Story ICC 2006- Lancashire 2009: Journey To The Top- (FC Match) Lancs- 36/3

[The Blazer]

AFRIDI SAYS PAKISTAN PLAYED SUPERBLY TO DEMOLISH THE AUSSIES​

Pakistan Captain, Shahid Afridi stated in a post-match press conference that his team "batted well and bowled superbly to defeat the Australians". The 28 yr old skipper said that he was happy with the way the team performed and hoped that their good form continued throughout the One Day series.

"We played very well to beat the Australians. They are of course one of the top sides in the world and have a lot of good players like Ponting, Hayden and Hussey. To beat them is a great achievement. India outplayed them last winter in the One Day series and we are hoping to do the same. It was our teamwork and determination to win that made us come out on top in the first ODI. We were put in to bat on a difficult pitch and Hasan Raza batted very well against the Australians. It is sad that he got out so close to his hundred, but this performance will give the youngster a lot of confidence. But it was our amazing bowling that won us the match. Asif and Razzaq bowled very well, but Rana bhai was the best- He picked up four wickets without conceding a lot of runs. Inshallah he and the others will keep bowling well throughout the series."

Afridi: Pakistan's bowlers have done a great job.​

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Yeah Afridi's Right, an Outragous Win.

 

[The Blazer]

AUSTRALIA AND PAKISTAN NAME TEAMS FOR 2nd ODI​

Shoaib Malik
Shehzad Malik
Hasan Raza
Mohammad Yousuf
Faisal Iqbal
Shahid Afridi (c)
Abdul Razzaq
Zulqarnain Haider (w)
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan
Shabbir Ahmed
Mohammad Asif

Mike Hussey
Phil Jaques
Ricky Ponting (c)
Shane Watson
Matthew Hayden
Brad Hodge
Adam Gilchrist (w)
Brett Lee
Nathan Bracken
Jason Gillespie
Steve Clark

 

[The Blazer]

PAKISTAN VS AUSTRALIA 2nd ODI​

Rameez Raja: A very warm welcome to all our viewers! Welcome to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore where today we see Pakistan take on Australia in the 2nd ODI of the Habib Bank series. It's a bright, sunny day here in Lahore today; and the pitch looks hard and dusty. It's a good batting pitch, definately; but I think it'll also provide some bounce and pace for the fast bowlers. The captains were out here a minute ago and Shahid Afridi won the toss and decided to bat first. Good decision, I think. If the batsmen get settled then a lot of runs can be scored off this pitch.

Now let's take a look at the line-ups. No change in the Pakistani XI, but Australia have brought in Brad Hodge in place of Michael Clarke and S Clark for Steve Magoffin.

Rameez Raja: I think viewers will be glad that we sorted out our technical difficulties and this time around it actually displays the players' ODI averages!

The person that stands out from both line-ups is Mike Hussey; just look at that average of 57.29. Few players in the world can even come close to that! Hussey failed to perform in the first game, but he is a very dangerous batsman and Pakistan will have to be wary of him.

Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden also have averages that just about shade 40; they are of course very experienced Aussie players and they are the main cogs in the Australian line-up. Hayden batted well the last game, despite the fact that his team lost. If anyone of these two batsmen get going, then Pakistan may be in some trouble.

Looking at the Pakistani XI, their lack of experience at the One Day circuit is shown by the fact that there are some low averages in there. The main reason for this, however, is that the Pakistan team went through a complete face-lift last year and now several young players find themselves in the national team. I'm sure that as time goes on and they gain more experience, players like Hasan Raza, Faisal Iqbal and Zulqarnain Haider will build on their ODI averages.

Rameez Raja: Well, here we go. Out come the Aussie players onto the field, followed by the two Pakistani openers: Shoiab and Shehzad Malik. Here we go!

 

[treva]

Good equal games so far!!!

great presentation still Blaze!!
Reps for you

 

[The Blazer]

2nd ODI POST-MATCH ANALYSIS​

Rameez Raja: Welcome back to Sky Sports HD. Well, that scorecard tells it's own story. Australia have made the perfect comeback by defeating Pakistan by 5 wickets in the 2nd ODI of the series. There were several reasons why the the Aussies out-performed the Pakistanis; let's go back to the start of the day when Shahid Afridi won the toss and decided to bat first...

Rameez Raja: The two Maliks jogged out to open the innings for Pakistan. They recieved a tremendous reception from the crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium; the fans were hoping for another good win against the Aussies. Shehzad and Shoaib started off slowly, but made an opening stand of 40 before the Australians struck.

