Blazing Shehzad seals series triumph

Pakistan's World Cup preparations only got better as their youngest batsman scored a maiden ODI century to set up a series win - their first in a bilateral rubber since November 2008 - over New Zealand, whose fortunes continued to slide at home after a miserable time in the subcontinent.

Ahmed Shehzad batted with utmost confidence during his calculated assault, overcoming a cautious start in overcast conditions by launching a counter-attack that snatched the initiative New Zealand had worked hard to gain at the beginning of the game. He was backed up by a determined performance from Pakistan's bowlers, who stepped up in areas where New Zealand had erred, and completed the job quite comfortably in the end.

A miserly first spell by Kyle Mills appeared to have justified Ross Taylor's decision to bowl, as it cramped the usually fluent openers through nagging lines outside off stump and crafty variations in pace. He conceded just two runs in his first four overs, and grabbed the wicket of Mohammad Hafeez.

Shehzad, though, was intent on pulling things back. He had warmed up with a crisp straight drive off Hamish Bennett but opened his shoulders to release the pressure created by the early wicket. Mills' tight lines were countered with a mow past mid-off and an agricultural slog over midwicket, catching the bowler off guard and marking a turn in the tide. Shehzad had won the psychological battle when Mills strayed onto the pads the next over, to be glanced to the fine-leg boundary.

A feature of Shehzad's knock was his domination of Bennett, which offset any pressure New Zealand were able to inflict with the fall of a wicket. Bennett overpitched too often, or dropped too short, and was picked off consistently for boundaries. He squandered some hard work by conceding fours off the last balls of his first two overs and was struck for consecutive boundaries by an initially rusty Kamran Akmal before Shehzad singled him out for treatment. He was launched for a straight six and welcomed in his second spell with a violent pull over the midwicket boundary followed by a clean strike over long-on.

While Shehzad took timely risks and had the power and ability to back them up, he was ruthless against the opportunities doled out by the bowlers when Pakistan had been forced to shift gears in the middle overs. The run-out of Kamran resulted in four boundary-less overs before Nathan McCullum, otherwise quite tidy, gifted a short and wide delivery that Shehzad slashed through point. Scott Styris met a similar fate while James Franklin was a victim of Shehzad's subtleties as he was twice scooped over fine leg.

The constant throughout Shehzad's innings, only his seventh in this format, was his assuredness and determination to keep the hosts worried at one end. When he fell, miscuing Styris to deep square leg, with plenty of ammunition left in the batting, New Zealand were staring at an intimidating target. The bowlers, however, hit back to restrict Pakistan in the death overs. Only once had a team lost chasing at Seddon Park since 2002 but with New Zealand's recent ODI record in a shambles, Pakistan needn't have worried about past results at the venue.

The start to the chase could not have been worse for the hosts as Jesse Ryder backed up too far and was run out without facing a ball. Unlike New Zealand's bowlers who had provided ample scoring opportunities to ease the pressure on Pakistan after each dismissal, Pakistan's fast bowlers hardly ever overpitched, bowled consistently in the channel outside off and dried up the runs.

Martin Guptill faced the pressure with a combination of bravado and opportunism. He dealt harshly with deliveries bowled wide or pitched up on middle - there weren't too many of them - and improvised to clear the infield. Guptill ensured a steady flow of singles, ran well between the wickets as the field spread out and continued to be ruthless when freebies came his way. But having survived a close lbw shout early in his innings, Guptill failed to take full toll, as a short delivery from Shoaib came on a touch too quickly and he holed out to deep square leg.

The onus was on Ross Taylor, who took his time to settle in and overcome the nervy start that has plagued him this series. He appeared to be getting back to his groove when just a firm push off Afridi raced to the extra-cover boundary and, in the company of Guptill, to whom he had ceded floor, kept his team in the hunt. It was in the attempt to rebuild after Guptill's fall that New Zealand lost it. Afridi and Hafeez got through their overs quickly, produced a spate of dot balls and deprived the hosts of a boundary for 11 straight overs. The resultant frustration from New Zealand yielded wickets for Pakistan, as Brendon McCullum got a leading edge to long-on while Styris was run out by a direct hit from Younis Khan.

Taylor fought on, managing a six off his favoured slog-sweep and began the batting Powerplay in the 41st over with a lofted drive against Wahab Riaz. Despite the field restrictions and with five wickets in hand, an asking rate of almost nine an over was going to be difficult to measure up to. In the next over he stepped across to sweep Afridi, only to miss and be trapped in front. And when James Franklin was cleaned up by a Riaz yorker, the depth in the New Zealand batting proved insufficient to secure the remaining runs or salvage some pride after 13 defeats in their last 14 completed games.

