Saturday, July 24, 2010

Pakistan Test Victory Over Australia At Last!

Pakistan finally defeated Australia in a test match after a string of 13 consecutive defeats over 15 years! The last Test cricket win Pakistan enjoyed was against New Zealand back in December 2009.

The three wickets win comes at a crucial time when the Pakistani nation really needs it to boost their sagging morale. Appropriately, the young Pakistani captain Salman Butt, who led the team for the first time after Shahid Afridi abruptly retired from test cricket, told the BBC that "we dedicate this win to the people of Pakistan who would have loved to have come and watched us playing at home.

"We remember them and hopefully we'll be back soon playing in Pakistan."

"It was really nerve-wracking towards the end and I think my young team did a great job," added 25-year-old Butt, who was grateful Australia captain Ricky Ponting chose to bat first in helpful bowling conditions on the opening day.

"He would bat on a river as well I think, he bats everywhere!

"It looked good to bat but Mikey [former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding] told me you look up at Headingley not at the pitch and I think he was right."

Prior to this test match, Pakistan won two consecutive T20 matches against Australia, and then lost the first test match mainly due to irresponsible bating by Pakistan's middle order. The first test loss came in spite of Pakistan's superior bowling attack led by Mohamad Aamer, Muhammad Asif and Umar Gul in both matches. And Pakistan's middle order batsmen appeared to be very tentative and lost their wickets in quick succession to score the last 40 runs to win the second test.

Cricinfo.com commentator Andrew Miller captured the essence of the fourth day well with the following words:

"The margin of victory looked more comfortable than it felt, and that's putting it mildly. The eventual difference between the sides was the wicketkeeper, Kamran Akmal, whose 13 from 26 balls was as close as Pakistan came to a composed fourth-day performance. That said, had Akmal been given out caught in the gully with five runs still required, who knows what miracles might have transpired. Mike Hussey's low scoop was turned down by the TV umpire, but after Mohammad Aamer had edged another four to balance the books, Akmal slammed another chance which Hussey this time plucked to his left.

After Akmal's fall, the winning run was scored by Umar Gul to make history by breaking the losing test spell for Pakistan against Australia.

Regardless of how Pakistan's win came, I expect it to have an extremely positive effect on Pakistanis' psyche under the circumstances. Let's hope that this Australia-Pakistan encounter is followed by wins in all three formats against England in England, a formidable challenge indeed given how well England have recently been playing.

Here's a video clip of Pakistan's celebration after win against Australia:



Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistanis Punish Aussies in T20 Series in England

Afridi's Leadership

Pakistan In, India Out of T20 Semis

Pakistan Beat India in South Africa

Kiwis Dash Pakistan's ICC Championship Hopes

Pakistan Crowned World T20 Champs

Pakistan's Aisamul Haq Beats Tennis Great Roger Federer

3 comments:

aamsvad said...

Congratulations to Pakistan!
Beating Australia on an non-sub continental pitch is an achievement indeed.

Anonymous said...

All out for 80 against England. BAck to square 1.

anoop said...

Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfaraz Nawaz says,"I have said this before and now I reiterate that all the players involved must be banned for life because they have let the whole nation and the fans down. How often they have done that and we have let them off."

Oh what a pity. After historic victory against Australia, Pakistan team seems to have sunk to rock bottom AGAIN. Controversy,cheating and Pakistan cricket love each other.

Pakistan cricket microcosm of Pakistan? I think so..

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/cricket/07-ex-cricketers-fans-shocked-at-fixing-revelation-ha-07