Showing posts with label India v Pakistan. Show all posts

Friday, April 1, 2011

Ajmal still baffled by Tendulkar lbw reversal

India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011

Ajmal still baffled by Tendulkar lbw reversal

ESPNcricinfo staff

Pakistan offspinner Saeed Ajmal has said that he is still not sure how the Decision Review System (DRS) overturned on-field umpire Ian Gould's lbw ruling against Sachin Tendulkar during the World Cup semi-final against India in Mohali. Gould ruled Tendulkar lbw off Ajmal in the 11th over, but the batsman reviewed the decision. Replays showed that the ball pitched in line but according to Hawk Eye the ball was missing leg stump and the decision was overturned.

Wahab Riaz

"I don't know how the television replays showed my delivery turning towards the leg side because I had bowled an arm ball and it went straight," Ajmal toldAFP on the team's arrival in Lahore. "I was 110% confident when the referral was made that the batsman was out." Tendulkar was on 23 at that point, and survived four dropped chances before he was dismissed after making a crucial 85 that earned him the Man of the Match award.

Ajmal picked up two wickets and said that he was happy with his bowling performance but disappointed that Pakistan lost the high-voltage clash to India by 29 runs. "All of us were very disappointed at losing the match because there was so much interest and hype attached to it. But in cricket one team has to lose and one has to win," he said.

The pick of the Pakistan bowlers in that game was left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz who picked up his first five-wicket haul in ODIs and had India in trouble at 205 for 6 before Suresh Raina's cameo. "The wickets of [Virender] Sehwag and Yuvraj [Singh] were most memorable for me as they are very dangerous players of pace and spin," Riaz said. Riaz had Sehwag lbw for 38 and accounted for Yuvraj Singh for a duck with a swinging, dipping full toss.

Pakistan were warmly welcomed by their fans when they arrived in Lahore and captain Shahid Afridi, who landed in Karachi, was mobbed by joyous fans on the way to his house. Opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez, who made a quick-fire 43, urged the Pakistan fans to have faith in the team. "This team has a lot of capability and will get better results in the future," he said.

Pakistan manager Intikhab Alam praised the team spirit and said the way the team had gelled together and played as a unit through the tournament was the most satisfying aspect of the campaign. "My main task was to unite the team and make it perform collectively and I think we achieved that to a great extent and that is satisfying for me."

Pakistan next travel to West Indies to play Twenty20, five one-dayers and two Tests. That tour begins on April 18.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Younis Khan drops Sachin Tendulkar

Younis Khan drops Sachin Tendulkar, India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali, March 30, 2011

©AFP

Younis Khan drops Sachin Tendulkar, India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali, March 30, 2011©AFP

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates India's win with an ecstatic leap

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates India's win with an ecstatic leap, India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali, March 30, 2011

©Associated Press

Sachin Tendulkar celebrates India's win with an ecstatic leap, India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali, March 30, 2011©Associated Press

Virender Sehwag's son joins in the post-match celebrations

Virender Sehwag's son joins in the post-match celebrations, India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali, March 30, 2011

©AFP

Virender Sehwag's son joins in the post-match celebrations, India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali, March 30, 2011

©AFP

The crucial first 15 overs

India v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, semi-final, Mohali

The crucial first 15 overs, and mysterious Misbah

The margin of the result was exactly the number of more runs India scored in the first 15 overs compared to Pakistan

S Rajesh

March 30, 2011

As it turned out, almost all the experts read the wicket wrong. MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar admitted as much in the post-match presentation, and from the scores it's obvious that run-making was a lot more difficult on this Mohali pitch than it was expected to be. The team composition and the early overs suggested a score of around 300 would be a par total, but later events showed it was another subcontinent track on which run-scoring against the hard new ball was much easier.

Misbah-ul-haq

In that context, the difference between the two teams was the runs they scored in the first 15 overs, when the ball was new. Pakistan's top three played useful cameos too, but none of them exploded in the manner that Virender Sehwag had. Sehwag's 25-ball 38 allowed India to rack up 99 in the first 15 overs, compared to Pakistan's 70. The difference of 29 was exactly the margin by which Pakistan lost the match, which means in the remaining 35 overs, the two teams scored exactly the same number of runs. Of course, the approaches of the two teams at the start were obviously different since Pakistan knew the target in front of them, but Pakistan struggled as much as India did in the middle overs. What made their case worse was the fact that they got no reciprocal help from the Indian fielders, or from the dew which was expected to set in later in the evening.

