Story ICC Battle For Supremacy - Its Fifty-Fifty! | PAK v ENG | ENG Innings

[Roofrom50]

The England openers have done a good job at the start of the innings. Have seen off the new ball without risking a wicket

 

[BKB1991]

A good start from England considering Gul and Akhtar were doing a good job. England in a slightly better position at this point.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

Really impressive guys - I love it! Just visited this side of the forum and have spent the last hour and a half or so just following this - top work

 

[Gaurav_7]

Always good to see some new people coming and appreciating the writers. On behalf of the writers, thank you. Riz has been wonderful!

 

[riz7khan12]

ICC Battle for Supremacy
Pakistan v England
Match Three, Dhaka​

Mighty, Mighty English!
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With England off to a relatively slow start, it was important that the openers picked up the pace a little and put that pressure back on the bowlers. We saw that in the previous two overs where 16 runs came off them. The batsmen were finding it difficult to score at first but because of the misfields the batsmen turned singles into three?s and took pressure of themselves while picking up free runs.
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Pakistan?s fielding problem was rearing its ugly head again, backing up was non-existent and because of this all of the unnecessary throws at the stumps were leaking runs.​

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After the early overs, Afridi decided to bring on his secret weapon... the unreadable Saeed Ajmal. Unfortunately for him though, the batsmen were up for the challenge they choked the spin by standing outside the crease and then charging at the ball for almost every delivery. They weren?t able to score runs of those deliveries but they weren?t beaten by the ball either and eventually Ajmal dished up bad balls more often and was punished from both the batsmen.​

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With nothing working for Afridi they were in real trouble, the bowling was becoming easier to face and even Umar Gul coming back didn?t trouble the batsmen. Kieswetter brought up his half-century with a powerful cut shot that went for six, soon after captain Strauss brought up his own in the 25th over and England were 121/0.
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Kieswetter hadn?t picked up his scoring rate from the start though, facing a 100 balls for his 58, fortunately for him though Strauss was in excellent form and looked more like he would get a big score with every ball he faced. ​

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With England on 122 for no loss, they are well and truly on top of this game right now, what can Afridi do to pick up a wicket? If he can?t pick up a wicket soon he might as well kiss this game goodbye as a score of 320+ is an inevitable outcome. ​

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[Roofrom50]

Great start from the two England batsman. Strauss and Kieswetter have done nicely at the top of the order, and they won't want to stop here. They need to keep the run rate up and do everything they are doing to post a big score here.

 

[Aditya]

Brilliant batting from the two English opening batsmen. Pakistani bowlers will need to do something very special to stop the English team from reaching to 300.

Good update, Riz.

 

[Varun]

Pakistan are having a hard time out there. Nothing has really seemed to work for them. On the other hand, England have managed to pull off a great start, albeit a little slow. Strauss is looking amazing!

 

[Meet]

England are on top.Putting 121* for opening stand is just brilliant.Pakistan need to strike before its too late.Kieswetter though being on slower side have contributed some important runs.

 

[HawkAussie]

Pakistan need to lift their game up if they want to win.

 

[AkshayS]

England should go for quick runs now, a very good start and they can just target the bowlers now and match will be in total control.

 

[surendar]

England totally in commanding position, which was what missing in their recent CB series. Would like to see a century from Strauss though.

 

[riz7khan12]

ICC Battle for Supremacy
Pakistan v England
Match Three, Dhaka​

Pakistan Strike Back!​

Pakistan needed to make a breakthrough and fast if they had any chance of restricting the English to a score below 320. Fortunately for Pakistan, Strauss was out 3rd ball of Umar Gul?s new spell. He top edged a straight forward leg stump half volley trying to smack the ball for six but ended up being an easy catch for Umar Akmal at square leg. ​

His opening partner was soon to follow as indecision resulted in a run out; Kieswetter swept the ball straight to midwicket and took off without calling. He was sent back by Bell but it was too late, Akmal had already whipped the bails off. Kieswetter was looking good for a big score but now he just seemed to have wasted too many balls for his 63. ​

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After all that hard work, the batsmen gave their wickets away and now with two new batsmen in and the scoreboard reading 129/2, Pakistan were slightly ahead and they knew this too. Afridi decided to bring Akthar back into the attack and he was generating some serious pace! He broke the record he set himself back in the 2003 world cup not once but twice. He bowled a ball at 162.2 km/h which he then topped again to 162.3 km/h beating the record by 1 km/h. But it wasn?t just about the pace, he was consistently bowling over 155+ in and around the stumps causing huge trouble for the batsmen and testing out their technique. Many balls were left and others edged through the vacant slip/thirdman area.​

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But, the batsmen were still able to capitalise on the spinner at the other end. This meant that they were still managing to go at 4 runs an over without too much risk although Akthar did clean bowl Pietersen unfortunately though it was a no-ball. Slowly but surely they weathered Akthar?s barrage and took advantage of the slower bowlers, a solid partnership bloomed.​

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The way cricket is; this wasn?t going to last for long. Just as the partnership gathered momentum, Bell smashed a loose ball from Afridi straight to short cover where again Umar Akmal took a blinder to dismiss Ian Bell for 24. Pakistan gained the upper hand again with only 12 overs left in the innings the next man in won?t have enough time to get set and this wicket could cause a collapse. ​

Pietersen however was looking good, he was picking up singles and two?s along with the occasional boundary. But yet another piece of miscommunication between the batsmen and Pietersen was a victim of another run out, he backed up too far and Ajmal the bowler had no troubles picking up the ball and hurling it at the stumps. This wicket had come at a most inopportune time, with just 10 overs left there were two new batsmen at the crease and the scoreboard reading 198/4 England had wasted their incredible start and it was now about reaching a suitable target around 270 with the batting powerplay still available.​

Pakistan on the other hand have played the complete opposite of which they were before, taking blinders, direct hits and other pieces of good fielding. But the match will be decided here, if they let Collingwood and Morgan get away from them 300 would still be reachable with the batting powerplay and Freddie still left.​

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[Meet]

A good comeback here.Expected much from the openers after the start they had given, but they both threw away their wickets in a quick interval of time.Kieswetter will be the cause for not reaching a promising total of 300.Bell and Pietersen threw away their wickets after getting the starts.Morgan should play an explosive if they want to reach 300 or 250-270 is what they gonna score but again if Pakistan picks up some quick wickets, they can even restrict them below 250.Batting powerplay will be important for England- to score quick runs and not loose away wickets.

After all that hard work, the batsmen gave their wickets away and now with two new batsmen in and the scoreboard reading 129/2, Pakistan were slightly ahead and they knew this too. Afridi decided to bring Akthar back into the attack and he was generating some serious pace! He broke the record he set himself back in the 2003 world cup not once but twice. He bowled a ball at 162.2 km/h which he then topped again to 162.3 km/h beating the record by 1 km/h. But it wasn’t just about the pace, he was consistently bowling over 155+ in and around the stumps causing huge trouble for the batsmen and testing out their technique. Many balls were left and others edged through the vacant slip/thirdman area.

Common in AC09.:P

 

[riz7khan12]

Common in AC09.:P

the proof's there in the vid , i genuinely found it tough to face him. luckily he bowled a few no-balls which helped the run rate.