Daily Cricket News

Afridi's five-for demolishes Kenya

Hambantota: As a coach, Waqar Younis knows the drill of how teams need to win the games that matter in convincing fashion.

He has been through the drill as well as an elite fast bowler, captain and now the man who as an integral part of the management team that is trying to pull Pakistan together after a year fraught with controversies.

How right he was. A convincing 205 runs victory over Kenya is the sort of result that Pakistan hoped to deliver their fans at home as well as those following the side in Sri Lanka. Despite the initial top-order stutters, they were always in command of the situation.

Umar went on to win man of the match with his innings of 71 off 52 balls and a smart strike rate of 136. He was fluent and decisive and for those who remember his batting in Australia and New Zealand, there much to suggest that he will be one of the middle-order men to watch. There is a lot of flexibility about his batting and the rotation of the strike was an impressive detail to watch.

Mohammed Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad at times struggled to find each other and it would be cruel, yet perhaps kind, to suggest their early departures might yet be a blessing. It at least allowed some solid batting practice for Kamran Akmal (55), Younis Khan (50) and Misbah—ul-Haq (65) to build partnerships.

All this allowed 21-year-old Umar Akmal to display the form, which has turned him into a bubbling technician, not afraid to play his strokes and work the ball around. His 118 run partnership with Mishbah was the perfect platform needed by the Pakistan lower-order. Pakistan have also gone for the seven-batsmen plan with two of them doubling as all-rounders with Hafeez off-spin adding the to the variety.

What is interesting about the way Afridi bowled is that he had the batsmen under pressure most of the time and enjoyed the experience of bowling in a situation that was more a practice than a genuine contest. This may seem harsh, but it is the type of batting that Kenya provided in the latter part of their innings. From 73 for three to a total of 112 in a little more than six overs explains the debacle.