From a ventilator to breathing normally again

There can be simply no substitute to breathing normally without the support of any artificial means, and as soon as Sarfraz Ahmed entered the fray at a heaving Eden Park, Misbahul Haq’s ‘oxygen supply’ was fully restored.

By the time the rain storm that was threatening the game from the outset eventually arrived, Sarfraz had breathed a new life in Misbah’s eleven.

A breezy 49 and a record-equalling six catches behind the stumps — including a stunner off Hashim Amla — was the nebuliser that pumped so much energy and momentum in the Pakistan camp that even the South African warrior AB de Villiers was forced to concede, “Perhaps Pakistan wanted the game much more than us.”

Yes. And perhaps AB, Sarfraz wanted that much more than the rest of his mates.

Eden Park was roaring even with only 22,000 out of the 41,000 seats taken. The intensity and the heat generated by the whipping left arms of Muhammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz and Rahat Ali had sent the Pakistan section of the crowd in raptures, and when the match ended, the South Africans scarcely minded applauding the spellbinding display of the pace bowlers and Sarfraz’s athleticism behind the stumps.

The fans from both camps mingled freely — arm in arm selfies galore capped off a truly festive night in Auckland.

The Pakistan team lodged at the Heritage Hotel in the heart of Auckland, and as usually is the case, scores of fans thronged the outskirts of the hotel to welcome the team; some even hung about well into the Saturday night — celebrating the famous win.

Come Sunday morning, the Pakistan players were bunched together for breakfast and the mood was one of satisfaction and joy, with head coach Waqar Younis seemingly having forgotten the ‘stupid’ tirade he exchanged with a journalist, choosing to shower praise and words of encouragement on Sarfraz and the pacers.

Gentle giant Irfan was overheard planning to unleash himself on the Irish in the crucial game in Adelaide next weekend. “Ireland nuu kha jayen ge [We will thrash Ireland],” was the crux of his declaration.

Meanwhile, one has often been a critic of Misbah’s at times lacklustre and unimaginative captaincy, but on Saturday night, he choked the Proteas with a most aggressive in-your-face game plan with his fast-bowlers.

The usually sedate captain chose not to take a backward step in defence of a meagre score.

Perhaps these middlish totals are still Pakistan’s real strength, and no one knows how to defend these targets better than Waqar. For now, one can hardly question his claim that his fast-bowlers are the best in the competition, even when de Villiers stressed that there was “nothing extraordinary” about them.

The batting struggles are not likely to go away anytime soon, but a useful contribution by Younus Khan must have pleased the think tank further. The seasoned pro finally broke into a smile after plucking out a smart catch to send Kyle Abbott back in the hutch when the game hung in the balance.

Once the feeling of overwhelming joy of Pakistan’ stellar win settled, one recalled the freakish innings by de Villiers — amid carnage at the other end, the ‘god of cricket’ proved that he was the closest to the immortal batsman who is head and shoulders ahead of the rest of his pack.

The dazzling flicks, pull, backfoot drive and check drives left the media men at the press box dazed. De Villiers indeed seemed a clone of Neo from Matrix, as artfully suggested by Dale Steyn at the pre-match presser on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  9^th,  2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.