By Meg Anderson
LONDON
(TheSportsNext) September 5, 2012: Australia defeated Pakistan by three
wickets in the third and final One Day International to win the series 2-1 on
Monday but the series was very well-fought and only better fielding by the
Aussies separated the two quality cricketing sides.
Australia won the first match by four wickets before
Pakistan rallied and clinched the second match by seven wickets while the third
match went to the wire and Australia beat the home side by only three wickets.
Have you observed the common factor in all the three
results? Yes, all the matches were won by the teams batting second which gives
us a clear indication that toss was the prime factor in the outcome of the
matches.
However, there were five other reasons why Australians were
able to defeat Pakistan in their “backyard” and I’m going to state them here as
under.
1: Australia Oozing
With Confidence
Australia and Pakistan both had to face series defeats prior
to their meeting in the United Arab Emirates where England mauled Aussies by
4-0 in the five-match One Day International series while Sri Lanka outclassed
Pakistan by 3-1 in the five encounters.
However, Australian cricket team has a strong character
which they showed in the series against Pakistan as they never looked short of
confidence with the ball, bat and in the field where they kept cutting at least
20-30 runs in every match besides hitting the stumps regularly.
On the other hand, Pakistanis looked perturbed and their
body language was never positive in the field as they kept missing their
targets on run-out chances, chased balls in the outfield with tired legs, dived
here and there with no real intent, and then dropped some important catches.
Not to forget, the sheer difference between the quality and
experience of the two opposing wicketkeepers, i.e. Mathew Wade and Kamran
Akmal. While Mathew Wade showed how better wicketkeeper he is, Kamran Akmal
once again lived to his reputation of dropping crucial chances at critical
junctures of the game. Thankfully, this time there was no uproar of match
fixing or spot fixing against Kamran Akmal.
2: Better Skills Set
Before the series, it was said that the series would be a
battle between spin and fast bowling and an experienced looking Pakistan will
have an edge over a rather young looking Australian side. However, what we saw
in the UAE was a sheer contrast of the above observation.
Australians showed great application of their skills by
using fast bowlers on the pitches which were not suited for their type of
bowling but Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson still made the new ball do the
talking as they kept putting Pakistani batsmen under pressure for the best part
of the series.
Especially Mitchell Starc was the player of the series as he
grabbed 13 wickets from three matches and Pakistani batsmen had no answer to
his application of basics of fast bowling. Starc kept hitting the pitch hard
and hitting it with the seam which not only made the ball to skid more but also
cramped batsmen on the move.
When it came to batting, skipper Michael Clarke showed his
teammates how to bat on these surfaces and set the tone in the first One Day
International. Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Goerge Bailey, Mathew Wade, and
Glenn Maxwell followed his example in the later matches and thwarted a quality
spin bowling attack of Pakistan.
If we look at how Pakistan played this series, it is learnt
that they showed no application whatsoever and apart from Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad
Hafeez and to some extent Abdur Rehman, none of the other bowlers could use the
favorable conditions to their advantage. Talking about Pakistani batsmen, there
was nothing to talk about apart from opening batsman Nasir Jamshed who showed
great promise by applying himself as per the conditions. Mohammad Hafeez did
match him in the last ODI but Pakistan’s main concern remained their middle and
lower middle order batting which failed to carry on the momentum provided by
their openers.
3: Ability to Absorb Pressure
Interestingly, Australian youngsters not only showed better
application but they also exhibited how strong they mentally were as George
Bailey in the first game and Glenn Maxwell in the final ODI thwarted Pakistani
bowlers in a pressure-cooker-like situations.
On the other hand, Pakistan batsmen looked fragile,
especially in the Batting Powerplays where they continued losing their wickets
owing to airy-fairy shots. Asad Shafiq, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, and Kamran
Akmal, all played reckless shots during the 35-40 overs period and Pakistan
lost both the games in that very area.
4: Young Players Taking the Lead
I must say Australian young cricketers showed how ready they
were for the international cricket but on the flip side Pakistani players
failed to match their readiness as pressure always got the worst of them on
critical situations.
Whether it was bowling or batting, Australian youngsters
stepped up their game to dent Pakistan big time, whether it was the five-wicket
haul of Mitchell Starc in the first match or the quick-fired half century by
Glenn Maxwell in the third match on a pitch which offered no assistance to
slogging or hard-hitting style of batting.
5: Captain Leading From The Front
It was probably the most important factor which favored
Australia big time because Michael Clarke looked far better planner and batsman
as compared to his opposite number Misbah ul Haq who kept locking him in a
shell when a lot was expected from him.
As a captain, you have to inspire your team to achieve the
unachievable and Michael Clarke did that with the half century in the first
game which eventually was the main factor behind Australia’s victory other than
George Bailey’s effort. His half century injected confidence in the young Australians
and they started believing in their abilities and backed themselves against the
likes of Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez, and Abdur Rehman.
On the other hand, Pakistani skipper was the biggest failure
in batting department and the only time he looked in some sort of touch was in
the first game where he played an irresponsible shot in the Batting Powerplay
overs to literally gift his wicket away.
No comments:
Post a Comment