Pakistan look to maintain World Cup momentum
PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: It’s a brand new day and a brand new pitch and the smart money is on Pakistan, who are confident that they will continue their winning streak in the potentially high-voltage World Cup game against New Zealand on Tuesday (today).
The Pakistanis have won all their three World Cup games and will be looking to further consolidate their pole position in Pool A by taming the Black Caps, whom they beat 3-2 in a six-match One-day International series in New Zealand last month.
New Zealand will take the field after what was a highly clinical 10-wicket triumph over Zimbabwe that followed a seven-wicket defeat against defending champions Australia.
The pitch here at the Pallekele International Stadium, which will be hosting its first ever ODI, has been under focus and could play a major role in the outcome of today’s match. It seems to be hard and is likely to provide the bowlers with more bounce than many of the other World Cup wickets.
Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan vice-captain, said that his players will use all their expertise to negotiate the new pitch. “It will be tough for every team because we don’t have any stats of this ground. You have no idea how the pitch will play. I think it’s difficult but you have to handle these things as professionals and handle them properly,” Misbah told reporters here on Monday. “The way it looks, it’s hard and it has grass so it will have some bounce,” he added.
Pakistan are hoping that their pace attack, spearheaded by Shoaib Akhtar, will make good use of what seems like a bouncy wicket.
“Shoaib is fully fit and we hope that he will bowl with a lot of fire tomorrow,” Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan captain, told ‘The News’ here. “He got a good rest and is bowling really fast in the nets,” he added.
Shoaib played in the first two games against Kenya and Sri Lanka but was rested for last Thursday’s match against Canada. Wahab Riaz, the left-arm pacer, who took Shoaib’s place didn’t impress much in a 46-run win over the Canadians.
Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand captain, will hope that his team will make use of the fact that unlike Pakistan they have played here before. The Black Caps requested Sri Lanka to have one of their warm-up matches shifted to Pallekele and later played Sri Lanka ‘A’ here a few months back.
“It has more bounce than most of the other (World Cup) pitches,” said Vettori, who believes that Pakistan will prove to be tougher opposition here than they were back in New Zealand.
“The conditions back in New Zealand favoured us but the conditions here will go in Pakistan’s favour,” said the seasoned spinner. “They will be a tough opposition not just in this game but in the entire tournament.”
Pakistan will once again be looking to Shahid Afridi, their captain who has taken 14 wickets in the last three games.
“Afridi’s performance and aggression is a big plus for the team,” said Misbah. “The way he bowls, he can trouble any batsman in these conditions,” he added.
But Misbah is hoping that the rest of Pakistan’s bowling attack will come good to ease pressure on Afridi. “The rest of our bowlers will have to do well to take the pressure off Afridi.”
Vettori, meanwhile, refused to be drawn on the debate surrounding the importance of Afridi for the Pakistan team, saying that he will like to focus on his own players.
His team has not won any matches in the sub-continent in quite a long time and will have to really raise its game to overcome the rampaging Pakistanis.
The good news for New Zealand is that their fast bowlers — Tim Southee, Kyle Mills and Hamish Bennett — are in good form and share 15 World Cup wickets in three matches.
In spite of non-stop criticism against their faltering openers, Pakistan are expected to keep faith in Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad, who have so far failed to give their team any sizeable start in the tournament.
“We have confidence in the openers because they gave us good starts in the series against New Zealand,” said Misbah.
He refrained from disclosing what line-up Pakistan will field today but said that all the players were fully fit and available for selection. “Everybody is fit, (Abdur) Rehman has progressed well, he didn’t play the last game but is available for selection and could be considered for this match,” he said.
Rehman missed the game against Canada because of a leg injury and was replaced by off-spinner Saeed Ajmal. He is all set to return for today’s game. New Zealand are expected to make one change in their playing eleven with James Franklin likely to make way for Jacob Oram.
Teams:
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Rehman.
New Zealand (likely): Daniel Vettori (captain), Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Hamish Bennett.
ICC World Cup 2011
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