A Scare for the Kiwis as Pakistan Fight Back

Moin at His Best
By SS
December 23 2003

Pakistan rattled the Kiwi cages as they had the hosts reeling in their second innings. An excellent effort in the last day capped off a satisfactory performance in the opening test at Hamilton.

After 2 days of the recently concluded Hamilton test, even the most partisan of Pakistani fans must have been walking around with a furrowed brow. Not only had the New Zealanders dominated the Pakistani rising star Mohamed Sami, but Pakistan had also struggled to finish off the tail, something which Pakistani quicks normally have no trouble in achieving. Daniel Vettori, a player who in the past has never really made much of an impression with the bat scored a demoralizing 137 against an attack which was disorganized and lacking line and length and guidance.

The Kiwi captain was walking around with a spring in his step, the cocky Kiwis were cock a hoop with their massive score of 563 and were licking their lips at attacking a relatively inexperienced Pakistani lineup. Their commentators were on the edge of their seats in anticipation of an innings defeat and all that was required was the relatively simple task of giving the ball to Butler, Tuffey and co and the Pakistanis would fold. Well let me tell you and this message has got through to the New Zealand players and media, that this Pakistani team which is by no means the most talented and star studded team ever to tour New Zealand, is 1 team, not 11 individuals. I can think of quite a few of the past Pakistani teams who would have thrown in the towel, blasted a few fours and sixes whilst at the crease, played and missed a few times and then eventually got themselves out – game over by tea on day 4. The current Pakistani team is a mixture of gutsy hard working cricketers and some young geniuses, a combination which in my opinion is working a treat.

Gone are the days of player power, sulking and individual performances taking importance over the teams effort. This bunch of players have the spirit and the mental toughness to achieve great things, but of course there is still along way to go and there will no doubt be peaks and troughs in this journey.

Yasirs stroke filled 80 was a classy effort and he is proving to be the answer to that problem number 3 position which nobody seems to have wanted in the past. A gutsy little guy who is still learning his art, he has all the shots and under the guidance of Javed Miandad he seems to be getting better and better. The skipper although not at his fluent best, stuck it out and shared a crucial partnership with Abdul Razzaq. But it was left to Moin Khan and Mohamed Sami to ease Pakistan well past the follow on total. Moin, the master of the crisis situation batted in true Moin style, unorthodox, cheeky and damn right irritating for the bowlers. Mohamed Sami who bowled poorly in the first innings restored some of his confidence with an excellent innings supporting his wicketkeeper.

A deficit of 100 was not what the Kiwis were expecting and they were left in a confusing position of going into the last day knowing that they could not realistically win the test. What Pakistan had in store for them was some Pakistani style fireworks.

Batsmen just never learn do they? How many times have batsmen irritated and annoyed a bowler only for that bowler to come back and wreak havoc on a team. This time it was Mark Richardson who made the mistake of winding up Mohamed Sami, who then on day 5 found his rhythm with devastating effect. Sami shook off the cobwebs of the first innings and showed the hosts what he can do and what he is made of. Pace, precision and aggression, combined with some superb catching behind the wicket, had the Kiwis rattled. The relatively inexperienced trio of Shabbir, Gul and Kaneria provided useful back up bowling and all are improving steadily in international terms.

In the end it was the weather that won, but as they say in boxing, Pakistan won on points. Pakistan have scored some major psychological blows in the New Zealand second innings and with Sami finding his form, together with the likelihood of a return to the fold for Shoaib Akhtar, I think the tourists will be looking forward to the second test more than their hosts.