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9 November 2009
With both the teams having won one match each, the decider heads to its climax under lights.
While Pakistan had a crushing 138-run victory in the inaugural match on Tuesday, New Zealand hit back in style, winning the second game by 64 runs on Friday.
Awesome Afridi
All-rounder Shahid Afridi remains Pakistan’s key player in their aspirations to win a one-day series after a gap of one year. Pakistan have not won an ODI series since beating the West Indies here last year.
Afridi was at his devastating best in the first game, smashing 70 from 50 balls and later took two wickets to star in the team’s victory. Though he failed to score in the second game, the leg-spinner took a couple of wickets.
Pakistan think-tank would be eyeing another brilliant display from their all-rounders, including Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq, in the decider.
On the positive front, the team is enthused by their openers’ form. Khalid Latif had an impressive tournament, scoring 64 and 45 in two matches.
After a disappointing start on Tuesday, Salman Butt hit form with a polished half-century in the second one-dayer on Friday. However, the main worry for the team would be the form of skipper Younus Khan, who has been struggling to make runs for a while. Younus, who had scores of 0 and 19 in the tournament, would be keen to play a captain’s innings on Monday.
It remains to be seen whether there would be any substantial changes in the team for the final match. Former players including Waqar Younis, Rameez Raja and Abdul Qadir have already questioned the decision to drop a young batsman like Umar Akmal from the second ODI squad. The bowlers were in excellent form in the opening match, but proved expensive in the second. The likes of Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal are well set to have another go at the Kiwi batsmen.
Cool Captain
On the other hand, New Zealand, led admirably by Daniel Vettori, bank on their collective brilliance to get past Pakistan. Though Vettori would be the key player in the squad, Brendon McCullum’s return to form adds new dimension to their strategies. Devastating opener McCullum, who hit a brilliant century in his team’s victory on Friday, must be keen to give another excellent start to his team. Both Aaron Redmond and Martin Guptill had at least one good knock in the tournament, but middle-order batsman Ross Taylor’s form is a concern. He failed to open his account in both the matches.
Fielding is one arena where New Zealand have a clear upper hand over their opponents. The combination of Guptill, Taylor and Neil Broom has already made a mark in the tournament with their spending work on the field .
In bowling, New Zealand would be pinning their hopes on Vettori and their fast bowlers — Shane Bond and Kyle Mills — to make an impact in the decisive game.
Both the teams would also be keen to bat first here, as the chasing sides, on both times, ended up on the losing side.
