Pakistan eye quarter-final berth

Better side on paper, the 1992 champions to clash with New Zealand today.

KANDY:

They say records and rankings matter for nothing when you come into the World Cup.

This would be true for Pakistan and New Zealand who go head-to-head as Pallekele International Cricket Stadium makes its One-Day International (ODI) debut.

Pakistan lead Group A with maximum points from three matches while New Zealand complete the quarter-finals line-up as things stand. While the two teams have met six times this year already with Pakistan edging out hosts New Zealand in the ODI series played in January, both captains know there remains little mystery about the match other than the pitch.

Room for improvement

Pakistan vice-captain Misbahul Haq ruled out the complacency factor and, instead, urged his teammates to improve on the recent performance.

“No matter how well you’re playing, there’s always room for improvement,” said Misbah after Pakistan’s light training session in the Kandy heat.

“Our batting needs some work but we’ve done well against South Africa and New Zealand recently so we’ll be going in and looking to perform again.”

Fielding remains a worry

While Pakistan may look a stronger side on paper, there exists room for improvement on the field. Pakistan were left to rue a Younus Khan drop in the 2009 Champions Trophy semi-final against New Zealand that allowed man-of-the-match Grant Elliot to take his side through and chances like those, take the game away.

The former champions also looked sloppy against Sri Lanka with wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal missing two stumping chances while two catches also went down on the outfield.

“Our fielding’s really good as compared to the teams of the past but we perform in patches and that remains a worry. We need to show more consistency in all three departments and that’s our aim in the tournament.”

High hopes from Afridi again

Pakistan’s performance in the World Cup so far can be attributed to captain Shahid Afridi’s prowess with the ball, his ablity to pick up regular wickets and revive his team from the depths of despair.

Afridi remains the tournament’s highest wicket-taker so far with two five-wicket hauls and much will depend on him once again as Pakistan look to confirm their quarter-final berth.

“Afridi is a difficult bowler to handle given the conditions. He has variations and doesn’t give any time to the batsmen. That’s a strong point for us, the aggression with which he’s bowling. It also helps the side when your captain leads from the front.”

Vettori eyes big win

Despite his side’s inferior ODI record against Pakistan, Vettori has sought consistency from his players and termed it the vital ingredient for the win that his side needs to boost their chances for a place in the last-four.

“A team’s best players are the ones who win you the World Cup and perform consistently,” said Vettori. “It’s a big game for us and we’re going to take in a lot of confidence after our match against Zimbabwe hoping to put up a repeat performance.

“These conditions are more favourable to Pakistan who are playing really well so they’ll come out an even better team. But we need to find a way to beat them.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2011.