How the Indian and Pakistan innings shaped up
Team - overs	Score	Dots	1s/ 2s	4s/ 6s
India - 1 to 15	99 for 1	52	18/ 2	16/ 0
Pakistan - 1 to 15	70 for 1	57	19/ 2	11/ 0
India - 16 to 40	101 for 4	85	50/ 6	8/ 0
Pakistan - 16 to 40	107 for 5	79	53/ 12	4/ 2
India - 41 to 50	60 for 4	29	21/ 4	6/ 0
Pakistan - 41 to 50	54 for 4	33	20/ 1	5/ 1

Misbah's mystery innings
Misbah-ul-Haq's strike rate at the end of his innings was 73.68; Tendulkar's rate for his 85 was 73.91. That, perhaps, is as good an example as any to illustrate the fact that stats without context is meaningless. Misbah's inexplicable go-slow through the first half of his innings resulted in the asking rate climbing to unmanageable proportions, and it also forced the other batsmen to take risks that might otherwise have been unnecessary. He tried to make up for it later, but apart from helping him reach a personal landmark and improving his strike-rate, his late hits counted for little.

Overall, Misbah played out 42 dot balls, which was the most among Pakistan's batsmen. In his first 42 balls, he scored only 17 and played 27 dots. During this period, Pakistan's asking rate went up from 6.07 to 8.45. Younis Khan's sluggish innings didn't help either - add his 13 from 32 balls to Misbah's 17 in his first 42, and Pakistan have every reason to feel their two most experienced batsmen didn't serve them well: in those 74 balls, the two batsmen got a grand total of 30 runs, with no boundaries. Even with the power-hitters to follow, that was a bridge too far.

Misbah's mis-paced innings
	Runs	Dots	1s/ 2s	4s/ 6s
First 42 balls	17	27	13/ 2	0/ 0
Last 34 balls	39	15	13/ 0	5/ 1
Full innings (76 balls)	56	42	26/ 0	5/ 1

A spell to remember
The batsmen's poor effort ensured that a wonderful bowling performance by Wahab Riaz went in vain. He became only the second bowler, after Venkatesh Prasad, to take a five-for in an India-Pakistan World Cup match. He joins eight other Pakistan bowlers to have taken a five-for in an ODI against India.

More stats

This is India's first World Cup semi-final win at home in three attempts. They'd lost to England in 1987, and to Sri Lanka in 1996. However, they've won both their World Cup semi-final matches away from home (in 1983 and 2003).
Tendulkar has won nine Man-of-the-Match awards in World Cups, which is easily the highest. Three of those have been against Pakistan: he'd also won the prize against them in 1992 and in 2003.
Sehwag and Dhoni joined five other Indian batsmen to score 1000 ODI runs against Pakistan. Tendulkar leads with 2474 runs at an average of 39.90.
It was only the second time in his ODI career that Yuvraj Singh was dismissed for a golden duck - the first instance was against Kenya nearly ten years ago.

S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo

India well prepared for pressure games - Dhoni

India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, Mohali

India well prepared for pressure games - Dhoni

Sharda Ugra at the PCA Stadium

March 30, 2011

MS Dhoni

One of the most important benefits from India's scrappy World Cup semi-final victory over Pakistan - apart from the sound and sight of a hundred firecrackers going out around the PCA stadium on a Mohali night and the adoration of millions - is their team's sense of being in what captain MS Dhoni equated to a good spell.

Dhoni said the format of the World Cup had helped the Indians get to a stage just before the final where off-field distractions and on-field pressures could both be handled. "The format really helped us. We have had quite a few close games where we were tested. Some of the youngsters were tested. They were at the crease at a time when a big performance was needed from them. Slowly they are getting into the groove."

Dhoni said India's performances in the knockouts had given the team a greater sense of comfort going into the final, with regard to the pressures of the event. He compared the last week of the World Cup to a bowler bowling at more than 150kph. "Once you do that you don't think whether you are bowling 155 or 160. So I think after the semis, the final won't feel much different. The feeling (of the importance of a game) has been static for a while and hopefully that will really help us."

