*Official* Match 10 - Sri Lanka v Pakistan

[Migara]

The apalling selection policy is very much evident. SL should have been thrashed by 70 runs, but Pakistan seems to be having a soft corner for us, and helped by dropping catches and missing stumpings. The time of dismissals from SL were apalling.

Silva killed the momentum, it's hard to understand why he was so much stuck with Afridi. Silva took lot of runs off Afridi later, but why couldn't he do it bit earlier? Extra 10 runs would have sealed the match for SL. His snail-pace batting was the immediate caude for Sanga's dismissal. Mathews played a **** shot, especially considering that Silva has taken Afridi for 9 runs in first 3 balls in that over. He should have waited for the faster bowlers to have a bash. Since all the lower order are good hitters of spinners that shot was unnecessary. Akthar and Gul wouldn't have enjoyed seeing Mathews at the wicket instead of Kulasekara and Herath.

All in all, the selection blunders are bleeding evident. Silva / Kapu has no place in this team. Murali bowled surprisingly well, but Randiv would have done the same thing and would have been a very useful batsman as well. Chandimal would have never scratched aroud against spinners like Silva.

Congrads for Pakistan, and they might ass whip the Aussies and Kiwis on these pitches.

 

[Athlai]

Chandimal not getting selected was one of the biggest selection mistakes of the WC.

 

[vcs]

The apalling selection policy is very much evident. SL should have been thrashed by 70 runs, but Pakistan seems to be having a soft corner for us, and helped by dropping catches and missing stumpings. The time of dismissals from SL were apalling.

Silva killed the momentum, it's hard to understand why he was so much stuck with Afridi. Silva took lot of runs off Afridi later, but why couldn't he do it bit earlier? Extra 10 runs would have sealed the match for SL. His snail-pace batting was the immediate caude for Sanga's dismissal. Mathews played a **** shot, especially considering that Silva has taken Afridi for 9 runs in first 3 balls in that over. He should have waited for the faster bowlers to have a bash. Since all the lower order are good hitters of spinners that shot was unnecessary. Akthar and Gul wouldn't have enjoyed seeing Mathews at the wicket instead of Kulasekara and Herath.

All in all, the selection blunders are bleeding evident. Silva / Kapu has no place in this team. Murali bowled surprisingly well, but Randiv would have done the same thing and would have been a very useful batsman as well. Chandimal would have never scratched aroud against spinners like Silva.

Congrads for Pakistan, and they might ass whip the Aussies and Kiwis on these pitches.

Migara, with your current squad, who would you have in that No. 6 slot ahead of Silva/Kapu? Seems like SL are really missing a guy like Russell Arnold right now.

 

[Spark]

Randiv! That's the bloke who was missing. I was thinking through the entire Pakistan innings "****, there's this very promising spinner that they've left out here who would be handy and who did well against us, but what's his ****ing name?!"

 

[Migara]

Migara, with your current squad, who would you have in that No. 6 slot ahead of Silva/Kapu? Seems like SL are really missing a guy like Russell Arnold right now.

Simply play this team.

MJ, Dilshan, Sangakkara, Chandimal, Sam, Mathews, Perera, Randiv, Kulasekara, Malinga, Murali

All Mathews, Perera, Randiv and Kulasekara can use the long handle very effectively. MJ, Chandimal and Sam are very good against spin. Dilshan, Sanga and Mathews are very good players of pace. In the lower order Perera and Kulasekara are known to bash spinners, and Randiv to bash pacers. Now the problem is we have too much consolidators in the team. We need only two of them ATM, Sam and Sanga.

 

[Migara]

Randiv! That's the bloke who was missing. I was thinking through the entire Pakistan innings "****, there's this very promising spinner that they've left out here who would be handy and who did well against us, but what's his ****ing name?!"

Looling at the bounce Afridi got, Randiv would have got some mind numbing bounce on this pitch.

 

[Xuhaib]

I loved the Misbah-YK partnership but I do think they delayed the charge, out of the hitters only Afridi can hit from ball 1 both Umer and Razzaq need atleast 2-3 overs to get in lack of overs mean they have to try to hit from the first ball which put extra pressure on them.

 

[Spark]

Looling at the bounce Afridi got, Randiv would have got some mind numbing bounce on this pitch.

Yeah he'd have been very useful. Boggles the mind that they've not included him, looks a real talent.

Good thing is, now I know his name again.

 

[vcs]

Simply play this team.

