Game 4 : Australia V Pakistan , Birmingham
Rameez Raza : Unbelievable scenes at Egbaston as Pakistan have beaten the world Champions by 25 runs to infuse a new life into the tournament . The Star of the show from Pakistani batting point of view was Afridi . IT was not the usual bludgeoning innings by the Pathan but instead a steady and patient innings which helped Pakistan reach a competitive total . The aussie bowling looked a bit out of sorts .Bret Lee was superb but eh others struggled to find their rhythm . Brad hogg was bludgeoned out of the attack by the Pakistanis . The total of 261 still looked nowhere near safe on a batting beauty at Birmingham but as we saw in the India-Pak game at birmingham , it is difficult to chase at Birmingham . The aussies got off to a great start as well with Gilchrist and Hayden batting solidly . At 172/2 Australia looked favorites but Shahid Afridi was not yet done for the day , He picked up crucial wickets and especially the one of Hayden of a quicker delivery got Pakistan through ! I have Michael Slater with me, Michael , what do you think about the Australian display today !
Slater : Lacklustre by Australian standards . The Aussies would never lose a game from 172/2 chasing 261 even on an off day and it clearly shows what lack of matchpractice can do even to th best of sides . Pakistan , on the other hand had just come off 2 gruelling encounters against England and India yesterday and though thy lost, they were not short of matchpractice . Full marks to them for utilizing it ! The seris looks wide open now . Heck of a lot of cricket to be played yet an the Windies have not yet played a game ! This is turning out to be a cracker . India, though look the in-form team !
Rameez : thanks Michael ! We have the press conference with Inzamam and Ricky Ponting coming up !
---------------------------Press Conference-----------------------------
Reporter : Ricky, a shock defeat ! How have the guys reacted ?
Ricky : The boys are obviously very disappointed . We played some lacklustre cricket today and paid for it . The Pakistanis deserved to win today .
Reporter : Did the lack of match practice affect you ?
Ricky : Its not an excuse . We have got to be used to some off-season breaks and not let it affect our game .
Reporter : Did the pitch behave differently in the second innings ? We saw Pakistan struggling to chase 194 against India y`day too .
Ricky : Not at all . It looked fine till Gilly and Matty Hayden were batting . WE batted poorly in the middle overs and did not deserve to win !
Reporter : The next game is versus India, the inform team . Any special preparations for that ?
Ricky : Ya , India are an in-form side but we`ve had th better of them off late . We`ll try and play good cricket !
----------------------Press Conf. with Inzamam --------------------------
Reporter : Inzy , a great win ! How did the boys bounce back after the loss to India .
Inzamam : First of all , I would like to thank th Almighty . Th boys were confident of doing well and they played to their potential .
Reporter : Afridi batted slowly for his standards, any instructions to him by the team managment !
Inzy : Shahid actually said to me before the game that he will play a big innings today and not throw it away and it helped us win !
Reporter : Got your first win against the World Champions ! It has given the team a chance to come back in the tournament after th early losses . What do You feel about your chances of reaching the finals !
Inzamam : There is still lot of cricket to be played and we have to play well consistently to reach the finals .
NEXT MATCH : INDIA V PAKISTAN , Trent Bridge,Nottingham
