Was it Chanderpaul's Fault?
The first thing we noticed when we walked into the ground yesterday were the long boundaries. The ropes had been pushed back quite a bit - about 10 feet from where they were on Wednesday.That compounded to the match being a low scoring one.
A number of strokes by Younis, Misbah, Chanderpaul, and Sarwan would have been fours if the boundaries were where they were on Wednesday.
232 seemed like a low score when Pakistan's innings ended, but under lights when the ball swings a lot at the Abu Dhabi stadium, coupled with the longer boundaries it was never going to be easy for the West Indies.
Having said that, I did not expect Pakistan's attack to be able to defend it so well.
Chanderpaul did get a 100 but he never looked in control. He played out too many dot balls in the first part of his innings and every time he tried to up the tempo, he lost a partner.
Many times he just could not connect.
At the end the Pakistan bowlers were too good for the West Indies.
Or so I thought.
At a discussion during the late night dinner after the match, a couple of guys pointed out at how Chanderpaul lost the match for the West Indies.
Their arguement was that Chanderpaul did not even try to increase the scoring rate and just kept going at mediocre pace falling behind on the run rate throughout.
My point, along with some other guys, was that Chanderpaul could not do much because of the quality of Pakistan's bowling.
The arguement continued for a good half an hour with no conclusion.
Those blaming Chanderpaul maintained that Pakistan's bowling was not all that and Chanderpaul just messed it up, especially since he was given 2 lives.
I differed on that opinion.
I thought that Tanvir and Gul were brilliant in the beginning. Rao followed up the good work, while the spinners, Afridi and Ajmal, kept a very tight line and didn't allow him the freedom to score.
On top, Gul was outstanding at the end.
So which school of thought do you belong to?
Chanderpaul messed up or the Pakistan bowlers didn't allow him to do any better?
Or are you with the outrageous view, which is also suggested be someone, that Chanderpaul pulled of a Saleem Malik.
Made an easy run chase look difficult, top scored, stayed their till the end, ran out a couple of partners on the way, looked good in a failed chase.
Saleem Malik had mastered that art, Chanders though, I doubt.
.jpg)
I think Chanders did a great job until the end. When just 2-3 overs remain, you need to keep the strike as much as possible and take a risk or two.
But until those last couple of overs, I think Chanders did great by staying at the wicket and keeping WI in the hunt as wickets tumbled at the other end.
He played out too many dot balls in the first part of his innings and every time he tried to up the tempo, he lost a partner.
this is the sum of match for me...
however i wold like to add that it was tanvir's bowling that was the difference in the match...specially how he got gayle...
mater class!!
oh...the typo...
master class...
Chanderpaul played well... But he could have done better. I dont say WI lost the match because he played slowly. But I still think he could have done little better. When I say that I only mean that instead of getting stuck during the 1st half of his innings, he & Sarwan could have rotated the strike more often. Those 2 are the most experienced WIndian batsmen in this team. The way they got stuck out there in the middle was unacceptable. All good chasing teams have one thing in common. They keep wickets in hand & they dont keep the singles coming. Moreover the ground was so big that singles were pretty easy. I agree that Gul & Tanvir were bowling out of their skin. But batsmen like Chanderpaul & Sarwan could still have taken 3-4 singles in an over.
No. The fault was entirely in the team selection. You cannot hpe to win without the full complement of batsmen. WI didn't come with them...they brought just 4.
Congratulations Q! And that's a great picture. Hope you had a good time.
What I was saying about the Lahore Badshahs came to light again today, with arguments and Inzi unnecessarily delaying the proceedings.
Chris Harris gets animated too, but he swears to himself and does not bother others much. But Inzamam argued with the umpires again and created an unnecessary ruckus over Kemp's catch which was taken cleanly.
Overall it was a pathetic performance. I don't know what happened with the confidence of the two Imran's as they couldn't hit anything cleanly.
I am ashamed by the behaviour of Inzamam and today's performance by the Badshahs. They were behaving like kids.
I think it was a bit of both but i am more inclined towards the pakistani bowlers winning it for their team. Chander should have tried to take more risks especially after he had gotten to his fifty but he was so bogged down by the bowlers initially that his innings just could not find that next gear to up the tempo and he kept going like a lahori chingchi!
As far as the pakistani team is concerned, 10/10 for the bowling department, they all played there part! initially i was a little concerned about Umar Gul continuing with his short of lenght tactics but he too understood the need of the hour and changed his length to fullish! one word for tanvir: superb! Rao continued from where tanvir and gul had left!
As far as the batsmen are concerned, the less said the better! one player who really ticked me off was misbah...the more i see of him the more he disappoints me... i was a big fan of his but now i am beginning to doubt his credentials and very strongly believe he can never be the inzamam of this present team; he'z not a finisher! what got me yesterday was his inability to rotate the strike!
All in all it was an awesome night..it was good to be present at the stadium..the atmosphere was electrifying ..though it did get a lil quite midway through WI innings but Gul brought the crowd back on its feet in the end!
Q, you guys were partying it up at the upper tier, the security was quite tight at the stadium, it was next to impossible to move from one stand to the other unlike wednesday.
It is not Chanderpauls' fault. He is a crab by birth.
Khurram Manzoor was mediocre in the 2nd and 3rd match and I feel Pakistan should look at a different opener in the future.
I agree Sledge. He could have taken them to the total if someone stayed with him at the wicket.
Tanvir was awesome SP!
Had a great time SB! Thanks..
Well said LIB.. spot on in everything u mentioned..
It sure was a ball up there buddy..
3-0 now and upto 4th in the rankings, which doesn't mean much but lets hope this consistent performance continues..
Tri - the Paki fielding was pretty good as well.. they kept the singles down.
Khansahab u r speaking like our fickle minded selectors who dump players after a couple of bad performances.
Sure Khurram didn't do well in the 2nd ODI. He did alrite in the 3rd but just couldn't get going. He's only 4 ODIs old and has a long way to go. U need to be patient with him, u can't just dump him after 2 bad performances. He has showed that he can play at this level, he needs to be groomed further.
Having said that, Nasir Jamshed is the 1st choice opener and he will ake his place when fit, but Khurram should be the back up to Salman and Nasir. The boy has a good future.
Q
I respect your views and I agree Khurram was not "particularly bad".
His technique though was worse than Butt's and Nasir Jamshed's. I know Butt had a miserable tournament but he will make a comeback. After watching the poor techniques of Khalid Latif and Manzoor, and knowing the inconsistent form of Hafeez and Yasir Hameed, it's safe to say Butt and Nasir are probably the best openers. I think this Asad Shafiq from Karachi is pretty good in first class cricket and also Azhar Ali is very good from Lahore. Do you know of them?
He is cursed... the pirates curse. You can have all the women you want but cannot have sex... that's chanderpaul with his curse.
Seriously, it is the rest of the team who has to measure up.
Khansahab, I know of Azhar Ali.. I believe he was the top scorer in one of the competitions last season. He is a good batsman.
I am not aware of Asad Shafiq. I've heard of Afaq Rahim though who is another promising opener.
Ouch Scorps having all the women but not getting the sex will hurt!
Q: Thats you with the "K" on your shirt?
That's me Samir :-)