Woodster
International Captain
Kamran Akmal keeps pretty well and their opening batsmen put on a fantastic partnership, how unlucky for WI that both these unlikely incidents take place on the same day!!
Once again really impressed with Pakistan's overall game and while WI never really showed, Pakistan's qualities deserve the headlines.
Gul was spot on early, only offering a couple of balls of width to the left-handers, but grabbing the crucial wicket of Gayle. At times I'm resigned to thinking that's Gayle, he has a lot of success batting in this manner so the rough has to be taken with the smooth, till I realised how poor he has been since his last century, some 34 innings ago. A more responsible approach should be on the horizon.
Then it was all about the trio of spinners for Pakistan of which WI had no answer or visible plan in how to counter them. Was a difficult dilemma for Chanderpaul and Sarwan after losing three early wickets. Clearly they wanted to consolidate, but their rate was funerial, and allowed the bowlers to bowl their areas without any pressure being put back onto them. But while they remained at the crease WI had hope, another collapse took away any hope they had in being competitive. There was little proactivity by WI, but that can be difficult when wickets continually tumble.
Afridi was outstanding again, Ajmal and his controversial doosra was close to unplayable, and Hafeez troubled batsman more with his drift than any significant spin.
Hafeez and Akmal then made very light work of the chase. Some glorious strokeplay getting them off to a flyer before a more sensible finish ensured they kept all 10 wickets in the shed. A stunning statement from Pakistan and it would make for an excellent game (or two) if they maintain this standard for the rest of the tournament.
Once again really impressed with Pakistan's overall game and while WI never really showed, Pakistan's qualities deserve the headlines.
Gul was spot on early, only offering a couple of balls of width to the left-handers, but grabbing the crucial wicket of Gayle. At times I'm resigned to thinking that's Gayle, he has a lot of success batting in this manner so the rough has to be taken with the smooth, till I realised how poor he has been since his last century, some 34 innings ago. A more responsible approach should be on the horizon.
Then it was all about the trio of spinners for Pakistan of which WI had no answer or visible plan in how to counter them. Was a difficult dilemma for Chanderpaul and Sarwan after losing three early wickets. Clearly they wanted to consolidate, but their rate was funerial, and allowed the bowlers to bowl their areas without any pressure being put back onto them. But while they remained at the crease WI had hope, another collapse took away any hope they had in being competitive. There was little proactivity by WI, but that can be difficult when wickets continually tumble.
Afridi was outstanding again, Ajmal and his controversial doosra was close to unplayable, and Hafeez troubled batsman more with his drift than any significant spin.
Hafeez and Akmal then made very light work of the chase. Some glorious strokeplay getting them off to a flyer before a more sensible finish ensured they kept all 10 wickets in the shed. A stunning statement from Pakistan and it would make for an excellent game (or two) if they maintain this standard for the rest of the tournament.