Misbah-ul-Haq masterminds narrow win

Pakistan continued to show they are masters of making mountains out of molehills, but Misbah-ul-Haq's supremely paced innings and Sohail Tanvir's nerveless hitting took them to a tense win in Napier that puts them 2-1 up. New Zealand had earlier showed the benefits of stacking their side with allrounders as they recovered from an all-too-familiar top-order collapse to post a respectable total but it didn't prove enough.

On a pancake-flat track and with McLean Park's short boundaries and a quick outfield to assist them, Pakistan looked to be gliding towards victory when Misbah and Younis Khan played safety-first cricket to take them to 173 for 3 in 37 overs. With the batting Powerplay in hand, two set batsmen at the crease and a host of heavy-hitters to follow, New Zealand seemed down and out.

The first blip was the run-out of Younis who slipped when attempting to regain his ground after tipping the ball to point. The new batsman, Umar Akmal, meandered to 10 when the Powerplay was taken. As has the case in recent matches, the Powerplay resulted in immediate wickets: Umar holed out to extra cover and Shahid Afridi was trapped in front. With Pakistan at 198 for 6, New Zealand were back in it.

The match swung again in the next over as Abdul Razzaq clubbed a mighty six, and Misbah calmly picked off two effortless, wristy boundaries as Tim Southee went for 17. New Zealand clawed back again when Hamish Bennett had Razzaq skying a catch to Vettori in the 47th over.

Twenty-four needed off the final three overs - enough time for more twists. Misbah, yet again, seemed to have sealed it when he slammed Scott Styris beyond midwicket off the first ball of the 48th, and then followed it up with a punch past mid-on for four. No. 10 Wahab Riaz then decided to go for glory instead of turning over the strike to Misbah, and his swipe ballooned to the keeper.

Only two wickets remained, and there was a genuine threat of Pakistan being bowled out. Tanvir then showed that though his bowling isn't at the level it was before his back injury, his hitting retains the ferocity of old. He forehanded three fours in the penultimate over from Southee to sew up the victory with six balls remaining.

Tanvir may have applied the finishing touches but it was Misbah who had done the grunt work earlier on. When Pakistan were wobbling at 84 for 3, Misbah and Younis stroked the ball into the gaps for singles to keep the required rate in check. Their 89-run partnership had put Pakistan in charge, before the slew of wickets led to an exciting denouement.

It was Misbah's finest one-day effort, and his first significant contribution in the format in a long time. With 18 days to go for the World Cup, Pakistan are still without a captain, and this series hasn't made the decision easier for the selectors. Afridi was panned after the heavy defeat in the first match, then praised after his electric half-century in the Christchurch victory, and Misbah has now pushed his case with this match-winning innings.

Misbah, Afridi in ODI captaincy race

Pakistan are likely to announce a captain for the World Cup within the next few days, possibly even before the fourth ODI of the current series against New Zealand scheduled for February 1. Indications, for the moment, lean towards the Test captainMisbah-ul-Haq taking over from Shahid Afridi, the current ODI skipper, for cricket's showpiece event. But the situation remains fluid and Misbah's chances were far greater a few days ago; a comfortable win over New Zealand on Saturday, with a starring role from Afridi, will no doubt impact on the final decision.

The PCB announced a 15-man World Cup squad earlier this month, but much to the surprise of almost everyone, didn't name a skipper for the event. Afridi has been Pakistan's ODI captain over the last year but just before the New Zealand tour began, a number of key players and team management officials raised concerns with the board over his captaincy. The development placed the board in a quandary, between players and the captain, ultimately compelling them to delay the announcement.

Expectedly the decision has been slammed by a number of ex-players, most notably Inzamam-ul-Haq; the broad feeling of discontent doesn't revolve around the personalities as much as the instability inherent in such a situation. The board and the chairman Ijaz Butt, it is believed, have no real issue with Afridi remaining captain, but such are the nature of the concerns the players and team management have, that the board has found itself having to choose sides.

It is understood that players are mostly unhappy with Afridi's regular and very public assessments of his side's performances, mostly when they have been critical. In addition, Afridi's statements to the ICC with reference to the spot-fixing case involving three Pakistani players have also been felt by some players in the current squad to have been incendiary and unnecessary. Though local reports suggested that a group of senior players had thrown their support behind Afridi, players such as Kamran Akmal and Misbah still hold reservations.

The inability of Afridi and vital members of the team management to gel with each other has not helped matters; one important management official is thought to have pushed particularly forcefully for Misbah's elevation to the captaincy over the last few weeks in New Zealand.

The delay has allowed the board chairman to travel to New Zealand to hold discussions with Afridi, senior players and management officials before making a decision. In a meeting before the team departed Butt also advised Afridi to try and improve his interaction with players over the course of the series. These meetings will ultimately decide who is to be appointed.

