Aussies - A perfect example for team work

Well what a team work this has been from the Australian team, who can still bring the cricket fans out of the IPL mood that is catching up high on the other side of the globe? If one goes through the scorecard of the second innings of Australia's bating chart, almost all the Aussie batsmen have done their bit towards the team total of 511 for the loss of 8 wickets. If not for the captain Ricky Ponting who returned back scoring just 6 runs that all included was a full-toss hit out of the boundary line, the rest of the Aussies batsmen gave in everything they could to their team.

Much to the surprise, there were decent knocks from the blades of Ryan Harris and Nathan Hauritz - both of whom are more known for their bowling skills and less when it comes to playing a similar delivery. Ryan Harris scored an unbeaten 18 runs and Hauritz scored 41 that included 2 sixes as well. But, I give it all to the opening batsman - Simon Katich who not only top scored with 106 but also held the Australian innings firmly after their first innings lag of 33 runs. This is evident from the fact that he stood at the crease for 279 deliveries having crucial partnerships with Shane Watson and Mike Hussey.

Simon Katich not only bought in all his experience when he did that but also showed a non-selfish motive when he gripped the Aussie innings as mentioned. It was Katich who was responsible for his team to put up such a mammoth total after their initial hiccup. All batsmen who followed Katich came up with increasing strike rates with Hussey, Clarke, North and Haddin returning with strike rates of 41.87, 57.79, 66.66 and 120 respectively. All these were steadily increasing after Katich's 37.99. One bad decision that Ponting was found doing was when he declared the innings at 511 with 2 wickets in hand.

It is neither an insufficient total at which Ponting should not have declared nor the two wickets that Australia had that could have added few more runs to their mammoth total of 511. But, the fact is that, had Ponting chosen to declare a bit later, may be Nathan Hauritz might have scored a half century who had to end his innings at 41*. An interesting fact is the, it was only Mitchell Johnson who could not contribute with the bat for his team but did everything to compensate with the bat when he took three of the five wickets that fell from the Kiwi side.

Luck shifts from NZ to OZ

Finally, yesterday in the 2^nd one dayer between Australia and New Zealand, it was Australia who was finally declared winners after the last New Zealand wicket fell and not until the last legal Aussie delivery bowled. This is quite obvious when all the odds namely the weather, the opposition and the team itself favors only one team and aides its victory. Fortunately, for Australia it was also the toss that they won which helped them level the series 1-1 at present. Added to that was Ponting chose to bat first on a pitch where chasing a decent total would not have been that difficult.

The pitch to a greater extent suited the batsmen which saw all Aussie batsmen but Ponting and Michael Clarke contribute with the willow. The Aussie batting progressed in a slow and steady manner with even the pinch hitter Mitchell Johnson providing his share by scoring at a rate of more than run a ball during his unbeaten score of 16 runs from 13 balls. On the otherside, even the bowlers from the New Zealand side did not lag far behind in showing some sort of discipline in their bowling by making use of the Australians' fear for spin bowling when Vettori bowled 10 overs.

Bad luck struck the New Zealand side when play was suspended for a small duration owing to rain delays on two occasions and as it always happens, the side batting second always has to pay a heavier price for no mistake of theirs. The number of balls was reduced by 30 and the number of runs required to win the match was reduced by just 9. And, the time has not yet come for anybody to dispute the Duckworth Lewis method which has seen so many deserving teams lose out to non deserving ones. However, this time luck had to favor the Australian side no matter what.

The situation was the same like the one in the first one dayer where a slog shot from Styris saw the ball clear the fence and ensure a win for the Kiwis. The same slog shot could have even been a miscue and landed safe in one of the eleven Aussie fielders' hands. Or, Styris could have been beaten and in the process the stumps rattled. But, it was luck that batted for New Zealand in the form of Scott Styris. And this time, it should have been the top order batsmen to have made things easier for New Zealand and not the late middle order in Vettori trying to settle down issues.

Finally, there was a reason for the Kiwis to smile when Daniel Vettori was awarded the man of the match for his contribution with both the bat as well as the ball. Otherwise, New Zealand never deserved anything much.

Victory-The Aussie way

Well until the end of the fourth one dayer between Australia and Pakistan, I had accused Pakistan for not involving themselves into the game whatsoever. This included a number of factors like picking up the wrong combination in the playing XI, under using the bowlers, using part time bowlers more than necessary which are one of the few factors that justify for the Pakistani defeat in the first 4 one dayers. However, as expected, Pakistan lost the fifth and the final one day match also to Australia by 2 wickets but not the way the Pakistan team lost the first four.

It was in the 49^th over when the Aussie tail-ender Ryan Harris was batting and Australia needed one run to win from 4 balls and a waist height full toss from Ifthikar Anjum was bowled. That hit the bat and landed safely in the hands of Shahid Afridi only to be signalled as a NO-BALL from the umpire Ashoka DeSilva that sealed Pakistani hopes of pulling off a thriller in the last one dayer. Rarely would have anybody seen such a ball signalled a NO-BALL in international cricket. As far as the rules of the game goes, the ball should cross the batsman's shoulder full-toss in case it is to be signalled a NO-BALL whatsoever.

One way the decision can be justified is by calling a waist as a shoulder. Had it not been for that, the match worst come, would have ended in a tie with still Pakistan going empty handed in the one day series. But, the way Australia has achieved this success makes a lot of tongues to wag. This no doubt reminds anyone about the Sydney test in 2007 where 8 decisions were wrong that was evident to even a common man let alone the cricket world. However, an outlook of the match suggests that Pakistan atleast in the last game tried to contain the Aussies, which was actually not the case.

