WELLINGTON:
Pakistan coach Waqar Younis admitted his team was outplayed in Wellington after the tourists were defeated by nine wickets in the first One-Day International (ODI) against New Zealand. A five-wicket haul for Tim Southee and a blistering 55 by Jesse Ryder saw New Zealand shatter an 11-match losing streak in style.
The hosts were so dominant in the opening ODI of the six-match series that they took just 17.2 overs with the bat to wrap up the match after whipping Pakistan out for 124 at the Westpac Stadium.
Younis said that New Zealand bowlers made it difficult for his side to recover. “It was not easy at all,” said Younis. “The only way you could get out [of a bad situation] is to slowly build a partnership and make sure that the other batsmen come in when the new ball has gone through.
“Full credit to all their bowlers, they didn’t really give us any room to hit or release the pressure.”
Pakistan lost three wickets in the first 10 overs of play as Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal and Asad Shafiq were dismissed cheaply, reducing them to 29 for three. Southee was the destroyer-in-chief taking all three as the fast bowler finished with five for 33.
Younus Khan and Misbahul Haq tried to consolidate before Khan became Hamish Bennett’s first casualty. Benett finished with three for 26. Umar Akmal was sent back the next ball before Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi avoided the hat-trick. Pakistan limped to 88 for six and lost wickets at regular intervals thereafter as Misbah held onto his wicket. The Test captain reached his 50 before he was the last man out to Southee as Pakistan were bundled in the 38th over.
Younis, however, defended the batsmen, who were out playing attacking strokes when Pakistan were precariously placed.
“It happens when you’re three down in the first 10 overs,” said Younis. “It’s never easy with the run-rate dying all the time. The bowlers didn’t give us anything and that’s when we played some false shots and couldn’t get out of it.”
Vettori praises team
Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori credited his bowlers. “It was a really good start to the series,” said Vettori. “We put the Pakistani guys under a lot of pressure and we never really let up, so it was great.”
Under pressure to perform after being whitewashed in successive series against Bangladesh and India, New Zealand revamped their batting order with swashbuckling opener Brendon McCullum dropping down to number six.
But McCullum never reached the wicket as his regular opening partner Jesse Ryder carved up the Pakistan attack in a whirlwind reply to an ineffective performance.
He made 55 in only 34 balls before he was dismissed by Sohail Tanvir in the 10th over with New Zealand at 84. There were no further hiccups for the hosts as they finished the job in the 18th over to take a 1-0 lead. The second match in the series is in Queenstown on Wednesday.(With additional input From AFP
Published in The Express Tribune, January 23rd, 2011.
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