Tag: Pakistan

Cricket: NZ level series with narrow win

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Just like the test series, New Zealand bounced back from a first up defeat, to square the Twenty20 Cricket series against Pakistan.  After falling to a six wicket first up loss, New Zealand strangled the Pakistan batsmen to defend their rather lowly 140/4, eventually bowling out Pakistan for 127.

Anton Devcich was the hero for the Black Caps.  The bit part cricketer showed his prowess with both bat and ball to claim the man of the match award.  He scored 21 with the bat and took 2-16 in a display that significantly heightens his chances of featuring in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.

Earlier, a slow pitch made things challenging for all the batsmen with no one from either side topping 33.  In New Zealand’s dig Kane Williamson (32), Tom Latham (26), and Luke Ronchi (31) were the main contributors; Ronchi particularly proving effective, striking at 163 including 20 from a Shahid Afridi over.  Of the Pakistan bowlers Umar Gul was the most impressive.  Returning to cricket for the first time since April the lanky seamer returned 2-24 from his 4 overs, cementing his position as one of the finest bowlers in T20 cricket.

Attempting the very gettable chase, Pakistan were faced with Devcich’s spin from the opening over and struggled to get the ball away., and they stuttered to 24-3.  However with Ahmed Shehzad at the crease and the likes of Umar Akmal and Afridi to come the target was always within reach.  Even with 39 required off 18 the task looked possible, and when Jimmy Neesham sent down the worst over of the match (conceding 15 from the first 5 balls) it looked almost assured.  But the final ball was telling, Afridi nicked a short ball from Neesham to Ronchi to curtail the chase and deprive the fans of a gripping finale.

Another split series means the one-day cricket series will have to be used to split the sides.  World Cup tinkering will also be on the agenda, as will monitoring the injuries of Corey Anderson and Martin Guptill.

New Zealand 144 for 8 (Williamson 32, Ronchi 31, Gul 2-24) beat Pakistan 127 (Shehzad 33, Afridi 28, Mills 3-26, Neesham 3-25) by 17 runs.

Cricket: Pakistan too strong in series opener

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Pakistan proved far too good for an under-strength New Zealand side in the first of two back to back Twenty20 International Cricket matches.  New Zealand’s decision to rest captain Brendon McCullum; and seamers Trent Boult and Tim Southee backfired as Pakistan easily chased down a mediocre target of 136.

New Zealand’s effort to set an imposing total was under immediate threat as they fell to 15-3 when Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson, and Anton Devcich were all dismissed inside three overs.  Repair work was performed by Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi.  Anderson in particular looked to have NZ back on track for a respectable target after making his way to 48 with four 6s.  Unfortunately, his and New Zealand’s momentum was cut short when he fell looking for a fifth maximum and the Black Caps managed just 135 from their 20 overs.

Sarfraz Ahmed expertly guided Pakistans response.  The wicketkeeper made 76 not out from just 64 balls and was involved in the crucial 43 run partnership with Umar Akmal that saw them home.  Of the New Zealand attack only seamers Mitchell McClenaghan (4-21-1) and Adam Milne (4-18-0) displayed any semblance of a threat in what was otherwise a sensible and measured cricket innings.

We thought the positivity of the test series might flow through NZ’s cricket into this match so we gave them a chance to upset Pakistan here, but it will be hard to back them for game two which is played tomorrow.  As always after suffering a defeat, NZ will look to bounce back while Pakistan will be seeking to further destroy NZ’s confidence before the one day cricket series begins.  NZ need runs from Taylor and Guptill, and wickets rather than cheap overs from their spinners Nathan McCullum and Devcich to support the fine work of their pace attack.

Pakistan simply need more of the same.  They’ll be hoping for more crease time for Sarfraz, Awais Zia and Haris Sohail, but a 2-0 win will be consolation if not.

