ICC Cricket World Cup 2011: Match No 33 : Pakistan go past Zimbabwe in a rain affected game

Match No 33 : Pakistan vs Zimbabwe at Pallekele on 14.03.11 : Pakistan won by seven wickets on DL Method

R Chakbava scored zero in this game to provide the 45th occasion of a Zimbabwe batsman and ninth occasion of a Zimbabwe opening batsman scoring duck in the world cup

CR Ervine’s 52 in this game represent his third one day fifty. His knock provides the 43rd occasion of a Zimbabwe batsman scoring a fifty in the world cup. This knock represents the second occasion of his scoring a fifty in the world cup. The other occasion was his 85 vs Canada at Nagpur on 28.02.11

CR Ervine with his two fifties became 12th Zimbabwe batsman to score fifties on two or more occasions in the world cup

Ahmed Shehzad was stumped for 8 in this game providing the 28th occasion of an opening batsman scoring fifty in the world cup. He became the first Pakistan batsman to suffer such an ignominy in the world cup.

Asad Shafiq scored 78 not out in this game which represent his highest score in one day games. His previous best was 50 vs England at Leeds on 12.09.10

Asad Shafiq’s 78 not out in this game was his first fifty on world cup debut. He became the 63rd batsman to score a fifty on world cup debut and the eighth Pakistan batsman to accomplish such a feat. The other seven are – 53 by Asif Iqbal vs Australia at Leeds on 07.06.75 : 65 by Majid Khan vs Australia at Leeds on 07.06.75 : 82 by Mohsin Khan vs Sri Lanka at Swansea on 09.06.83 : 76 by Ramiz Raja vs Sri Lanka at Hyd-Pak on 08.10.87 : 65 by Shoaib Malik vs West Indies at Kingston on 12.03.07 : 65  by Misbah-ul-Haq vs Kenya at Hambantota on 23.02.11 and 71 by Umar Akmal vs Kenya at Hambantota on 23.02.11

ICC cricket world cup 2011: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe live score preview

Pakistan is a very difficult team to write about at the moment when they get ready to face Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka on Monday in the ICC World Cup.

Pakistan would be almost certain to get inot the last four of the tournament but it has not only beat Zimbabwe today but their own controveries and problems too.

Pakistan came in the World Cup with a lot of controversies; both within the team and outside of it. Then three successive win helped by tremendous performance by Shahid Afridi made it look quite promising. Then came the match against New Zealand and all its prestige was blown away by the super fast Ross Taylor.

Zimbabwe should not be a tough nut to crack but think of Pakistan's own 'naughty nuts'. Since Kamran Akmal is in the news more for dropping chances than grabbing those, it was reported than Shahid Afridi is mulling to play Kamran's brother Umar Akmal as wicketkeeper batsman. Then the younger brother Umar came up with some sort of pain reportedly to force the team management to keep Kamran back in team.

Truly sub continental example of 'bhai bhateejawad' or nepotism.

Now, the Pakistani team management is said to have taken this problem seriously and would not succumb under such tactics.

One may think why it is so important to discuss this 'Akmal syndrome'. Because Ian Chappell says even if Kamran would have been batting better than Sir Donald Bradman, his performance behind the stump should keep him away of the ground.

Back to Pakistan's main team. It has still to resolve the problem of openers, which have failed to provide even a single partnership nearing fifty. The batting is heavily dependent on the middle order and particulalry Younis Khan and Misbahul Haque. Not playing Kamran at the top would also require some thinking by Pakistani team management whether to replace him with a batsman or bowler. Pakistan two other explosive all round batting star Shahid Afridi and Abdurrazaq are not firing.

In the bowling department Pakistan need a lot of improvement as except for Shahid Afridi no other bowler seems to be penetrative enough. The beating Shoaib Akhtar got against Ross Taylor must have forced him to think about variations.

Zimbabwe started badly but its performance is getting better. Fielding is one department in which Zimbabwe is surely superior to Pakistan. But its bowling and batting might not be enough.

Cricket World Cup: Pakistan storm into knockouts after 12 years

Asad Shafiq scored his maiden world cup fifty as Pakistan cruised into the quarter-finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 after beating Zimbabwe by seven wickets on Duckworth/Lewis Method in their crucial Group A match at Pallekele Stadium here Monday.

Asad Shafiq. Courtesy: Getty Images

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura, who was celebrating his 25^th birthday, won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch which had the juice to assist fast bowlers especially under overcast conditions.

Pakistani new ball bowlers pitched the ball in the right areas as Abdul Razzaq got rid of the danger man Brenden Taylor in the first over of the match and then Umar Gul started dictating terms as he sent back Chakabva and Sibanda for a duck and five runs respectively as Zimbabwe looked down the battle quite early in the match.

Umar Gul wins Man of the Match award. Courtesy: AP PHOTO

Craig Ervine and Tatenda Taibu then joined hands and looked good for some time before Wahab Riaz was introduced into the attack by skipper Shahid Khan Afridi and the left-arm bowler never disappointed as he captured the prized scalp of Taibu.

However, Ervine kept hold of one end and completed his fifty before Mohammad Hafeez clean-bowled him for 52 runs.

Mohammad Hafeez. Courtesy: AP PHOTO

With the rains coming down heavily, umpires and players went back into the pavilion and later came back with match shortened to 43 overs. A second rain break further cut the number of overs to 38 as Zimbabwe batsmen took long handle to score maximum runs.

