Pak vs. SA; The Cornered Tigers Meet The Choker Leopards

Venue: Trent Bridge
Date: June 18, 2009
Prize: Final Berth + [Pride or Detagging]

Could it have been any better than this? Pakistan playing South Africa in the "winner takes all" T20 2009 World Cup semi final. While Pakistan have had the easiest ride to the semi finals with a hint of luck, a touch of charisma and some strokes of brilliance, precisely a combination that Pakistani cricket has been carrying for decades now, South Africa have been the clean sweepers winning all of their matches. For non-Pakistanis and non-South Africans I beleive it must be very tough to associate their prayers with either of the cricketing legend nations. Where South Africans have been consistent with performance Pakistanis have been more than consistent in being inconsistent and producing mercurial surprises.

Foe either teams it will be a lot more than a semi final, South Africans won't be an easy opponent for Pakistanis and South Africans can just pray what kind of opponent Pakistan shape up when they enter the field, they can be as easy as the 1999 WC Final or as difficult as the 1992 WC Final.

Pride vs. Detagging

The world and its politics, Pakistanis and their politics and taliban and their american agenda, where they have made almost everything on Pakistan's map to suffer, it has damamged Pakistan's cricket a lot. It is for this reason that Pakistani team badly need a breakthrough to come out of the recent issues at hands and thats why, I was more hurt at Younis saying the game as "fun cricket" than I was at Pakistan losing to England, but I believe it was lack of expression or vocabulary because Cricket has never been fun to Pakistan and Younis knows that well.




I so badly wish if Younis could wear the face mask of Imran Khan and walk into the dressing room tomorrow saying to his team, we have been cornered for more than two years, we were neglected, left out and left to suffer for crimes we didn't committ, in those times of pain from PCB to ICC and from our government to corrupt politics nobody came to help or soothe us, we and our fans were left alone and this is the moment we take our battle to the Trent Bridge pitch, this is the day we fight as if their is no tomorrow, this is the game we can only win and nothing else, this is the battlefield where we defeat all those who aimed to shut us out and this should be the evening where, when the dust settles, the whole world realizes for one last time that we are not leaving the game of cricket for as long as we live as a nation and that precisely is forever. This evening when the national anthem stops playing we go out and respect it by bringing home a fight well fought, irrespective of losing or winning.

On different but similar notes, Graeme Smith and his boys need to prove that they are made to play and win finals. They need to prove that they can beat the odds of D/L, rain and choking. The South Africans will enter this game with a crystal clear aim of beating D/L, detagging themselves from the choking tag and winning against Pakistan. South Africans have played enough semi-finals now to see a final at last.

If mother nature has to take sides in this game, it will be very difficult for her as well, they both need the win so badly which makes me feel that whichever team loses tomorrow will be respected by their fans and nation because the intensity and need for the win proves they have come far enough to be called losers, its however the cruelty that only one of them goes forward.

Skills vs. Magic

The South Africans will come out with a lot of plans, the As, Bs, Cs and so on. I predict that they will rely on their fast bowlers a lot more than spinners. Learning from England vs. India game they will bowl a lot of balls aiming at rib cage and head. They will aim to use poor running between wickets of Pakistanis to get them runout. Their pacers will aim to choke runs so the spinners can play with flight and loop. When they will bat, being the skilled planners, they wouldn't take much risk against Gul and Ajmal and to some extent Afridi but they will go guns blazing against Amir, Razzaq and to some extent Afridi.

The cornered tigers on the other hand would definitely come with a plan, it isn't true they don't plan, they do, they just fail to execute it. So they will walk out with their traditional hidden magic up their sleeves, but the risk with their magic is that you can never say it will be magical, the beauty of that risk is that it keeps your opponent scared and guessing. For Pakistan it will hardly be a team work, Pakistan would be so badly relying on individual peformances, which T20 actually acknowledges. They would come out hoping for Malik, Akmal, Yonis and Misbah to hit the form on the right day. Razzaq has considerable experience against Kallis, Gibbs and co., I would really hope Wasim Akram has walked into dressing room with some tips which would be so wasted if they only come from the commentators booth. Pakistan would understand it will be hard to stop runs flow with South African batting depth and present form, they will know its wickets they need and need it from the word go. They need to realize they can not drop even half chances in this game. I am sure they will know all this, but when they come out and play expect them to forget all this, why? I beleive thats how they are, you can't give them psychologists, trainers and physios and expect them to adapt, they have come from diving on cemented roads, they have spent years in domestic cricket never even knowing by a hint if the system would let them through to wear the green flag, they have come from playing bare footed to wearing Nike trainers, they have always been cornered, so when they come out at you, the beauty of the cruelness of their environment is that you will never know what they will do.