Game Two Odds

New Zealand $2.3

Pakistan $1.62

Cricket odds courtesy of Sportingbet Australia

Game Two Predictions 

Flipping a coin will be about as successful as following our predictions.  This could go either way.  But once again go with New Zealand to hit the most sixes.  Those leg side slogging Kiwis…

Cricket: Hit and Giggle gives NZ youngsters a chance

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Resting and rotation are sacrilegious words in New Zealand sport after disastrous Rugby World Cup efforts in 2003 and 2007. However, the New Zealand cricket team has opted for exactly that by resting Brendon McCullum, Trent Boult and Tim Southee. This has immediately seen their odds worsen amongst bookmaekrs. Rotation does though allow for a lot of tinkering and testing. New Zealand will get to check the progress of both speed merchant Adam Milne and beard merchant Anton Devcich who have been drafted into the squad for those leaving.

Pakistan will not underestimate their opposition. They too are looking to incorporate new faces into their squad. Although these aren’t exactly ‘new faces’ rather than old faces rejoining the squad for the first time. Umar Gul has been injured for long periods, Wahab Riaz returns, as does Ahmed Shehzad who was last sighted suffering a frightening head injury.

The transition from test cricket to T20 cricket will be even more fascinating for the inclusion of a host of new faces.

The Last Time These Two Met

Notwithstanding the recent drawn test series, the sides most recently met in a T20 cricket match in 2012 during the ICC World Twenty20. In that game Pakistan won by 13 runs.   They also lea the overall head to head 6-3.

The Teams

Pakistan (likely): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Awais Zia, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Saad Nasim, 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi (capt), 8 Anwar Ali/Umar Gul, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Raza Hasan, 11 Mohammad Irfan

New Zealand (likely): 1 Kane Williamson (capt), 2 James Neesham, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Adam Milne

The Key Players

Umar Akmal – At his best Akmal is a destructive middle order dasher capable of taking any international cricket attack apart. Conversely, at his worst he is terrible. He has failed to register a half-century in his last 11 first class innings. Pakistan will be hoping the best comes out against NZ as it did on test debut when he scored 129 and 75.

Kane Williamson – Captaining the side in McCullum’s absence will be a challenging prospect for the top order batsmen, but with former captains Daniel Vettori, Ross Taylor and Kyle Mills to help out, he should have all the support he needs. Williamson will be hoping the leadership doesn’t get in the way of his run scoring that peaked at the recent Champions League T20 Cricket Tournament.

The Odds*

Pakistan – $1.62

New Zealand – $2.25

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Ladbrokes Australia.

The Prediction

This is crazy good money for New Zealand. The Kiwi’s are quality limited overs crickets. The following are all reasons why we’re predicting them to prevail: fielding, Vettori’s economical four overs, Six hitting from Taylor, Anderson, Neesham, Guptill and Ronchi.

Actually put money on NZ to hit the most sixes ($1.83) too.

Cricket: New Zealand secure surreal record-breaking win

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In a match delayed and deeply affected by the loss of Phil Hughes, New Zealand played with the kind of freedom that coincided with the feeling that there is more to life than cricket.   Led by their imaginative and aggressive captain Brendon McCullum, the Black Caps played their cricket without pressure, rather with fun as the predominant aim.

The result was a startling display of record breaking batting feats, even after losing a crucial toss and being well behind after the first days play. New Zealand’s innings and 80 run win was built around a monumental first innings effort of 690. The total, New Zealand’s best ever, featured massive hundreds to McCullum (202) and Kane Williamson (192), and half-centuries to Ross Taylor (50), Corey Anderson, Mark Craig (65), and Tim Southee (50). It was an emphatic response to Pakistan’s first innings of 351, which for all intents and purposes should have been even better considering their position of 281-3 at the end of the first day’s cricket.

The returning Mohammad Hafeez, who scored 197, spearheaded Pakistan’s effort when the majority of his colleagues fell for the guise of left-armer Mark Craig. Craig’s 7-94 is comfortably his best bowling figures in Test cricket; the figures also overshadowed the return of Daniel Vettori, who managed a solitary wicket in each innings.

New Zealand’s emphatic response to losing the first test and drawing the second was to pepper the boundary while scoring at just under 5 runs per over in their first dig (in fact, NZ managed their largest number of innings boundaries in their short test cricket history). McCullum’s positivity was undoubtedly at the heart of that response (he managed 21 4’s and 11 6’s in his knock) and obviously contagious amongst the other players as they began the task of taking ten wickets on the flat deck.

