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Videocon
Cup : Pakistan Vs Australia, Finals at
Amstelveen
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Aussies
win the Videocon Cup by 17 runs in a nail-biter
August
28, 2004
Scorecard
Rain Rain
go away and let Pakistan and Australia play the
Videocon Cup finals today. Indeed all the
broadcasters’, sponsors’ and many cricket
fans’ prayers have been answered and today
hopefully wouldn’t be a ‘Match abandoned due
to rain’. Although overnight rain did dampen
the ground, we were going to witness a 50 overs
a side with a delayed start. Pakistan are upbeat
with their two wins against arch rivals India
– one in Asia Cup and the other in this short
tournament. Aussies, anytime, anywhere, they
play to win!
Flip
of the Coin
Ricky
Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first.
Pakistan made a solitary change in bringing in
opener Imran Farhat for Younis Khan. Aussies
made a change in bringing in the experienced
Glenn McGrath for Kasprowicz. A small ground,
but not the wicket to see scores hovering around
300 and 320; 250 would be a fantastic score to
defend on this kind of wicket.
Australian
Batting
 Md.Sami
was in full rhythm today, bowling at brisk speed
and Haddin, the wicket keeper batsman fell to
his pace early. Hayden and Ponting played
cautiously and the pair could manage only about
20 runs in the first 10 overs. To apply brakes
on two free scoring batsmen like Hayden and
Ponting was a major achievement by Sami and
Shabbir. The change bowlers, Shoaib Akthar and
Abdul Razzaq continued to put pressure on the
batsmen and Ponting soon gave away. Ricky
Ponting mistimed his pick up shot and the
leading edge was well held by Farhat at short
third man. Ponting was out for 25 and Australia
at this stage were crawling at 65/2 in the 24th
over. Hayden kept his patience intact and made
sure that he stayed in the middle for a long
time. Darenn Lehmann, who was the next man
played smart one-day cricket and started to gain
some momentum for the Aussies. The pair added up
61 runs for the 3rd wicket at a good
run rate. Hayden’s was the wicket to go, as
his innings of 59 in 114 balls was ended by
Shoaib Akthar. After Hayden’s fall Australia
sent in the big hitting Andrew Symonds. And Symo
straight away got going with his crisp hitting.
The pair put up another half-century stand and
Australia moved to 183/4 in the 49th
over. This was the same over when Darren
Lehmann’s busy innings came to an end at his
personal score of 40 in 68 balls. Shoaib Akthar
wrapped up the innings in style by yorking
Symonds and dismissing Clarke with change of
pace. Australia managed to score 192/7 towards
the end. Shoaib Akthar ended up with figures of
3/40 in his 10.
Pakistan’s
Chase for the Videocon Trophy
McGrath
was back in the ranks for the Aussies and he
does nothing but keep bowling on and on in the
corridor of uncertainty. Both McGrath and
Gillespie just dominated the Pakistani openers
and suffocated them with their immaculate line
and length. Yasir Hameed was the first to go as
Brett Lee, the one change bowler disturbed his
stumps with a straight and quick delivery.
Pakistan literally crawled and batted extra
cautiously to keep their wickets intact. Andrew
Symonds who was brought in to bowl his offies
removed Farhat. At 65/3, skipper Inzamam Ul Haq
became a victim of David Shepherd’s error of judgment
as he gave the batsman caught after the ball
brushed his trousers. It was double trouble in
the 30th over as Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi
were run out and Pakistan were down and out at
93/5. It was a difficult task ahead and Youhana
and Razzaq played gritty innings. They took
Pakistan close to victory, but with just 39 runs
to get, Razzaq went for a six but got out
holding to Clarke in the outfield. That was the
break the Aussies required! Brad Hogg then got
the important wicket of Youhana and Pakistan
were now reeling at 161/7 in the 43rd over. It
was curtains after that wicket fall as the World
Champs picked up the remaining three wickets
for just 14 runs. Pakistan were all out for 175,
falling short of the target by 17 runs. Symonds
and Lehmann picked up 2 wickets each and all the
other bowlers used by Ponting picked up a wicket
each. Andrew Symonds for his all-round display
was given the Man of the Match award.
A
short tournament came to an end with the Champs
having to play only one full game to win it! All
eyes are now on the upcoming Champions Trophy
starting from September 10th.
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