Dubai witnessed one of it's most raucous crowds today at the first T20 between Pakistan and England. After the Tests, by the looks of it, Pakistan seemed to have an upper-edge and was expected to get off the hook in the ODI series also. But surprise, surprise. The series were pretty much one-sided with England hitting Pakistan right back up for a whitewash. With Pakistan's ordinary performance in the ODI series, we were kept in suspence, as to whether one of the most unpredictable teams in the world, will bounce back or bite the dust. No more waiting, with Pakistan's eventful performance and the supporting crowd, they have won themselves what they could call a 'homely' match.
Yet again, Pakistan's bowling display was hefty enough to defend the competitive score made by the Pakistani batsmen in the first innings. The match seemed very much 'Gulbowlised' with Umar Gul starting off with a maiden over and bowling beauties throughout. We got to see Hafeez in full stride, bowling competitive edge and also those oh-so-masterful delieveries by no other than, Saeed Ajmal. Pakistan's only weak link in the bowling attack was Junaid Khan, who was assaulted upon by Kevin Pieterson who added a 33 off 21 balls to England's score on the board, until he unluckily hit off Shahid Afridi and was caught at deep forward square by the youngster, Asad Shafiq. The rest of England's batting lineup was what we can call 'wobly' with only addition few runs coming in, in the form of one's or two's.
Craig Kierwetter had his sweep shot malfunctioning often. He backed away to the leg side to such extent that he was unable to reach the delievery by Hafeez, even though it was hitting his leg stump. Pakistan's fielding altogether, wasn't all that bad. Tom Buttler was also caught at short fine leg by Ajmal, on a delievery off Umar Gul. When Samit Patel fell lbw to Umar Gul's first ball, England needed 24 off 16 balls, but miserably failed to get even a single boundary in the last 6 overs.
Stuart broad, the English T20 captain, must have walked into the field intending to attack, thinking of Pakistan as low on confidence, but thanks to whatever it was the passionate crowd or the team's urge to get back into the game, Pakistan were high on spirit. No wonder these series are a 'decider' as named by Pakistani Captain, Misbah-ul-Haq. Surely, though it would be pleasant if Pakistan could take on England for another white wash.
GeoSuper