Asia cup 2012 [News and Updates]

[ASHWANI]

A nyc stand for 4th wicket is going on between Misbah & Umar of 74*...

PAK : 107/3 (27.2 Ovs)

Misbah-ul-Haq 36(53) 4 1 67.92

Umar Akmal 38(40) 4 1 95.00

 

[Greatkarthik]

Pak.107/3 after 28 overs.

 

[ASIF JAVAID]

pakistan 114/3 in 29 overs

 

[ASHWANI]

PAK : 117/3 (30.0 Ovs)

 

[ASIF JAVAID]

pakistan 125/3 in 31.3 over

 

[ASIF JAVAID]

pakistan 169/3 in 37 over

 

[Greatkarthik]

Pak beat srilanka by 6 wkts.
So most probably ind-pak finals.

 

[Pugazhbalaji]

So two ind-pak matches coming up.

 

[ASHWANI]

An important knock for me: Misbah
March 15, 2012


Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said that his unbeaten knock of 72 against Sri Lanka on Thursday has done his confidence a world of good after an indifferent series against England.
"This knock was an important one for me. This will help me get my confidence back as the last England series wasn't a good one for me," an elated Misbah said at the post-match presentation ceremony after his team's easy six-wicket win over Lanka in the Asia Cup, here on Thursday.

Having almost booked a berth in the finals, Misbah feels that his batsmen need to show more consistency in order to win the tournament.

"We have to be more consistent as a batting unit. The bowling has always kept us in the hunt. Especially, if you have a world class bowler like Saeed Ajmal in your team, it's a big edge."
Misbah also lauded pacer Aizaz Cheema who came back very well to take four wickets after being hammered in his first two overs.

"I kept on telling Cheema that you have to aggressive as that's your main weapon. The only way to contain batsmen is to bowl fast and get wickets."

Misbah was all praise for the immensely talented Umar Akmal who hit 77 in their 152-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
"I kept on telling Umar that if he plays normal cricket, runs will come automatically."
Man-of-the-match Cheema admitted that he was under severe pressure after being initially hit for runs but encouragement from skipper Misbah and Shahid Afridi helped him hit the straps quickly.

"I was under a lot of pressure but the captain told me not to be defensive. With two new balls used, it remains hard and even if you try slower deliveries, it comes on well. So the idea was to bowl fast throughout. Whenever I got hit, captain and Afridi came up to me and told me to be aggressive, bowl bouncers," Cheema said.

A dejected Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene said, "We had a good start and felt that 250-260 would be a good score but we lost too many wickets and exposed our lower middle-order to two of their best bowlers."

Jayawardene however gave due credit to Pakistan bowlers for dismissing them for a paltry 188.
"I thought the Pakistanis bowled really well. They had a much better game than us today. Also we made a lot of mistakes today."

The stylish right-hander however didn't buy the argument that islanders are suffering due to the fact that their batting is top heavy and overtly dependant on him, TM Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara.

"The argument can go both ways. If we seniors bat in the middle-order, what will happen when we retire? There will be no one in the middle-order. We need to give these youngsters enough opportunities. The more exposure they get, the more they will learn from the mistakes."

 

[ASHWANI]

All-round Pakistan secure big win
March 15, 2012


Pakistan all but ensured themselves a place in the final by registering a thumping 6 wicket win against Sri Lanka. Aizaz Cheema and Saeed Ajmal starred with the ball while Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal did well with the bat as Pakistan won with a bonus point to virtually knock Sri Lanka out of the Asia Cup. Cheema (4/43) and Ajmal (3/27) were the wreckers-in-chief in Sri Lanka's total of 188 all-out before Umar (77) and Misbah (72*) put on a 152 run stand to help Pakistan win with 10.1 overs to spare.


Malinga back, Sri Lanka bat first:
Sri Lanka needed to win the crunch game against Pakistan to stand a chance of making it to the final and Mahela Jayawardene, who won the toss, decided to bat first. Lasith Malinga was missed by the Lankans during the match against India, getting some rest after a hectic CB series, but the good news for the Mahela-led side was that the talismanic pacer was back to boost the team. He came into the side in place of Chamara Kapugedara. Pakistan, meanwhile, brought in allrounder Hammad Azam while leaving out Asad Shafiq.


Openers off to a brisk start:
The Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene combo worked well for the Lankan side in the tri series Down Under, and the duo started off as solidly as they did in Australia, getting the team off to a brisk start. Aizaz Cheema was the bowler who faced the wrath of the openers, with Dilshan taking a liking to him, smashing four 4s off his first two overs while Mahela managed one boundary. Umar Gul, on the other hand, maintained a tight line despite not producing any breakthroughs.