On paper, Afridi's record as captain is not hugely impressive, with seven wins and 10 losses in 18 games (and one no-result). He averages nearly 36 with the bat in that time, including two hundreds in Sri Lanka, and well over his career numbers. And though the 25-ball 65 against New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday was his first fifty in 12 ODIs, he has, on five occasions, made scores between 24-49, which given the way Afridi bats and the position he bats at, are often vital hands.

His bowling has not been as incisive, taking only 17 wickets in that span and generally going for runs. But in pushing ODI series against England and South Africa to the final game each time, in overseeing several fightbacks in tough circumstances Afridi would seem to have built up some credit.

Misbah's case for captaincy, on paper, is weaker. He has not been part of the ODI set-up for much of the last year; in fact, he only played two ODIs in 2010 and was dropped midway through the series against South Africa. His often poor strike-rate also works against him, and if Younis Khan is in the playing XI, robs Pakistan of some power in the middle. But he has built up momentum from his Test exploits, where he has been in exceptional form with the bat and has just led Pakistan to a drought-breaking Test series win.

Hafeez, Afridi star in series-levelling win

A solid maiden ODI century from Mohammad Hafeez, a monstrous assault in the death overs led by Shahid Afridi and a spirited performance in the field were features of a roaring comeback by Pakistan in the ODI series, which they leveled 1-1 with a 43-run win at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch. Hafeez counter-attacked after Pakistan had been dented in their start and dropped anchor in the middle overs to set up a launching pad for Afridi and Umar Akmal to smash 126 runs in the last ten overs. Faced with a stiff chase, New Zealand fought hard but timely breakthroughs meant they were always struggling to measure up to the asking rate, eventually leading to their downfall.

The greenish appearance of the track proved deceptive as the movement off the seam that Ross Taylor had banked on when opting to field proved negligible and unthreatening. Yet, the conditions weren't too easy for the batsmen early on as the pitch played slow and low and the ball didn't come on. Hafeez, who has often squandered starts since his promotion to the top of the order, lost two partners, Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal, to deliveries that appeared to stop on the batsmen. But he cashed in on the indiscipline of the New Zealand seamers, who doled out freebies fairly regularly during the course of the innings, to gradually undermine the initiative gained by way of those early strikes.

The short square boundaries at the AMI Stadium were inevitably favoured as the bowlers didn't help their cause by consistently pitching short. Not long after he had nipped out two wickets, Tim Southee was pulled for consecutive boundaries by Hafeez; Hamish Bennett, struggling to bowl into the wind and dropping significantly in pace, was welcomed with a swipe to fine leg and six over long-on while Jacob Oram, in the very over he dismissed Younis Khan, was dispatched over midwicket.

New Zealand had a few chances to limit the damage. Hafeez was dropped on 49 by Brendon McCullum, diving full length to his right and failing to hold on to a difficult catch; Misbah-ul-Haq, who added 94 with Hafeez, was given a reprieve through a missed stumping by McCullum, and Bennett dropped a relatively simple catch off Afridi that, otherwise, could have checked the one-way traffic towards the end of the innings.

Even as Pakistan tried to rebuild their innings, Hafeez was at ease, displaying an excellent ability to adapt, rotating the strike with Misbah and threading the gaps with adept footwork and timing. He stepped out to smash debutant Luke Woodcock for a straight boundary, lofted Oram over the in-field and, after securing his century and taking the batting Powerplay, scooped and slogged Southee for successive fours before signing off by heaving Kyle Mills for a six.

By the time he fell, Umar had warmed up with a couple of meaty hits and Afridi only had to join in. He targeted Oram, who was struggling with his lengths, in the 46th over, hammering him for two sixes on the leg side and a boundary through cover. The seamers either bowled too full or dragged the ball too short and Afridi, paddling, swatting and slapping, collected sixes over fine leg, cover point and long-on on his way to equalling the fastest half-century - off 19 balls - by a batsman in New Zealand, a record also held by McCullum.

New Zealand began brightly in their reply with Martin Guptill and Jamie How capitalising on the short boundaries to add 44 in quick time. But Pakistan's seamers, unlike the New Zealand bowlers, relied more on variations in pace with Sohail Tanvir, Wahab Riaz and Umar Gul ensuring the pressure of a big chase never diminished. How holed out to deep midwicket, failing to pick the slower ball; Ross Taylor, after a watchful start, stabbed at a good-length delivery to be caught at slip by Younis and Guptill, after four boundary-less overs in the second Powerplay, punched Riaz to point where Shehzad clung on to a low chance.

