Mahmood Ahmad
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3rd Match: Karachi Young v Pakistan Probables at Karachi, 29 Jan 2001 Mahmood Ahmad |
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Karachi Young innings:
Pakistan Probables innings: Pre-game: |
After finding their side in deep trouble at 7 for two in the second over, the experience campaigners took the score to 144 before the Yasir Arafat, reintroduced into the attack, picked up the wicket of Razzaq for 56 (88 balls), which carried 8 fours and a six.
Youhana took the score to 160 by the 38th over along with Younis Khan, the centurion of Lahore. Trying to wipe off the remaining runs quickly, Youhana attempted to lift Sami out of the ground, but managing only to give a simple catch to Hasan Raza at mid on. With 75 against his name, Youhana has become the highest scorer so far in the current series after his 94 in the first match at Lahore.
Probables lost three more wickets (both Younis and the wicket keeper Atiq-uz-Zaman losing their wickets when the required runs had been to reduced to a single figure) in the process of reaching the target, but that was due only the reason that they wanted to finish off the match quickly.
Pakistan Probables reached their target on the last ball of the 46th over when Wasim Akram drove Yasir to deep cover for easy three runs, thus, winning the match by 3 wickets.
Saad, a relatively unknown figure in Pakistan’s domestic circuit until now, had a dream start to his spell. After having Afridi caught at covers for one, he uprooted the middle and off stumps of experienced Saeed Anwar for a personal score of 5.
The left-handed opener had had a confident start to his innings, cutting the first ball of the previous over from Mohammad Sami for a lovely boundary to deep point. However, he failed to come to terms with the pace and swing extracted by the left-handed Saad, giving away his wicket a bit too cheaply. In the three matches so far played during the series, Saeed has scored only 14 runs in three innings, which leaves a big question mark regarding his form.
Razzaq’s start to his innings was cautious as he took fourteen balls to get off the mark, and not before he was dropped by Arshad Khan at first slip off the bowling of Saad on the previous ball. He hit his first boundary off Sami to reach five from 16 balls.
Yousuf Youhana, on the other hand, started aggressively. He had come to the crease when Saad, after dismissing Afridi and Saeed on consecutive balls, was bowling for his hat trick. After avoiding the hat trick with a cautious stroke, he further abated the pressure by driving the left-handed pace man through covers for his first boundary.
The two took the scoring past 50-run mark after Youhana drove Saad, bowling the 14th over of the innings, magnificently to long on for his third four. He collected another boundary, this time to deep mid wicket.
Razzaq, meanwhile settling down after early hiccup, was not to be left behind. He emulated, rather outdid his partner by hitting leg spinner, Danish Kaneria, for three boundaries in one over, taking the total cruising along to 72 after fifteen overs.
Razzaq hit three more fours to take his score to 38 by the half way stage. Youhana, on the on the other end, hit six boundaries to reach 53 by the end of the 25th over of the innings. The last two boundaries came off consecutive balls, as he raced to his fifty off only 76 balls.
After conceding eleven runs, including a six by Shadab, in his first over of the day, the astute off spinner struck in only his second over, when he tried the left-hander with a flighted one. Misjudging the length of the ball completely, the batsman only managed a to offer a simple catch back to Shoaib. Shadab’s fine innings came to end at the personal score of 56 (82 balls) after he had added 91for the second wicket with Faisal.
The leg spinner Mushtaq was not to be left behind as he trapped the dangerous looking Faisal immediately after he had completed his fifty. Fall of Faisal’s wicket reduced Karachi to 118 for three in the 30th over.
Mohammad Masroor and Hasan Raza added 28 for the fourth wicket before the pair struck again in a similar fashion. After Shoaib had induced Masroor (12) to give a return catch at the total of 146, Mushtaq trapped Hasan Raza in the next over. Young Hasan made 16 (29 balls) before being adjudged lbw at the total of 148.
The 150 for Karachi came up in the 39th over bowled by Shoaib, when the all-rounder Yasir Arafat, coming to the crease after the dismissal of Hasan, dispatched him away for his first boundary. He, along with his skipper, Rashid Latif, added 34 for the sixth wicket, but the partnership was too slow to pose any threat for the rivals.
Karachi had reached 176 by the 45th over and all they needed at this stage were a few big hits by the all-rounder Yasir Arafat and the skipper Rahid Latif. However, by cleaning the stumps of the former in the first over of his second spell, Wasim ensured that nothing of that sorts happened.
Two run-outs in the closing moments added further fuel to the fire as the home side just managed to squeeze past the 200-run mark in the last over bowled by Razzaq.
For Probables, Mushtaq and Shoaib took two wickets each for 47 and 31, respectively. Wasim Akram bagged one wicket for 27 runs in nine overs.
Waqar Younis, opening the proceeding with his skipper Wasim Akram struck in only his second over of the afternoon, when he induced the right-handed Naumanullah to play uppishly to mid-on for Jaffer Nazir to take an easy catch. Naumanullah could make just one in his brief innings of 12 balls, as his wicket fell at the score of 7.
After this initial set back which involved slow run rate along with the fall of a wicket, the Karachi Young raced to 49 for one by the first drinks brake, as Shadab Kabir who opened the bat for Karachi, along with Faisal Iqbal started to find runs with relative ease.
Faisal Iqbal, who led the Lahore Panthers in the second match of the series, started slowly but soon came into his own as he hit the speedster Waqar for the first six of the innings. Waqar’s next over was equally fruitful as he was hit for two consecutive boundaries by the left-handed Shadab.
The fifty of the innings was reached in the 17th over of the innings, when Shadab worked Razzaq away to third man for an easy single. The fifty for the second wicket partnership came up in the next over when the slightly built left-hander, pulled paceman Jaffer for his fifth four of the afternoon.
Thereafter, the scoring rate fell considerably as the pace duo of Jaffer and Razzaq gave little away by their nagging line and length. This dry spell was broken by Faisal hitting Razzaq for two boundaries in his fourth over, which took the score close to 80 by the 21st over. Apart from the two boundaries, that over from Razzaq cost 10 runs, beckoning Wasim Akram to replace the medium bowler by off spinners of Shoaib Malik.
However, the move did not pay off as the Shadab lifted only the second ball from Shoaib over long on for his first six. The penultimate ball of that over was elegantly glanced by the left-hander to fine leg. The two resulting from that shot brought up the half-century for Shadab off only 69 ball, containing 5 fours and one six.
At the half way stage, the left-handed opener of Karachi Young, enjoying his time at a friendly track have reached a personal score of 54 (78 balls). The right-handed Faisal Iqbal, on the other end, is unbeaten at the score of 34 (61balls).
Waqar, the only successful bowler so far for the Probables, his figures of 22/1 to his credit. Wasim bowled 7 overs for 20 runs. Jaffer and Razzaq delivered nine overs between them giving away 36 runs without success.
Pakistan Probables has again led by the ace paceman Wasim Akram in Moin Khan’s absence, whereas Yousuf Youhana, Abdur Razzaq, Waqar Younis and Shahid Afridi has come back into the side after opting out of Lahore’s match.
Karachi Young, on the other hand, enjoy the services of batsmen like Shadab Kabir, Hasan Raza and Naumanullah, their bowling department is strengthened by the presence of Mohammad Sami, Saad Altaf and Danish Kenaria.
As far as the crowd is concerned, the people of Karachi have so far shown little interest in the proceeding here at the National Stadium, may be because it is the first working day of the week. Being a day-night fixture, it might hopefully attract crowds later in the afternoon.
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 29 Jan2001 - 22:23