Pakistan's Batting, Fielding Were Woeful

What a pity! One of the most enduring and inspired fast bowling performances in recent times was presented by Wahab Riaz of Pakistan on a day when his teammates let him down badly in batting and fielding, thus bowing out of the World cup, but with head held high.

We all know that catches win matches - but can they win you the World Cup? Pakistan will never know the answer to this question, as two crucial chances were missed in their QF match against co-hosts Australia. 

To blame the defeat solely on their poor fielding would be to brush over their equally woeful batting on yet another good pitch. Winning the toss and electing to bat on a wicket that was displaying a good covering of grass, Misbah needed his openers to weather the first 10 overs with Test-like grit and determination against the tournament's leading wicket taker Mitchell Starc.

BUT…

However, it seemed that Ahmed Shehzad and Sarfraz Ahmed were determined to counter-punch the Aussie pacers, and both fell to good catches in the slips, playing shots to deliveries that could easily have been left alone.

Australia at home are a very tough team to beat and with the kind of bowling attack they boast of, the hosts tied up the unpredictable Pak batting in knots without letting a partnership flourish. Josh Hazzlewood was outstanding picking up four wickets, while Mitchell Starc added his to his tally.

Skipper Misbah-ul Haq steadied the ship for a brief while and found willing partner in Haris Sohail, before both gifted their wickets.

Shahid Afridi has not been able to make much of a contribution to his team this WC and we all know that he needs a platform from his top order that will allow him to bat in the final 10 overs, as even with 20 overs to go, he doesn't change the way he plays, and an entertaining 23 off 15 balls didn't do much to help his team's cause.

Misbah, Afridi and Umar Akmal all perished trying to hit the big ones. While it was expected one of them to play a long innings to anchor a sizeable total in the big match, each one played flattering short cameo innings before leaving the fans disappointed. A target of 214 was too tough to defend at Adelaide and the Aussies knew they had one leg in the semi-finals at the break.

Pakistan came out to defend their total with the same zeal that they had shown playing against SA and soon Australia was 59 for three with Aaron Finch, David Warner and captain Michael Clarke back in the pavilion without showing much aggression.

THE MENACING WAHAB RIAZ SPELL

Most of the fire was coming from the Pakistan pacers, but it wasn't until Wahab was given the ball that the heat was cranked up a couple of notches. He had the Aussie batsmen in all sorts of trouble, right from his first over. Clarke looked totally perplexed against Wahab's hostility, which I am sure MSD noticed, and it wasn't long before he fended a fierce Wahab delivery off his chin, which presented the short-square leg with a dolly of a catch.

You don’t see batsmen struggling like this in ODIs, especially at the World Cup where bat has dominated ball. But Wahab has been bowling with fire the whole tournament, and even though Shane Watson had all his Test batting skills to draw upon, he was found wanting on a few occasions by Wahab's inspired spell.

Watson bobbed and weaved, like a heavyweight boxer, knowing that one blow from his opponent could lay him flat, and although the ball was fended off over gully, close to short leg, and eventually dropped on the fine leg fence, he used his considerable skill and experience to ride out the barrage and survive.

SMITH-WATSON-MAXWELL COMBINE TO BAT WELL

While all this "boxing and counter punching" was taking place, young Smith appeared to have his dancing shoes on, and was easing the ball through the gaps to the boundary, with such grace that he hardly raised a sweat on his way to a well-played 65 off 59 balls.

To their credit, and despite having put down a costly chance off Watson, Pakistan still believed they could pull off a miracle. All credit to Misbah, for his attacking captaincy, and when Smith departed with more than 60 still required for victory, and with the inexplicable Maxwell at the crease, Pakistan looked back in the match. "Inexplicable", because I have absolutely no words that can explain the approach to batting that Maxi adopts whenever he is in the middle! He is so dangerous in all limited overs matches, especially if his top order have given him a platform to launch from.

He pulled out shots that are definitely not to be found in any coaching manual and 29 deliveries later, Maxwell had compiled a flashing 44 that coupled with Watson's unbeaten 64, saw Australia proceed to a semi-final encounter against India, defeating Pakistan by six wickets.

MISBAH WILL BE SORELY MISSED

In all honesty, Pakistan had only managed to overcome SA in their pool matches, as their other victories against UAE; Zimbabwe and Ireland were expected of them. Sure, they had their injury, and off field issues, but that is what we have come to expect from the Pakistan team, and sadly for all their fans, barring Misbah, none of their senior players were able to rally the younger troops around them. 

Misbah retiring is going to cause more headaches for Pakistan than they realise, as it seems that his true value to the team will only be appreciated once he is no longer there.