In the end, the African side managed to score 151 runs from their 39.4 overs, giving Pakistan a target of 162 runs from 38 overs.

Umar Gul once again led the Pakistani bowling attack with style as the right-arm fast bowler grabbed three wickets for 36 runs.

Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal. Courtesy: AP PHOTO

A lot was expected from the openers but Ahmad Shehzad once again failed to cash in on the given opportunity and tried to play too many shots thus losing his wicket to Raymond Price after scoring only eight runs, yet another failure for the young batsman.

On the other hand, Mohammad Hafeez showed some application and commitment to spend some time at the crease which rewarded him with some crucial runs under his belt ahead of the bigger games of the tournament. Hafeez along with Asad Shafiq, who replaced injured Umar Akmal, built the match-winning partnership of 82 runs which is the highest second wicket partnership for Pakistan in the current edition of the ICC World Cup.

Hafeez failed to complete his well-deserved fifty and had to return to the pavilion after Utseya got him out at 49 runs, but till then Pakistan were on course to the required victory.

Younus Khan (13 from 28) then joined forces with Asad Shafiq, who after a slow start capitalized in the later stage and scored an impressive fifty on his world cup debut.

Asad Shafiq remained not out at 78 from 97 balls with the help of seven boundaries.

Umar Gul was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant spell of fast bowling getting rid of three Zimbabwean batsmen.

Pakistan vs Zimbabwe: Stats show no contest

KARACHI: Pakistan are taking on Zimbabwe in an important Group A match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 at Pallekele Stadium in Kandy on Monday but Men in Green have a clear advantage on the African side as far as statistics are concerned.

The two teams have played so far played 40 One Day International matches where Pakistan have won 36, Zimbabwe only two, one match ended in a tie, while another one ended with no result.

Pakistan Vs Zimbabwe - ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

In the World Cup competitions, the two teams have so far played three matches, all of which, have been comfortably won by Pakistan while in the sub-continent Pakistan have won 15 out of their 16 meetings thus far.

Pakistan would be looking to come out of their dismal performance against New Zealand and show a champion display against Zimbabwe whose top order batsmen have started to find their feet and form.

As far as the recent form of both teams is concerned, Pakistan have lost four out of their last five matches while Zimbabwe have won only one game from their last five.

The concerning point for Zimbabwe is their middle order batting that has failed to fire in this tournament and despite their openers regained the lost touch in the match against Sri Lanka they will have play out of their skins to challenge Pakistan’s bowling attack that has a great depth.

On the flip side, Pakistan’s top order batting is in dismal shape but middle order batting has been doing all the scoring as Misbah-ul-Haq has scored 192 runs while Umar Akmal has scored 167 runs so far in the tournament. Younus Khan and Kamran Akmal have shown promise but have failed to capitalize on their good starts and one may think Zimbabwe would be the team they would like to gain their form and confidence against.

Brendan Taylor, Tatenda Taibu and Craig Ervine have done bulk of the run-scoring for Zimbabwe so far with 140, 117, and 113 runs respectively.

Pakistan’s skipper Shahid Khan Afridi has been the one bowler who has performed so far in the tournament as he leads the tournament with 15 wickets at an economy rate of only 3.36 while Chris Mpofu (6 wkts) and Ray Price (5 wkts) are leading the Zimbabwean bowling attack.

ICC cricket world cup 2011: Pakistan vs Zimbabwe live score preview

Pakistan is a very difficult team to write about at the moment when they get ready to face Zimbabwe in Sri Lanka on Monday in the ICC World Cup.

Pakistan would be almost certain to get inot the last four of the tournament but it has not only beat Zimbabwe today but their own controveries and problems too.

Pakistan came in the World Cup with a lot of controversies; both within the team and outside of it. Then three successive win helped by tremendous performance by Shahid Afridi made it look quite promising. Then came the match against New Zealand and all its prestige was blown away by the super fast Ross Taylor.

Zimbabwe should not be a tough nut to crack but think of Pakistan's own 'naughty nuts'. Since Kamran Akmal is in the news more for dropping chances than grabbing those, it was reported than Shahid Afridi is mulling to play Kamran's brother Umar Akmal as wicketkeeper batsman. Then the younger brother Umar came up with some sort of pain reportedly to force the team management to keep Kamran back in team.

Truly sub continental example of 'bhai bhateejawad' or nepotism.

Now, the Pakistani team management is said to have taken this problem seriously and would not succumb under such tactics.

One may think why it is so important to discuss this 'Akmal syndrome'. Because Ian Chappell says even if Kamran would have been batting better than Sir Donald Bradman, his performance behind the stump should keep him away of the ground.

Back to Pakistan's main team. It has still to resolve the problem of openers, which have failed to provide even a single partnership nearing fifty. The batting is heavily dependent on the middle order and particulalry Younis Khan and Misbahul Haque. Not playing Kamran at the top would also require some thinking by Pakistani team management whether to replace him with a batsman or bowler. Pakistan two other explosive all round batting star Shahid Afridi and Abdurrazaq are not firing.

In the bowling department Pakistan need a lot of improvement as except for Shahid Afridi no other bowler seems to be penetrative enough. The beating Shoaib Akhtar got against Ross Taylor must have forced him to think about variations.

Zimbabwe started badly but its performance is getting better. Fielding is one department in which Zimbabwe is surely superior to Pakistan. But its bowling and batting might not be enough.