In the semi-final, Dhoni said the Indians had read the wicket incorrectly in deciding to opt for a 3-1 attack, replacing offspinner R Ashwin with left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra. It was driven, he said, by India's part-time options as well as Pakistani batsmen generally being at ease against spin. "We can manoeuvre with the part-timers. We thought on a normal Mohali pitch, you don't see assistance to spinners. The ball doesn't turn big time. Here the ball was stopping.

"I felt it was better to go with safer option, but we went with a safe option and misread the wicket."

The Indians, Dhoni said, had paced their innings against Pakistan well, particularly when compared to how they had handled the World Cup's middle and end overs prior to this game. The track, he said, became slower at the halfway stage, and with the Pakistanis bowling tight and India losing Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh off consecutive deliveries, it had become difficult to rotate the strike. "Their spinners bowled really well, even Mohammad Hafeez was able to capitalise." The innings calculation had then been tempered down. "After losing two wickets in the middle overs it is important to bat 50 overs in big games, you shouldn't look to score 300-320. If the wicket is behaving in a different way, re-adjust your target."

Dhoni said he had thought India's total of 260 was "a good score not a safe score" and India's immediate target had been to "not give away runs with the new ball."

All that Dhoni was willing to comment on about the first-ever all-Asian World Cup final to be held on April 2 was to praise the Sri Lankans for their progress through the tournament. India he said, "have also really been tested more often than not and it will be a really good game. It's not about what your rating is but how good you are on the day. You have to be at your best."

Sharda Ugra is senior editor at ESPNcricinfo

'I am proud of my team' - Afridi

India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011
'I am proud of my team' - Afridi

Shahid Afridi pronounced himself "proud" of his team's performance in the World Cup and hoped that their reception on arrival in Pakistan would reflect the side's achievement in getting to the last four at a time when expectations were significantly lower.

Pakistan lost by 29 runs to India in Mohali in a scrappy match, in which they were generally off their game with bat, ball and, most damagingly, in the field. They were in with a chance at various stages, including when they began the chase, only to let it slip each time.

Afridi said the batting, their weaker suit, had been problematic again. There were several starts but no stand greater than the opening one of 44. "We were struggling to build partnerships right through the tournament," he said. "The matches where we had partnerships we made good scores. Because we couldn't make partnerships, today we struggled and played some bad shots at the wrong time as well."

But their run-in to the game, with only one loss in seven matches, came after another period of turmoil which saw them lose three key players in last year's spot-fixing scandal, including a dangerous new-ball opening pair in Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir. To add to the instability, Afridi wasn't appointed captain until two weeks before the tournament began but an unheralded Pakistan side beat Sri Lanka, Australia and West Indies en route to the semi-final.

Afridi had said before the tournament he wanted his team in the last four and despite the loss, seemed in generally upbeat mood. "I am proud of my team and the boys have done a great job in this World Cup. A few of the youngsters are very promising and we played as a unit. Winning and losing is something different but we really played really good cricket and no one was expecting us to play cricket like this. As captain I'm very happy."

The run was Pakistan's best in a World Cup since 1999, when they were runners-up to Australia. In 2003 and 2007 they were eliminated before the knock-out stages, disastrous results which led to intense anger and criticism on their return. It is unlikely Afridi's side will receive a similar reception though already the early signs of reaction from Pakistan seemed to focus on Misbah-ul-Haq's slow batting in the chase as the cause of defeat.

"We have played better than those sides [of 2003 and 2007] and they were good sides," Afridi said. "We didn't have much hope from this side but I have respect for my team. Reception? We will go back, people will give us confidence, they backed us. If those people who make us stars say a little what's wrong with that? It's nothing big. Nobody wanted Pakistan to lose, we wanted to win, but people I think realize we gave it our all. To win six games from eight is a big achievement."

A few incidents apart, Pakistan went through the tournament without any major scandal and a visible sense of unity and togetherness within the squad. That in itself was a minor triumph given what had gone before. "The difficult circumstances we played cricket in, the difficult circumstances we have gone through in the last nine-ten months, to build this team and the effort we put in was phenomenal.

"I'd like to thank the PCB chairman for giving me support and the way the boys supported each other and me, the management and the coach, they really helped me a lot. To take a broken team, make it into a team for the World Cup and to perform like no one was expecting, I'm happy with that."