MJ, Dilshan, Sangakkara, Chandimal, Sam, Mathews, Perera, Randiv, Kulasekara, Malinga, Murali

All Mathews, Perera, Randiv and Kulasekara can use the long handle very effectively. MJ, Chandimal and Sam are very good against spin. Dilshan, Sanga and Mathews are very good players of pace. In the lower order Perera and Kulasekara are known to bash spinners, and Randiv to bash pacers. Now the problem is we have too much consolidators in the team. We need only two of them ATM, Sam and Sanga.

Yeah, but you don't have Chandimal in the squad. Silva doesn't look a good option at No. 6 to me at all, takes way too long to get set.

 

[smash84]

I have given up trying to predict what Pakistan will do. I just think they'll lose a couple of games yet, but I would not rule them out of going all the way in the tournament. Should Misbah and Younis fail in a game, that may be a telling fixture.

I hope they don't fail in the knockout stage

Cricket Web - World Cup 2011 HQ: Strike bowlers once again prove their worth!

The value of having a genuine strike bowler.

Nice article.

I loved the Misbah-YK partnership but I do think they delayed the charge, out of the hitters only Afridi can hit from ball 1 both Umer and Razzaq need atleast 2-3 overs to get in lack of overs mean they have to try to hit from the first ball which put extra pressure on them.

Ditto

 

[Lostman]

Yeah, but you don't have Chandimal in the squad. Silva doesn't look a good option at No. 6 to me at all, takes way too long to get set.

6 has to be Mathews.
Based on the squad I think the best combination we can put up is,
Tharanga, Dilshan, Sanga, MJ, Silva/Samaraweera, Mathews, Kapu/Perera.

 

[vcs]

6 has to be Mathews.
Based on the squad I think the best combination we can put up is,
Tharanga, Dilshan, Sanga, MJ, Silva/Samaraweera, Mathews, Kapu/Perera.

Tharanga, Dilshan, Sanga, Mahela, Silva/Samaraweera, Mathews, Perera, Kulasekera, Malinga, Herath, Murali.

So you'd go with 5 bowlers like SA? Interesting, for all the talk about teams packing their batting lineup with maximum depth, something out of the box like that could end up winning the cup.

 

[Phantom]

This turned out to be a wonderful match, so glad I stayed up to watch it. The pitch looked like a bit of a dustbowl but it held together well enough to provide a pair of good scores and a bit in it for the bowlers.

 

[Migara]

Yeah, but you don't have Chandimal in the squad. Silva doesn't look a good option at No. 6 to me at all, takes way too long to get set.

Exactly. That why I said earlier the selection policy is ****. It's time to fake in injury and bring in Chandimal, Randiv and Vaas.

Vaas never would have leacked that much of runs upfront.

 

[salman85]

I loved the Misbah-YK partnership but I do think they delayed the charge, out of the hitters only Afridi can hit from ball 1 both Umer and Razzaq need atleast 2-3 overs to get in lack of overs mean they have to try to hit from the first ball which put extra pressure on them.

I agree with the Misbah-Younis thing.Our batting powerplay didn't go according to plan,and the last 10 overs did not have the powerful finish that you normally associate with Pakistan.The problem here seems to be Umar Akmal.I think they should try putting him up ahead of Younis and Misbah in the batting order to fully utilize his ability.With 4-5 overs left in the innings,Umar and Razzaq will never be good at hitting from the word go.They need 1 or 2 overs to really get going.Afridi is the one who can start hitting from the first ball.I actually thought that he should have come ahead of Umar when Younis got out.But it all worked out well in the end,so it's good.

I have given up trying to predict what Pakistan will do. I just think they'll lose a couple of games yet, but I would not rule them out of going all the way in the tournament. Should Misbah and Younis fail in a game, that may be a telling fixture.

I have full confidence in Pakistani's ability to go all the way in the tournament,but i don't think they'll win all group games.My guess is that they'll lose against New Zealand...because this isn't a World Cup semifinal

 

[Lostman]

Tharanga, Dilshan, Sanga, Mahela, Silva/Samaraweera, Mathews, Perera, Kulasekera, Malinga, Herath, Murali.

So you'd go with 5 bowlers like SA? Interesting, for all the talk about teams packing their batting lineup with maximum depth, something out of the box like that could end up winning the cup.

With the squad right now number 7 should be between Perera and Kapu.I am personally a big fan of a 6-5 lineup. Always thought that a 7-4 was defensive minded.
I think Pakistan is a good example of why playing too many batsmen is bad. There is no point in Razaq coming into bat in the 49th over of game.

 

[salman85]

Pakistan playing too many batsman has got more to do with their brittle top/middle order more than anything else TBH.The lowe order hasn't been exposed yet,but it will happen sometime during the tournament.