In-form bowler Nathan Bracken bowled a beautiful outswinger that Shoaib was tempted into playing, and the ball edged the bat and went straight back into Gilchrist's hands.

Pakistan No.3 Hasan Raza then joined Shehzad at the crease and took Pakistan past the 50 mark, before Brett Lee came charging in and sent Shehzad Malik's stumps flying everywhere.

Mohammad Yousuf then calmed things down and scored a crucial 50 for Pakistan, but in this time both Raza (31) and Faisal Iqbal (26) fell to the Australian pacemen.

MoYo was then dismissed by Watson for 61. Two balls later dangerman Abdul Razzaq was also sent back to the pavillion as Watson cleaned him up. Shahid Afridi then seemed to be Pakistan's last hope and he started off in fine fashion, hitting Watson and Clark for boundaries. This little cameo from Afridi came to a end though when Clark bowled a slower ball and the Pakistani skipper sent the ball straight back to the bowler.

Haider and Rana Naved held on for the last over and Pakistan finished on a disappointing 217-7.

As the graph below scores, Pakistan scored way too slowly during the powerplays to have any chance of posting a good total.

Then out came the Australian openers, Mike Hussey and Phil Jaques. They were looking to make a solid start to the innings, but again the Pakistani bowlers had other plans.

Mohammad Asif and Shabbir Ahmed started off superbly, conceding only 6 runs off the first four overs. Hussey was really struggling and he was eventually cleaned up by Asif for just 1. Jaques was soon to follow, Ahmed making a real mess of the Aussie's stumps.

After this though, the Australians were constantly on top throughout the match. Ricky Ponting went on to make a brilliantt 76 off 73 balls and he was helped by Shane Watson who made a defiant 46. Afridi, Razzaq and Rana Naved got three late wickets but Hodge and Gilchrist guided Australia home with two overs to spare. All in all, an easy victory for the Aussies.

The Australians performed really well and Pakistan were never really in this game, as the score comparison below shows:

 

[The Blazer]

RICKY PONTING HITS BACK AT PAKISTAN COACH​

Australian Captain Ricky Ponting has hit back at Pakistani Coach Aamer Sohail for his rash words before the start of the ODI series. The Aussie skipper stated in a press conference that the Australian camp did not appreciate Sohail's arrogance.

"He [Sohail] said before the start of the ODI series that we did not deserve to win the Test series. This is just blind arrogance. He needs to realize that although it was a close and competitive series, we out-performed the Pakistanis in the last Test Match and fully deserved to win. It doesn't help the game if people like him keep making stupid statements like that.
[Speaking about the ODI series] It's been a pretty close thing so far. Pakistan out-played us in the first One Dayer and that's why we lost. Our bowling was alright, but we lacked in the batting department. Confidence was pretty low after that first game, but we came back in the second One Dayer and played really well, thus winning by 5 wickets. We were pretty solid; batted superbly and kept the bowling tight."

Ponting: Not happy with Aamer Sohail's attitude.​

 

[The Blazer]

PAKISTAN VS AUSTRALIA NAME TEAMS FOR 3rd ODI​

​

Shoaib Malik
Shehzad Malik
Hasan Raza
Mohammad Yousuf
Faisal Iqbal
Shahid Afridi (c)
Abdul Razzaq
Zulqarnain Haider (w)
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan
Shabbir Ahmed
Mohammad Asif

Mike Hussey
Phil Jaques
Ricky Ponting (c)
Shane Watson
Matthew Hayden
Brad Hodge
Adam Gilchrist (w)
Brett Lee
Nathan Bracken
Jason Gillespie
Steve Clark

 

[The Blazer]

PAKISTAN VS AUSTRALIA 3rd ODI​

Rameez Raja: Welcome to the National Stadium in Karachi! Today we see Pakistan take on Australia in the third One Dayer of the Habib Bank series. It's a very hot day here in Karachi today, and the pitch looks flat and dusty. Looks like the batsmen are in for a treat here! Suprisingly though, when the two captains were out here a moment ago and Ricky Ponting won the toss, he put Pakistan in to bat. This seems like a very strange decision to me; but obviously the Aussie skipper must have had something in mind.

Rameez Raja: The line-ups are exactly the same as the last match. Both team captains will feel that these are their strongest teams. One thing of note is that Mike Hussey's average has gone down slighty. This is obviously because he failed to perform in the first two games of the series. It's no big deal, of course, but it must be a worrying time for Hussey himself; he must desperately want to get a big score under his belt.

So, without further ado, let's get on with the match...

