da apostaganha： Perth, Nov 26: The trials and tribulations of Pakistan’s battinghave continued unabated
A. Jalil27-Nov-1999Perth, Nov 26: The trials and tribulations of Pakistan’s battinghave continued unabated. Their ineptitude surfaceddisconcertingly in the final Test of the series. It is a matchthat Pakistan would be aiming to win, not because the resultwould influence the outcome of the series but simply because itwould be a face-saving victory.Having so timidly allowed Australia to snatch victory from thejaws of defeat in Hobart earlier in the week, it is nowPakistan’s opportunity to redeem themselves. This would obviouslybe their intention but their batting, however, gave littleimpression of what they had in mind.Certainly no blame for Pakistan’s paltry total of 155 can beattributed to the Western Australia Cricket Association pitch.Unlike the typical strip here at Perth, which has a fairly greentop, this was supposed to have been prepared for runs. The sightof a hard, brown pitch indicated that this may be the bestbatting surface on this ground for several seasons.It made batting practically imperative on winning the toss and itcame as no surprise that Wasim Akram decided to make first use ofit. Indeed, the Australia captain Steve Waugh said at the end ofthe day’s play that had he won the toss he was going to bat.The advantage of winning the toss and having a run feast has beenlost on Pakistan. Once again it has been the familiar story of alack of application. It is true that there was movement of thepitch, particularly when Damien Fleming bowled but the downfallof the batsman was poor shot selection. Both of Pakistan’sopening batsmen fell in similar fashion, defensively edging theball to third slip.Ijaz Ahmad has had one reasonably good Test innings, the secondone at Hobart other than that he has looked incapable of scoringruns. There was a general feeling in the Australian camp thatPakistan’s batsmen are not used to playing on bouncy pitches andthat is likely to cause them problems. Ijaz looked mostuncomfortable during his brief stint and soon got out playing acasual drive from which he only succeeded in dragging the ball onto his stumps.It is true that Australia bowled well but not to the extent thatPakistan should have found themselves in a position of 3 for 26,4 for 51 and 5 for 83. Yousuf Youhana was unlucky to fall to abrilliant catch, but once again it showed that Pakistan’s batsmenwere showing a complete disregard to caution and a bit ofpatience. There was no endeavour to consolidate the innings whichwas in danger of disintegrating.It was unusual to see Australia drop catches. Had that not beenthe case Pakistan’s innings would not even have lasted the shortduration it did after tea. The top scorer Azhar Mahmood wasdropped three times, all off the unfortunate Fleming and twice inone over. The first let off for him was on 18 and he went on toscore 39.Australia appeared to show the same impatience in their inningsas Pakistan had done. Neither side had batted as though it was afive-day game. There is no doubt that the limited-overs game hasgot batsmen to play risky strokes, abandoning the technicalitiesof batting. It is a view shared by former Australian captain MarkTaylor as he today discussed the fall of such a large number ofwickets in a day.Perth, Nov 26: The trials and tribulations of Pakistan’s battinghave continued unabated. Their ineptitude surfaceddisconcertingly in the final Test of the series. It is a matchthat Pakistan would be aiming to win, not because the resultwould influence the outcome of the series but simply because itwould be a face-saving victory.Having so timidly allowed Australia to snatch victory from thejaws of defeat in Hobart earlier in the week, it is nowPakistan’s opportunity to redeem themselves. This would obviouslybe their intention but their batting, however, gave littleimpression of what they had in mind.Certainly no blame for Pakistan’s paltry total of 155 can beattributed to the Western Australia Cricket Association pitch.Unlike the typical strip here at Perth, which has a fairly greentop, this was supposed to have been prepared for runs. The sightof a hard, brown pitch indicated that this may be the bestbatting surface on this ground for several seasons.It made batting practically imperative on winning the toss and itcame as no surprise that Wasim Akram decided to make first use ofit. Indeed, the Australia captain Steve Waugh said at the end ofthe day’s play that had he won the toss he was going to bat.The advantage of winning the toss and having a run feast has beenlost on Pakistan. Once again it has been the familiar story of alack of application. It is true that there was movement of thepitch, particularly when Damien Fleming bowled but the downfallof the batsman was poor shot selection. Both of Pakistan’sopening batsmen fell in similar fashion, defensively edging theball to third slip.Ijaz Ahmad has had one reasonably good Test innings, the secondone at Hobart other than that he has looked incapable of scoringruns. There was a general feeling in the Australian camp thatPakistan’s batsmen are not used to playing on bouncy pitches andthat is likely to cause them problems. Ijaz looked mostuncomfortable during his brief stint and soon got out playing acasual drive from which he only succeeded in dragging the ball onto his stumps.It is true that Australia bowled well but not to the extent thatPakistan should have found themselves in a position of 3 for 26,4 for 51 and 5 for 83. Yousuf Youhana was unlucky to fall to abrilliant catch, but once again it showed that Pakistan’s batsmenwere showing a complete disregard to caution and a bit ofpatience. There was no endeavour to consolidate the innings whichwas in danger of disintegrating.It was unusual to see Australia drop catches. Had that not beenthe case Pakistan’s innings would not even have lasted the shortduration it did after tea. The top scorer Azhar Mahmood wasdropped three times, all off the unfortunate Fleming and twice inone over. The first let off for him was on 18 and he went on toscore 39.Australia appeared to show the same impatience in their inningsas Pakistan had done. Neither side had batted as though it was afive-day game. There is no doubt that the limited-overs game hasgot batsmen to play risky strokes, abandoning the technicalitiesof batting. It is a view shared by former Australian captain MarkTaylor as he today discussed the fall of such a large number ofwickets in a day.For Pakistan Mohammad Akram, playing his first Test on this tourbowled well at the start. His 3 wickets had cost 30 whenAustralia were reduced to 4 for 54, matching Pakistan’s inningsat that stage. But Justin Langer, the hero of Australia’s victoryin Hobart, distorted Akram’s figures as the innings progressed.Along with Ricky Ponting, who has broken a sequence of threeconsecutive Test ‘ducks’, he has taken Australia to the relativecomfort of 171 for 4.Pakistan will have to restrict Australia’s scoring when playresumes on the second day and dismiss them for not much more toget back in this game. Shoaib Akhtar will need to bowl withgreater control than his five overs showed today. If he does, hemay have the answers for Pakistan. He has certainly been providedwith an ideal pitch to flaunt his talent and capabilities.For Pakistan Mohammad Akram, playing his first Test on this tourbowled well at the start. His 3 wickets had cost 30 whenAustralia were reduced to 4 for 54, matching Pakistan’s inningsat that stage. But Justin Langer, the hero of Australia’s victoryin Hobart, distorted Akram’s figures as the innings progressed.Along with Ricky Ponting, who has broken a sequence of threeconsecutive Test ‘ducks’, he has taken Australia to the relativecomfort of 171 for 4.Pakistan will have to restrict Australia’s scoring when playresumes on the second day and dismiss them for not much more toget back in this game. Shoaib Akhtar will need to bowl withgreater control than his five overs showed today. If he does, hemay have the answers for Pakistan. He has certainly been providedwith an ideal pitch to flaunt his talent and capabilities.