridi who was just 1 run away from 7,000 ODI run-mark.

This wasn’t the end of the mystery, it continued as left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq bowled Pakistani skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (8) with an arm ball.

Pakistan which was 135/1 fell brutally to 198/7. Sarfraz Ahmed & Umar Gul gave some stance to the Pakistani innings by adding 53 runs off 46 balls. Umar Gul fired with the bat as he scored 39 off 25 balls by hitting 5 FOURS & 1 SIX. Sarfraz Ahmed & Saeed Ajmal remained not-out at 19 & 8 respectively.

Pakistan closed their innings at 262/8 which was indeed a reasonable total on the batting track which was a bit slow. Bangladeshi bowlers bowled good, Shahdat Hossain was a bit expensive as he gave 53 runs in 8.0 overs but took 3 vital wickets, Shakib Al Hasan took 2 wickets, Abdur Razzaq & Mashrafe Mortaza took 1, 1 wicket.

Tamim Iqbal & Nazimuddin opened innings for the Bengali tigers. Both provided a steady start to their team, Nazimuddin (30) was the first one to go, he was undone by a short ball of Cheema & was caught at 3rd man position by Umar Gul.

Tamim was looking out of colour as he was blocking balls instead of playing big shots, Jahurul Islam looked aggressive and several time came down the pitch to hit Afridi out of the park but failed many times because of the experience of BOOM BOOM.

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Afridi in the 21st over clean bowled Jahurul at the score of 23. In his next over, Afridi again clean bowled Bengali batsman but this time it was Bangladeshi captain Mushfiqur Rahim (3).

Home fans were disappointed to see the back of their captain, after adding 23 runs with Shakib, Tamim (64) became victim of Mohammad Hafeez who was testing him from the start of the innings. Mahmudullah followed him back to the pavilion as he got lbw out to M. Hafeez.

5-135 was the score of Bangladesh. This situation silenced the crowd but their star hitters Shakib Al Hasan & Nasir Hossain brought them back alive by playing some fabulous cricket.

Both irritated Pakistani bowlers and fielders, the game was just slipping off their hands until the guldozer – Umar Gul came back with extra-ordinary stunts. He broke the partnership by taking the golden wicket of flyer Nasir Hossain who was on 47 (49 balls faced , hit 3 FOURS & 1 SIX).

Then Saeed Ajmal came with a bang to take two wickets in an over; 1st clean bowled Abdur Razzaq with his off-spinner & then Mashrafe Mortaza with his doosra.

All these events stunned the crowd, in the next over, Gul came back & cleaned Shafiul Islam, Bangladesh was now down to 9 wickets for 235 & still 28 runs were required off 24 balls, the target was indeed chasable but only 1 wicket was in their hand.

Shakib at the other end was stranded and in the next over tried to take pressure off his team by hitting  a FOUR to Saeed Ajmal. But after that shot, it went all in favour of Pakistani bowlers, first Ajmal & then Cheema bowled on pretty good line & length which took the game way away of Bangladesh.

The required run-rate went very high as 11 R.P.O were required & 2 overs were in the bucket. Mr. Gulli came back with superb ball which pitched in good length area, Shakib swung his bat hard but missed the ball and got clean bowled. Credit goes to Shakib Al Hasan who tried his best and gave his heart to Bangladeshi crowd & team’s effort, he scored 64 runs off 66 balls & hit 4 FOURS.

That was the end of the Bangladeshi innings, they fell apart down to 241 in 48.1 overs. Pakistani bowlers once again snatched victory from the opposition, the leader of the attack – Umar Gul took 3 wickets for 58 runs in 9.1 overs, a bit expensive but he will not mind, Mohammad Hafeez took 2 wickets for 40, Saeed Ajmal took 2 wickets for 45 runs, Shahid Afridi took 2 wickets for 49 runs & Aizaz Cheema took 1 for 47 in 9 overs.

A pretty good start for Pakistan, under new head coach Dav Whatmore, they’ll be looking forward to improve their batting which cost them many matches. Bangladesh was pretty close to win the game but they missed the trick to hold their nerves, they were outstanding in the fielding, ex-Pakistani cricketer who is now a commentator Ramiz Raja said that “Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) really helped Bangladeshi players to keep fit & tight in the field.”

This is Pakistan’s 23rd consecutive win against Bangladesh in ODI’s. Pakistan so far has played 30 ODI’s against Bangladesh, won 29 and lost just 1 (in ICC World Cup 1999 on 31st of May at Northampton – England when Bangladesh set target of 224 & Pakistan got out at 161).

The 2nd match of ACC Asia Cup 2012 will be played between India & Sri Lanka on March 13, 2012 here in Dhaka.

Result: Pakistan won by 21 runs.

Man Of The Match: Mohammad Hafeez (Pakistan).