The hosts were in the hunt when Scott Styris and Kane Williamsom preserved their wickets, picked out the gaps to ensure a steady flow of ones and twos and accumulated 81 runs for the fourth wicket to stage a recovery. But while the seamers had picked up the wickets and restrained the batsmen, the slow bowlers, too, proved difficult to step up against, adding to the pressure on New Zealand. Afridi and Hafeez got through their overs quickly and gave little away. Hafeez eventually broke the stand as Styris failed to clear deep midwicket and when Williamson and McCullum departed within three runs of each other - bowled by Riaz and run out by Umar respectively - the game was all but sealed.

Pakistan's approach to their innings was reminiscent of the strategy they had adopted in the 1999 World Cup, progressing slowly with wickets in hand in the middle overs to set the stage for a violent surge in the last ten. Not a bad thing to prepare for the 2011 edition in much the same way.

Afridi likely to be retained as World Cup skipper

KARACHI: Pakistan’s ODI captain Shahid Afridi is likely to be retained as the skipper for the World Cup 2011 after Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt held discussions with the team management in New Zealand and also with the board’s Chief Operating Officer Subhan Ahmed in Lahore.

According to well-informed sources in the board, all indications show that all-rounder Afridi will lead the side during the mega event staring from Feb 19, to be held jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The sources said that Ijaz held a half an hour discussion with the PCB chief operating officer today following his extensive talks with the team management in New Zealand this week.

“After getting all the feedback and suggestions, the PCB chief knows that it would be a risky move to change the ODI captain at this stage and it would be better to continue with Afridi,” the sources said.

They also added that while Ijaz and some other board officials had lost faith in Afridi over his attitude and repeated violations of the board instructions in recent months, the feedback from the players and the management had tilted the balance in the all-rounder’s favour.

According to sources, the senior players in the touring side in New Zealand including Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Kamran Akmal were backing Afridi and wanted him to continue as the World Cup captain.

“The PCB chairman has a difficult decision to make because he has to ensure there are no issues or conflicts within the team just before the World Cup,” the sources added.

The PCB chief is likely to announce the World Cup captain this week after some more deliberations in New Zealand.

Sources even indicated that Ijaz was facing pressure from the top over the captaincy issue.

“Most of the major sponsors who have invested lot of money in the tournament in Pakistan have already prepared their campaigns with Afridi as captain in their commercials and are concerned about any late change in the leadership, said a inside source at the PCB.

“These companies are also lobbying within the government to ensure that the Pakistan board does not change Afridi as captain for the World Cup.”

The PCB has come in for severe criticism from a number of former players for delaying in naming the captain for the mega-event since Pakistan remains the only one of the fourteen competing teams not to have named the captain as yet.—Agencies

ICC demands answers after Aamer plays

KARACHI: International cricket chiefs are demanding answers on why suspended Pakistani paceman Mohammad Aamer, at the centre of a corruption probe, played in a domestic club match, an official said Wednesday.

The 18-year-old Aamer, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, was suspended over allegations of spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England last year in a case that shook the global game.

But media reports in Pakistan said Aamer featured in a domestic club match for Pakistan Army against Rawalpindi despite being suspended from all forms of cricket that come under the umbrella of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“The ICC wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board on the matter on Tuesday,” an ICC spokesman confirmed to AFP from its headquarters in Dubai. A PCB spokesman confirmed they were investigating the issue.

“Yes, we have come to the knowledge of Aamer playing a match in Rawalpindi and we are investigating the matter,” PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told AFP.

An ICC anti-corruption tribunal heard the case relating to the three suspended players in Doha, Qatar, last month and is due to announce its verdict on February 5.

All three were provisionally suspended by the ICC in October, with the world governing body’s code of conduct carrying a minimum five-year ban if corruption charges are proved. The maximum punishment is a life ban.

Aamir apologises for breaking ban

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made part payments of the outstanding dues to six suspect players namely Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Danish Kaneria, Dawn learnt on Monday.

Well-placed sources said that both Salman and Aamir received payments of Rs2.44 million each from their total outstanding dues of the last couple of series which come to approximately eight million Pakistani rupees.

The PCB has also deducted Rs2.5m from their dues to make a payment to English lawyer Elizabeth Robertson who was hired to defend the tainted trio soon after the Scotland Yard detectives raided the team hotel in England following the spot-fixing scam.

The PCB is, however, yet to pay around Rs3 million each to Aamir, Asif and Salman, the sources said, which may not be cleared until the ICC’s decision on the spot-fixing case is finalised.

All the three players are going to Doha, Qatar on Tuesday to defend their position before an ICC anti-corruption tribunal which will be holding a hearing into the spot-fixing case from Jan 6 to 11.

Meanwhile, Kamran and Shoaib, who are currently in the process of defending themselves before the PCB’s integrity committee over some fixing allegations, also received a major share of their outstanding dues which, however, does not include payments for the last series against England.