 

[The Blazer]

3rd ODI POST-MATCH ANALYSIS​

Rameez Raja: Welcome back to the National Stadium in Karachi where Australia have taken the upperhand and lead the series 2-1 after demolishing Pakistan. The Aussies have won this 3rd One Dayer in the Habib Bank series by a staggering nine wickets, and to be brutally honest, the Pakistani XI looked terrible today. Let's now go back to the start of the day when Ponting won the toss and put Pakistan in to bat...

Rameez Raja: Shehzad and Shoaib Malik came out to open the batting for Pakistan once again. They were in a confident mood as the pitch looked flat and promised to be a batting paradise, but looks could prove decieving- As the Maliks found out to their cost. Jason Gillespie struck in the second over of the game; Shehzad Malik flashing outside his off-stump and giving an easy catch to Hayden at first slip.

Nathan Bracken was next to strike as he removed dangerman Hasan Raza for just 3, the Pakistani No.3 getting off-guard by a beauty of a delivery and edging the ball back to the keeper.

The Aussies kept the pressure on and soon got another wicket; this time Shoiab Malik getting trapped in front of his stumps by an inswinging 90mph ball from Brett Lee. Mohammad Yousuf and Faisal Iqbal got Pakistan past the 50 mark and it looked as if some peace had been restored, but Lee came charging in and sent MoYo's stumps flying everywhere. A Pakistani collpase seemed inevitable, but skipper Afridi and Iqbal forged a crucial partnership that saw their team past the 150 milestone. During their huge 140-run partnership, both batsmen got made theirs 50s and just as it seemed that Pakistan were clawing themselves back into this game, Iqbal got caught unawares by the slower ball from Watson and was given out LBW.

Shahid Afridi, sensing that it was time to go Boom Boom, then switched gears and raised his strike-rate from a patient 62.00 to a dazzling 75 and was just showing signs of really devastating the Aussie bowlers, when Watson got another crucial breakthrough and clean bowled the skipper.

Abdul Razzaq and Haider then batted through the last few overs of the innings without any further upsets. Pakistan finished on a well below par of 216-6.

As the graph below shows, Pakistan lost too many wickets early on in their innings and this hindered them later on when they really needed to raise the runrate.

Rameez Raja: Mike Hussey and Phil Jaques then came out to open the innings for Australia. There was no need for them to rush proceedings as they had score at a run rate of well below 5 runs per over. Hussey and Jaques formed a solid opening stand that saw their team past the 50 mark, but then Ahmed made a much needed breakthrough for Pakistan by dismissing Hussey. The Aussie opener mistimed a pull shot and sent the ball straight up into the air, and Razzaq got under it and took an easy catch.

Skipper Ponting then joined Jaques at the crease and the pair went on to stroke the ball around the ground in grand style. Both cruised past their half-centuries, and were homing in on their centuries when the match was ended as Australia got home without the loss of another wicket and with six overs to spare.

The Aussies kept their cool and scored at a steady rate that ultimately saw them home with 38 balls to spare.

 

[surendar]

well presented mate.... A good read!!! comfortable win by 9 wickets for Aussies...:happy

 

[The Blazer]

CONFIDENCE HIGH IN AUSTRALIAN CAMP​

Australian opener Mike Hussey has stated that confidence is high in the Aussie camp after beating rivals Pakistan by nine wickets. With two games to go and Australia leading the series 2-1, Hussey thinks that they are already in a winning position.

"The last game was terrific for us. Pakistan may have slipped a bit recently in the One Day form of the game, but they are still a hard side to beat and we played superbly to win by nine wickets. It was an all-round good performance from the boys; we performed with the ball and then put the effort in with the bat. It's great to see Phil get a big score under his belt and Punter of course showed why he is skipper by playing such a wonderful knock. I'm eager to get a few runs as well; I certainly haven't been up to scratch so far in this series but hopefully I'll perform in the next couple of games. And yeah, I'm pretty sure we can win this series- We may have the lost the first game, but we came back strong to level the series in the second game and we just won the third one as well so the momentum is with us."

Hussey: Australia can win this series.​

 

[The Blazer]

PCB UNVEIL NEW PAKISTAN KIT​

Their national team may just have suffered a crushing defeat at the hand of the Australians, but Pakistan fans still have a lot to look forward to as today the PCB released a sneak preview of the brand new 2008 kit that Pakistan shall be wearing in the Pespi Cup Tri-Series in the U.A.E later on this summer:

 

[kookaburra69]

looks like a nice kit

 

[Bigglesworth]

Things looking bad for Pakistan, but I think Hussey's confidence (or arrogance) could come back to haunt him.

Great presentation work