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of ESPNcricinfo

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

India scrap their way into World Cup final

India v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, semi-final, Mohali

India scrap their way into World Cup final

The Bulletin by Brydon Coverdale

March 30, 2011

Harbhajan Singh

India's dream of a World Cup triumph at home is one step closer after their bowlers suffocated Pakistan's batsmen to set up a 29-run victory in the semi-final in Mohali. Saturday's decider will now be a battle of the hosts, and while Sri Lanka might have been surprised by the strength of India's bowling effort, they would also have taken note of a slightly lacklustre batting performance.

In the end, India's 260 for 9 was enough as their bowlers did a fine job, but had Pakistan helped themselves, the target could have been so much more gettable. Sachin Tendulkar was dropped four times in his 85, MS Dhoni was put down once and while Wahab Riaz was extremely impressive in collecting five wickets, Umar Gul had one of his most forgettable days, wilting under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final.

By contrast, India's display in the field was much more professional, and that was the difference in a match that lived up to the extreme pre-match hype. The decision to leave R Ashwin out to make room for Ashish Nehra was an odd choice on a pitch offering plenty of spin, but Nehra and his bowling colleagues built the pressure and gave Pakistan's batsmen little to attack after they made a promising start and reached 70 for 1.

The Indians didn't give away an extra until the 37th over of the innings, and the way they put together strings of dot balls and tight overs was key to their success. Munaf Patel picked up two victims and Yuvraj Singh made up for his golden duck with a pair of wickets, but the most important breakthrough came when Harbhajan Singh bowled Umar Akmal for 29.

Akmal had struck a pair of sixes off Yuvraj, driving him over the sight screen and pulling him over midwicket, and anything was possible while he was at the crease. But Dhoni called on Harbhajan to replace Yuvraj, and with the first ball of his spell he came around the wicket and pushed one across Akmal, taking the off stump when the batsman played for the spin.

Shahid Afridi also fell to Harbhajan when he skied a catch off a full toss, and the obdurate Misbah-ul-Haq was left to steer the chase. He found it difficult to lift his tempo and was the last man out, caught on the boundary for 56 in the final over, but he ate up 76 deliveries and had he shown some more intent earlier, Pakistan might have had a chance.

It was a disappointing end for Pakistan after their top order gave them hope. Mohammad Hafeez made an encouraging 43 before a string of eight dot balls from Munaf brought a brain-fade as Hafeez tried a premeditated paddle sweep from outside off stump and edged behind to Dhoni.

Soon after, the loss of Asad Shafiq brought the Mohali crowd to life, when he tried to cut a Yuvraj delivery that was much too full and straight, and the middle stump was knocked back. Shafiq had made 30 and had displayed a cool temperament until that point, but the required run-rate started to balloon, and Pakistan never recovered.

But while India have booked a place in the final, they must hope they haven't used all their good fortune too soon. Tendulkar might be the finest batsman of his generation, but today he was the luckiest, dropped on 27, 45, 70 and 81. It seemed as though he was going to bring up his 100th international century with one of his least convincing innings.

Misbah at midwicket was the first to put him down, before Younis Khan spilled a regulation chance at cover, both off the bowling of Afridi. The third opportunity came when Kamran Akmal didn't move his hands quickly enough to a thick edge, again off Afridi, and while that was a tough opportunity, a pull to Umar at mid-on from the offspin of Hafeez should have been taken.

Before he had any of those lives, Tendulkar had survived two very tight calls on 23: an lbw decision that was given out by Ian Gould but on review proved to be spinning down leg, and a near-stumping the next delivery when he just got his back foot down in time after losing his balance reaching outside off. When Tendulkar was finally taken at cover by Afridi off the bowling of Ajmal, Pakistan's relief was evident.

Soon after, a scratchy Dhoni, who was also dropped by Kamran, made the mistake of challenging Simon Taufel on an lbw decision. Dhoni had 25 when he missed a Riaz delivery that pitched just in line and was hitting the stumps. It was the second outstanding call by Taufel, who had given Virender Sehwag lbw in a similar fashion earlier, even though the left-armer's angle meant pitching outside leg was a possibility.

Riaz was the man who Afridi had to thank for keeping Pakistan in the contest after India made a strong start and reached 114 for 1 off their first 18 overs. After Gautam Gambhir was stumped wandering down the pitch against Hafeez, Riaz grabbed two wickets in two balls - Virat Kohli caught at backward point and Yuvraj bowled by a low full toss for a golden duck.

