A view from the Gully (16 June 1999)
True to expectations three of the top favourites have reached the semifinals of 1999 World Cup Cricket
16-Jun-1999
16 June 1999
A view from the Gully
Tawfiq Aziz Khan
True to expectations three of the top favourites have reached the
semifinals of 1999 World Cup Cricket. The bookies must be very
pleased, and so will be the teams and a new equation has already
been in place with Pakistan taking the top spot ahead of South
Africa and Australia. Despite their past performances in the
World Cup, which are impressive without being brilliant, New
Zealand are being regarded as outsiders as Zimbabwe would have
been. Pakistan's only victory in the Super Six against Zimbabwe
not only gave them the points required for a semifinal place but
also enhanced their run rate to such an extent that they find
themselves in the most advantageous position on top having the
privilege of playing against the weakest (no malice intended to
New Zealand) of the four. This is indeed a matter of great
satisfaction for the Pakistanis but by no stretch of imagination
an occasion for complacency, a competition like this never
undermine the weaknesses of the opponent. A team which can reach
that stage must have its strong points also and a win in the
preliminaries is no guarantee for a victory in the semis.
Pakistan must remember the 1992 semis against the Kiwis in
Auckland. In that tournament Pakistan was the team which came
from the brink to reach the semis and beat the Kiwis by four
wickets and finally lifted the trophy in Melbourne against
England. This is a game of cricket and anything may happen.
So far the Pakistani bowlers have had to carry their team on
their shoulders. They have bowled exceedingly well against their
opponents. As a result all their regular bowlers are in the list
of top ten in this tournament, a rare glory indeed. Like some of
the top contenders, Pakistan so far have not suffered a genuine
fifth bowler problem; in fact, if Afridi is in the team, they
will have an extra hand to tide over any emergency. But batting
must shape up in these important stages of the tournament. The
lower order has performed extremely well so far and, if the top
and middle really clicks then the latter batsman will be spared
of the pressure. Yousuf Youhana's absence will definitely be felt
in batting and fielding but that should be compensated by Ijaz
Ahmad.
The Kiwis have a good record in World Cup tournaments but the
current one has been very depressing for them. Apart from
Scotland and Bangladesh, their only glorious moment was against
Australia in the first leg. Their batsmen have shown
determination against a demoralised India in the Super Six that
actually won them a semifinal berth on net run rate. They have a
very fine bowler in Geoff Allott who tops the bowling at this
stage but he alone possibly cannot take the team to the final.
Nash, Cairns, Harris and others have to support Allott as best as
they can. Batting looks suspect and big innings from Nathan Astle
and Chris Cairns are due and together with Roger Twose, Matthew
Horne, Craig McMillan and Steve Fleming the Kiwis should pose
serious problems.
Pakistan is a better team than the Kiwis anyday. But this
enormously talented team had many hiccups in recent times mostly
because of their internal squabblings and western media smear
campaign against their key players. This situation has been
reversed and the team has been transformed into a cohesive and
fighting unit under Wasim Akram's leadership, their recent
defeats notwithstanding.
This is one team which is full of surprises.
Source :: The Daily Star