Quick strikes hurt Sri Lanka:
Having been taken for a plenty of runs in his first couple of overs, Cheema had the last laugh as he dismissed both Mahela and Dilshan in quick succession. The Lankan skipper was the first to depart as he came down the track and tried to drive through the covers on the up, but failed to keep it down. Mohammad Hafeez held on to a sharp catch and Mahela had to depart on 12. While Jayawardene's dismissal might have been a lucky break for the bowler, the dismissal of Dilshan was not as Cheema did the hard-hitting opener in with a well directed short length delivery. Dilshan (12), who earlier too was troubled by the short ball, attempted a pull but miscued the shot completely to give Saeed Ajmal a catch at mid on. Then came Umar Gul's turn to be amongst the wickets as he got Chandimal out for a duck, helped by a fine piece of catching by Younis Khan at wide first slip. Lahiru Thirimanne's outing too was a short one as he went after a wide delivery bowled by Hammad Azam only to slash it to Umar Akmal at point and headed back on 7 to leave Sri Lanka at 65/4.


The rebuilding process:
After the flurry of wickets, the need of the hour was a strong partnership to put Sri Lanka back on track and there was none better than the experienced Kumar Sangakkara to guide the team forward. The former Lanka captain put in the grind, running the quick singles and twos while managing to put away the bad deliveries to the boundary. He received good support from Upul Tharanga as they laid the platform for Sri Lanka to attempt a competitive total. The hardwork paid good dividends as the Lankan pair got more comfortable with the Pakistan bowlers to find the ropes with more frequency en route to their half-centuries while taking the score past 150 in the 34th over.


Sri Lanka lose the way again:
Sangakkara and Tharanga looked quite settled and were set to capitalize upon the batting powerplay but Ajmal had other plans. The partnership came to an end four short of the century mark when Ajmal produced a beauty that got through Tharanga's defences. Tharanga (57) failed to read a Doosra and played down the wrong line to see the stumps castled. Farveez Maharoof (2) too was done in by an Ajmal delivery that went the other way and similar to the game against India, Sri Lanka lost the plot in the batting powerplay, managing only 13 runs. Umar Gul then reached a landmark, picking up his 150th ODI wicket when he got rid of Nuwan Kulasekara for 4. Running out of partners, Sangakkara tried to go for the big ones, but unsuccessfully as he became Cheema's third scalp. Sanga (71) hopped down the track and tried to go over mid-wicket but only managed a inside-edge which hit the stumps. Cheema went on to pick up his fourth wicket by getting rid of Malinga while Ajmal removed Lakmal to skittle Sri Lanka out.


Openers in no hurry:
The Pakistan openers Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed were in no hurry to get the total moving forward as they preferred to defend most deliveries rather than trying to play their shots on a pitch condusive to stroke-making. The pair managed just 16 runs in the first seven overs with only two fours. During this period, there were three leg-before shouts as well but not given by the umpire and rightfully too as they were either missing the stumps or the batsman had got an inside edge.


Lakmal and Prasanna ensure there is a contest:
Suranga Lakmal and Seekkuge Prasanna made sure that Sri Lanka would not go without a fight as they struck in quick succession to leave Pakistan three down. The first wicket came in the ninth over, when Jamshed (18) fell to Lakmal. The left-hander attempted to play a pull shot but the delivery got big on him and he ended up ballooning a simple catch to Tharanga at mid on. Prasanna was introduced into the attack in the 12th over and he struck off his second delivery to bring about the dismissal of Hafeez (11). Drawing the allrounder into driving the ball, the leg-spinner got Hafeez to lob a catch to Chandimal at point. Lakmal then picked up his second wicket by accounting for Younis Khan (2) to leave Pakistan in a spot of bother. The ball stopped on Younis who ended up pushing it to Maharoof at mid on who took a good low catch.


Misbah and Umar get Pakistan going:
The openers didn't need to be as watchful as they were but after those quick three wickets, the job at hand for Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal - the batsmen at the middle, was to ensure that Pakistan remained wary and did not lose further wickets. The pair began building a steady partnership by mixing caution with slight bits of aggression on some occasions to give Pakistan a move-on. Umar Akmal, who was the quicker of the two batsmen in terms of the scoring rate, produced a couple of big overs for Pakistan. In the 19th over, he hit Malinga for 3 boundaries while the 26th over, which was bowled by Prasanna yielded 13 runs, 12 coming off Umar's bat. Misbah too managed to find the boundaries pretty regularly although consuming few extra deliveries in between. But he stood firm as did Umar and their stand ensured that the pressure was off Pakistan.


Umar and Misbah star in big win:
There was a chance for Sri Lanka to send back Umar, but Thirimanne put down a simple one off Lakmal's bowling when the batsman was on 46, letting him register his 14th ODI fifty. But before him, Misbah was the one who got to the half-century mark, his 19th in the 50-over format. They also extended their partnership past 100 to put Pakistan firmly in control. The next on the Pakistan pair's agenda was to reach the target within 40 overs to secure a bonus point win. The batting power play too was on at this stage and Umar and Misbah found the ropes often to get Pakistan closer. Misbah also registered his highest score as Pakistan captain in ODIs, going past the 70 not-out he scored against India in 2008. The duo looked set to take Pakistan through but the partnership was ended by Maharoof with Pakistan needing just 4 more. Umar tried to finish it off with a big hit over mid-wicket, but he failed to get the distance and Tharanga took a fine catch. Hammad Azam, who was the next man in, finished it off with a boundary off Prasanna as Pakistan secured a big win.