Nobody looked as fluent as the crease as Sehwag, who took 21 off Gul (0 for 69) from the third over of the innings. What looked like a 300-plus total in those early overs became 260 when Suresh Raina helped them recover from their middle-order failures.

It was enough, but India's batsmen will need to improve if they want to lift the trophy on Saturday. For now, they can dream of their first World Cup in 28 years.

pakistan 28/0 in 5 overs

Pakistan openers make positive start

India v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, semi-final, Mohali

Riaz takes five as India reach 260

It was difficult to imagine that this semi-final could live up to the extreme pre-match hype but at the halfway point, India and Pakistan had justified the build-up. Sachin Tendulkar played one of the luckiest innings of his career, dropped four times in his 85, while a wonderful bowling effort from Wahab Riaz helped restrict India to 260, which on a good batting pitch and fast outfield was a reasonable result for Pakistan.

But while the first 50 overs were captivating, Sri Lanka would have enjoyed what they saw from the two teams fighting for the chance to meet them in Saturday's final. Apart from Riaz and the Pakistan spinners, the standard of cricket from both sides was rather poor; Pakistan's fielding was atrocious, Umar Gul (0 for 69) had his worst day in a long while, and India's batsmen seemed to wilt under the pressure of a World Cup semi-final.

Wahab Riaz

Suresh Raina (36 not out) added some late runs, and 43 in the batting Powerplay in the dying stages could yet prove invaluable. India must now rely on their bowlers, and judging by the turn found by Saeed Ajmal and his colleagues, India's decision to leave out R Ashwin to make room for Ashish Nehra could prove a mistake.

That said, it was the seam movement of Riaz that caused the biggest problems for India, and he finished with 5 for 46, finding wickets just when Pakistan needed them. His much-deserved five-for arrived with a tickle behind from Zaheer Khan in the 50th over, and Pakistan must be relieved that they didn't succumb to temptation and drop him for Shoaib Akhtar.

And by picking up two lbw decisions and bowling Yuvraj Singh first ball, Riaz took the Pakistan fielders out of the equation. Tendulkar was put down on 27, 45, 70 and 81, and it seemed as though he was going to bring up his 100th international century with one of his least convincing innings of recent times.

Misbah-ul-Haq at midwicket was the first to drop Tendulkar, before Younis Khan spilled a regulation chance at cover, both off the bowling of Shahid Afridi. The third chance came when Kamran Akmal didn't move his hands quickly enough to a thick edge, again off Afridi, and while that was a tough opportunity, a pull to Umar Akmal at mid-on from the offspin of Mohammad Hafeez should have been taken.

And before he had any of those lives, Tendulkar had survived two very tight calls on 23: an lbw decision that was given out by Ian Gould but on review proved to be spinning down leg, and the next delivery a near-stumping when he just got his back foot down in time after losing his balance reaching outside off. When Tendulkar was finally taken at cover by Afridi off the bowling of Ajmal, Pakistan's relief was evident.

Soon after, a scratchy MS Dhoni, who was also dropped by Kamran, made the mistake of challenging Simon Taufel on an lbw decision. Dhoni had 25 when he missed a Riaz delivery that pitched just in line and was hitting the stumps, and it was the second outstanding call by Taufel, who had given Virender Sehwag lbw in a similar fashion earlier, even though the left-armer's angle meant pitching outside leg was a possibility.

Nobody looked as fluent as the crease as Sehwag, who took 21 off Gul from the third over of the innings. There were boundaries from a flick over midwicket, a clip through the same region, a cut from a slower ball, a nudge behind square leg and a cover-drive off a no-ball, and the most remarkable thing about the over was that Sehwag didn't also dispatch the free hit.

The initial signs were worrying for Pakistan as Sehwag also drove Abdul Razzaq back over his head for a boundary. But what looked like a 300-plus total in those early overs became a much more gettable chase, and set up a fascinating second half in the battle to face Sri Lanka.

Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan fans, watching the semi-final on a big screen in Islamabad, celebrate the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar, India v Pakistan, 2nd semi-final, World Cup 2011, March 30, 2011©AFP

Great start by openers

India v Pakistan, World Cup 2011, semi-final, Mohali

Great start by openers

Pakistan 15/0 in 2.2 overs

Wahab Riaz

Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

Friday, April 1, 2011