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Pakistan, New Zealand Gear up for Pace Battle
The stage is set for the second semifinal between Pakistan and New Zealand for the ICC Champions Trophy at the Wanderers Stadium here on Saturday.
Four of the six matches played here were low-scoring affairs, with fast bowlers making impressive returns on lively pitches having both pace and bounce.
Pakistan start as firm favourites on the back of a brilliant bowling attack, which provides a lot of variety, both in the spin and pace departments. In the combination of Mohammed Asif, Rana Navedul Hassan, Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer, Pakistan have one of the best pace attacks in the tournament. New Zealand too have a superb seam attack, led by Grant Elliott, Kyle Mills and Shane Bond.
Eliott is expected to play the semifinal despite his thumb injury. New Zealand have flown Scott Styris to South Africa as cover for Elliott.
New Zealand players have never been very comfortable facing quality spinners. The Pakistan think-tank would be hoping that their spinners Saeed Ajmal, who had a wonderful tournament so far, and Shahid Afridi, who is quick and accurate in his line and length, deliver the knock-out punch.
Pakistan have some selection dilemma with Mohammad Asif performing exceptionally well in his comeback match against Australia in Centurion.
“We might even decide to play with four specialist pace bowlers in Asif, Rana Naved, Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer but it all depends on the pitch condition,” Pakistan captain Younus Khan said.
Pakistan had rested left arm pacer Aamer and opener Imran Nazir in their last group match against Australia.
About the injured Nazir, Younus said: “We didn’t want to risk him. If he plays in the semifinal, then definitely it would be Misbahul Haq who would have to make the sacrifice by sitting out.”
New Zealand are a good all-round side with a fine seam attack, positive batsmen, athletic fielders and a shrewd all-rounder captain in Daniel Vettori. They always had a very good one-day squad, but in major international tournaments, they found it quite difficult to cross the knock-out stages.
The team will be keen to better their performance in big matches, having lost the semifinals of the 2006 Champions Trophy in India and the 2007 World Cup in Caribbean.
However, they have a good record in Champions Trophy, winning the 2000-01 edition in Kenya, defeating India in the final. Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptil are capable of providing an electric start to the team and both of them have a good tournament so far. The injury to Jesse Ryder, who was in good form against Sri Lanka, has come at a wrong time for New Zealand.
Keen battle
New Zealand played two matches at the Wanderers and won both of them, whereas Pakistan played the opening match against West Indies here and won it by five wickets. The side winning the toss would be keen to bat first, as the chase under the lights in a pressure situation wouldn’t be ideal.
Pakistan started their campaign with a professional bowling performance at the Wanderers Stadium, bowling out West Indies for a meager 133 in 34.3 overs. Pace bowlers Aamer and Gul picked up three wickets each, while Saeed Ajmal bagged two. However, Tonge’s brilliant four for 25 threatened to pull off an upset for West Indies, but Umar Akamal played a cameo to bail out his team.
Pakistan were in their elements in the match against arch-rivals India as the senior batsmen Shoaib Malik (128) and Mohammad Yousuf (87) found form at the right time, helping the team post 302 at SuperSport Park.
Aamer, Rana, Ajmal and Shahid Afridi took two wickets each in the 54-run victory.
In the third match at SuperSport Park, run-making seemed difficult on a dodgy pitch as Australia clinched the thriller by two wickets.
New Zealand lost their first match against South Africa at the SuperSport Park by five wickets, but hit back brilliantly in the last two matches to clinch a semifinal spot. Major contributions in the match came from Taylor and McCullum.
In the second match at the Wanderers, New Zeland stunned Sri Lanka by 38 runs after amassing 315 in their 50 overs. Ryder, Guptill, McCullum and Daniel Vettori chipped in with useful contributions.
New Zealand claimed their semifinal spot by winning the third match after bowling out England for 146 in 43.1 overs.
Elliot and Shane Bond delivered the goods for New Zealand in bowling, but the chase wasn’t as easy as New Zealand believed.
After a opening stand of 84 between McCullum and Guptill, New Zealand middle order crumbled as they lost six wickets before reaching the target.
The ideal scenario for Pakistan would be to bat first and put up a good total as they have the bowling resources to restrict any opposition. Despite scoring only 205 against Australia, the Pakistan bowlers were effective in denying the Aussies victory till the last ball.
New Zealand rely a lot on their seam bowlers and could be handy if the pitch offers bounce and seam, especially under lights.
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