Teams

South Africans have a perfect combination going on so they wouldn't hardly change anybody unless they decide to bowl whole 20 overs of bouncers and hence leave Johan Botha on the benches, which is unlikely as they have plans Cs, Ds and Es and Fs.

Pakistan have been going along well, although, I still find Fawad Alam as a handicap but I agree there is no replacement. However, if Tanvir is fit then irrespective of his form I would include him in the team as an all rounder. Ahmed Shehzad can also replace Fawad Alam to strengthen batting but all of this is unlikely to happen. Remember, he scored highest runs in the warm up game against SAans so he maybe in for another chance.

Pakistan look a lot confused about their batting order. I, myself, backout from Afridi opening suggestion in a crucial game as semi final, also, Afridi is at his worst against rib cage balls.

Pakistan have been poor in picking up slow balls and it has costed them wickets, see above image for Misbah's dismissal ball against Irish and similar was the case for Akmal and Shahzaib. SA will bowl well disguised slower balls and Pakistan need to watch out, best way to do that is to cut short frequency of slogging. I would really like to see Misbah coming at No. 4, Misbah and Younis are best runners between wickets, thats precisely what Pakistan need in the mid-overs. I would push down Razzaq and Malik at 5 and 6 respectively because of their form. However, if opener survive 7-9 overs with 7+ run rate at least, I would like to see Yonis gamble with Afridi, it will be a stable enough position to lose 2 quick wickets but on the other hand if Afridi, for some odd reason, stays for 5 odd overs it will be 50% game over for South Africa.

With the confidence and form which South African batters will carry tomorrow, they will not wait for the ball, they will reach out for the balls on the front foot and walk down the track. In this tournament they havent gotten out LBW or Bowled a lot, it has been catching mostly. If that happens tomorrow, variation of pace can pop more catches than any other ball can. One or two slower balls every over can produce wickets, Gul should observe Malinga regularly.

Ground & Toss

South Africa being No. 1 in their group were given the advantage of their semi-final being played on the ground they have already played a handful of games on. Pakistan on the other hand hasn't played a single game in Trent Bridge in this event, except from the warm-up game (which they hardly looked to be playing). So SA has clear edge, in the Ind vs SA game pitch showed clear signs of being slow, dry and old, you could clearly see dust rising when the balls were pitched. However, semi final is on the pitch which is 2 pitches to the right of that one. Trent bridge generally has been a low scoring ground, batting isn't as easy as Lords or Oval. Pitch will tend to get worse with time so I would hope Pakistan winning the toss and bat first. Also, bowling being their main strength they should have a clear idea about pitch before they bowl, no adjustment or experimenting scope in T20.

Weather forecast is cloudy around mid-day and onwards, so Pakistan if wins the toss should bat first and hope that clouds get a bit delayed and later on in the evening with clouds at their peak Pakistan can hope Gul and Razzaq to swing the ball in air and I hope Vettori watches that.

Game Plan

South Africa will try to put Pakistan under pressure as soon as possible into the game and building on top of it.

Pakistan should maintain a good positive body language, if batting first, do not look for a mythical fantasy themed grand total, rather stick to a realistic target I would say 140-150 is a good target in Trent Bridge with Pakistani batting form and bowling strength.

Stick to orthodox cricket, afterall T20 after its youthful phase is returning to orthodox strengths of batting, T20 highest scorer Tilkaraten Dilshan has only hit ONE SIX. Look and learn, sixers are not everything, look for gaps and wait for bad balls, another reason why Misbah and Younis should come in early. A beauty about Misbah is that, like Dilshan, he improvises and rarely aims to hit a six, instead, mostly scores in gaps and by running, thats why when he picks a ball for a slog he slogs it well.

Amongst bowlers, I would bet my stakes with Ajmal, Gul, Razzaq and Afridi in descending order. SAans haven't seen much of Ajmal so he has a chance to slip between bat n pads.

My deepest wish ...

is the same as Imran Khan had, I don't care if you win or lose, as long as I see you giving it your best shot. I wish and hope and pray that tomorrow when the national anthem stops playing they enter the field like warriors and they give it their best fight, irrespective of winning or losing, as long as they come back bruised and injured on the chest the nation treats them as heroes and a good fight is worth a dozen WCs.

I so badly want to write a review of T20 Final with Pakistan playing :-)