Pakistan hit back with consolation win
Cricket Web XI vs Pakistan - 5th ODI
Scorecard
Ball by Ball
Half-centuries from Daniel Towns and Marc Robbins came in vain, as Pakistan sealed a comfortable 75-run victory in the face of some generally careless cricket by the Cricket Web XI. In chasing 244 to win, the CW XI collapsed to 168 all out, and only three batsmen reached double figures.
Pakistan batted first for the second time in the series. The new ball spoke for the tourists, and Kev Goughy and Kyle Wright utilized it to good effect, limiting Pakistan to 26-2 early on. The middle order hit back solidly, however, and Pakistan recovered nicely despite the impressive efforts of Kingsley Clapham. Playing his second ODI, the left-armer was the pick of the bowlers and was rewarded with figures of 3-40. Far less impressive was stand-in captain Neil Pickup; his legspin was negotiated comfortably, as epitomized by a 16-run over, which included two noballs - a four and a six.
Sloppy cricket was symptomatic of the entire CW XI effort though. It started with a DeSilva's drop of Imran Farhat in the first over of the innings. Though Farhat did not add to his score, it set a precedent for the remainder of the innings. Inzamam-ul-Haq was dropped by Pickup off the bowling of Robbins, when he had just 7 runs. A ball later he was caught at cover, but Robbins' noball negated the wicket. To the relief of the tourists, Clapham bowled the Pakistan captain for a fairly inexpensive 23.
Pakistan only added 62 runs in the final 10 overs of the innings, but would have been limited further if not for the efforts of Abdul Razzaq - 28 off 25 balls. Robbins dropped the allrounder on 5. Clapham was visibly disappointed by the miss, but stuck to his task dutifully, and he removed Inzamam and Kamran Akmal off consecutive balls in his next over. The final over saw two more dropped catches - by Crampton, then Wright - and a towering six off the bat of Rehman, and Pakistan delighted in the poor fielding to reach 243-9.
It seemed the game would set up for another tight contest, and with a record of 4-0 backing the tourists, the CW XI started the chase as favourites. An early run out changed the reckoning swiftly. Markus failed to back up significantly and was comfortably run out at the striker's end. From there the swing bowling of Pakistan posed a brutal expose of the Webhead top order batting.
DeSilva, Dauth and Butler perished cheaply to Mohammad Asif and Rana Naved, leaving Marc Robbins to take guard in the face of crisis, a situation on which he once laid the foundation of his career. Partnered by a gutsy Daniel Towns, Robbins arrested the slide and the score of 40-4. The fifth wicket stand produced 73 runs, and it was then that madness set in. Towns pulled a long-hop into the hands of midwicket off the innocuous Shoaib Malik. Alex Crampton - so oft the hero in this series - started confidently with an off-drive for a boundary, but played on with an ill-advised cut shot a ball later. Malik had struck crucially twice in an over and Pakistan assumed control once again.
Robbins fought to his half-century, then he too perished to spin - a leading edge to Rehman. The tail could hardly offer much resistance, though Clapham looked reasonable in scoring 19, and the CW XI innings was abruptly by Asif.
Pakistan 243-9 (50 overs)
Bazid Khan 51; Mohammad Yousuf 39; Shoaib Malik 33
KR Clapham 3-40; KS Goughy 3-52; KS Wright 2-48
Cricket Web XI 168 all out (41.4 overs)
DP Towns/MJ Robbins 54; KR Clapham 19
Shoaib Malik 3-35; Mohammad Asif 3-38; Naved-ul-Hasan 2-38
Pakistan won by 75 runs.
Man of the Match: Shoaib Malik