Pakistan may have bought the Aussie batsmen close to 50 overs to chase the target of 213 they had imposed. The Aussie batsmen might have lost 8 wickets enroute to their run chase. But, still it was the Aussies who had lost interest in the latch that led to Pakistan cashing in on the chances. Australia, after having taken an unbeatable lead in any bilateral series played in the last couple of years have been found to neglect the last one. They had won the first 6 games against England after their loss in the Ashes 2009, only to lose the last one dayer and with that the chance to become the first team to have inflicted a 7-0 whitewash. So was the case against India in 2007, where Australia lost the last one dayer by 2 wickets in the match where Murali Karthik claimed his career best 6/27.

So, the only victory tie the Pakistan team can boast about is owing to the fact that Ryan Harris was given a needless life which should have found the umpires raise his fingers owing to the same. Pakistan have been completely been outplayed.

Pakistan has got used to defeats

It is too late for anyone to highlight the 4^th ODI loss by Pakistan at the hands of Australia for, the loss would have been well anticipated by everyone including the Pakistan team. But, one would have hardly expected the Pakistan team to hand over the match to a 3 match old Ryan Harris who took yet another 5 wicket haul, that was his second out of three games and a consecutive one against Pakistan. May be this bowling record is the first of its kind by any bowler to take 2 consecutive 5 wicket hauls in his maiden three ODIs.

It was a slow and steady approach by the Australian batsmen which made them post a total of 277 on the board after being at 190 at the end of the 40^th over losing 6 wickets. This is what the Australian batsmen have been found doing not only in the past three ODIs but also ever since they took to top the international cricket. However, coming back to the 4th ODI at Perth, it looks like the Pakistanis have got used to the defeats especially against Australia. Neither was there any drop catches by the Pakistani fieldsmen nor any sort of ridiculous bowling.

However, the result was indeed ridiculous needless to be said. There was news that Mitchell Johnson-who was rested for the first three ODIs would be making it to the Perth ODI, which actually didn't happen. But, despite the absence of his experience and pace bowling, Australia got what they wanted. I just cannot realize what was going on in the minds of the Pakistani batsmen when they lost all their wickets for a score less than 200 150, after they had scored 127 in the second one dayer. One can imagine the caliber of the Pakistani bowlers when Nathan Hauritz could send the ball over the ropes for four times en-route to his maiden half century.

It was the same approach by Mohammed Yousuf when he bowled just 5 bowlers. One thing that is to be noticed is that Afridi, who is considered more of a batsman is made to bowl 10 overs in all four ODIs. Added to that is the fact that he was one of the two Pakistani bowlers who bowled an over maiden and returned with an economy of 4.4 which was just 0.2 rpo more than the most economical bowler Mohammed Asif. Also, the other side of the coin is that he was one of the two Pakistani players who hit sixes. One would be sick of seeing the scorecard that highlights the tail-enders' astonishing strike rates and lack of huge scores and partnerships.

With no improvement since the beginning of the ODI test series, it looks like the Pakistani captain just wants to wind up his career as captain, after a report suggests that Yousuf might be sacked at Pakistani captain after the ODI series against Australia.

When tail-enders take no responsibility...

When an Aussie bowler who made an ODI debut at the age of 30+ and in his second one dayer picks up his first 5 wicket haul against a team who have a history of winning a world cup and making it to the finals of another, one has to indeed question whether Pakistan are indeed interested in playing serious cricket be it the one day or test cricket. If one goes through the scorecard of yesterday's third one day international between Australia and Pakistan, the Pakistani captain did the same mistake that he was found doing in the first ODI.

This time at Adelaide as well, Mohammed Yousuf went in for just five bowlers who bowled their full quota of 10 overs each. May be, had the ICC not imposed any such rules regarding the number of overs a bowler can bowl in an ODI match, Yousuf would have even gone in for just one or two bowlers to bowl the entire 50 overs. The other side of the coin is also that the Pakistan side had hardly any bowler who could give the main bowlers a break and step in as a part time bowler. Such is the destiny of today's Pakistan cricket.

If the recent past is given a close look at, chasing a total of even 300+ is not considered a difficult task. May be this doesn't hold good as far as Australia is considered. At the end of the day, anyone can come out with a reason regarding their team's loss. And how much weight that reason can be given becomes a different issue altogether. Compared to the previous ODIs, Pakistan have been putting a better performance each time they faced the Aussies. They bought the Aussies close to 50 overs in the first ODI while chasing 275. And in the 2nd, they utilized an extra bowler though they ultimately got out for 127.

Now, in the 3^rd, Pakistan despite losing 4 quick wickets for 60 runs put up an 85 run partnership that could have well been converted to a winning total of 287. Some irresponsible shots from the blades of Shahid Afridi and Naved-Ul-Hasan have to be dealt with seriously if this is not happen once again. It looks like the PCB has failed in handling Afridi, who has the power to make it big but is allowed to play reckless shots, which are at most of the times irresponsible. Such shots can make only a gully cricketer and not an international. It is no more than a black mark on Afridi for playing such shots.

A 19 year old Umar Akmal along with Fawad Alam were found playing decent cricket compared to what Afridi & Naved played. Tail end batting is assumed by the Pakistani players to just give an entertainment to the crowd and nothing else. It is the performance of these tail enders who make a difference between a victory and a defeat. Pakistan have to learn from the Aussies who had a last ball victory in the ICC Champions Trophy which was made possible by tail enders Brett Lee & Nathan Hauritz who put up a 19 run partnership and also stood for 20 balls without taking unwanted risks like the ones taken by Afridi & Naved.