Trent Boult was the catalyst for the ten Pakistan wickets that fell on day four and completed NZ’s victory. His opening spell of 3-19 was menacing as it was skillful and removed any chance Pakistan had of holding out for a draw. Only Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed offered anything resembling fight, and even there efforts include luck and endeavour rather than resistance.

The cricket test will be remembered not necessarily for the fantastic individual performances that were abundant in each of the teams turns at bat, but for the spirit in which it was played. Throughout the game, very few bouncers were bowled, wickets were not celebrated, and tributes flowed for a fallen superstar.

New Zealand 690 (McCullum 202, Williamson 192, Rahat 4-99) beat Pakistan 351 (Hafeez 197, Craig 7-94) and 259 (Shafiq 137, Boult 4-38) by an innings and 80 runs.

 

Cricket: New Zealand seek unlikely series-leveling victory

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Daniel Vettori’s inclusion in a three pronged spin attack is the major talking point of the third and final match of the New Zealand v Pakistan cricket series beginning tonight.

As one of New Zealand’s most experienced cricket players he’ll be expected to impart his significant nous on developing spinners Ish Sodhi and Mark Craig, in addition to increasing the side’s chances of taking twenty wickets.

Vettori who has indicated this test is simply a sojourn, will be asked to bat at number six in place of Jimmy Neesham and get through about 10-15 overs with the ball per day.

The surprise inclusion comes about due to the barren looking Sharjah pitch – the lack of grass has New Zealand questioning their ability to take wickets with the bowling attack that was used in the first two tests.

Pakistan won’t mind dry pitches though. Despite playing the majority of the second cricket test from behind, the number three ranked side still lead the series 1-0. To keep hold of their ranking in the ICC Test Cricket charts Pakistan require a series win and will look to series leading wicket-takers Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar to achieve it.

The Last Time These Two Met

In Dubai’s drawn second test, New Zealand acquitted themselves much better than in the first test and than most of their sub-continent performances. However the second innings again showed slow blowing frailties and their top order’s susceptibility to collapse.

The Teams

New Zealand (likely): 1. Tom Latham, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 BJ Watling (wk), 7 Daniel Vettori, 8 Mark Craig, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Tim Southee 11 Trent Boult

Pakistan (likely): 1 Shan Masood, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Ehsan Adil/Imran Khan, 10 Zulfiqar Babar, 11 Rahat Ali

The Key Players

Kane Williamson – The New Zealand number three has had a wretched series thus far, however his three previous sub-continent centuries prove his enduring class. Betfair have him as a $4.40 favourite to top score in the New Zealand first innings and he shapes as a key contributor.

Misbah-ul-Haq – It’s not often the Pakistan captain plays a cricket match and scores less 30 in both innings, but that was the case in Dubai. Look for the skipper to bounce back strongly using either of his batting tempos. At Betfair, Misbah is at $5 to top score in the first dig.

The Odds*

Pakistan – $1.96

Draw – $2.5

New Zealand – $6.25

*International Cricket odds courtesy of Luxbet

The Prediction

We’re expecting Vettori to bring solidity to all aspects of New Zealand’s game. That won’t be enough to have them winning on a pitch without a single blade of grass, but we do think they’ll manage another fighting draw.

International Cricket Catch Up

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Plenty of International Cricket to sink the teeth into.  Check out the quick version of each series below:

New Zealand v Pakistan

Australia came to Abu Dhabi, saw Younis bat, and got royally conquered.  Now it’s New Zealand’s turn to experience the formidable Pakistan batting unit, that has settled in on the Abu Dhabi pitches like a homeless man at an affluent street corner.  The first test is already underway, and has essentially already been decided.  The top five for Pakistan all made over 80 for the first time in Test cricket; they made 566/3d.  But Luxbet still has them at $1.75 and $2 on the draw.

New Zealand batsmen traditionally struggle against quality spin bowling, and while the Pakistan duo (trio if you include Mohammad Hafeez) are relatively inexperienced, they dismantled the Australians, and will extract plenty of venom from a pitch already turning and bouncing.  New Zealand’s best players of spin are Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor who entered this game with some injury concerns which has limited their batting time.  This will increase the susceptibility of a big defeat and may also mean others get the opportunity to shine.  BJ Watling is an excellent player of the sweep shot and looks a good bet for top runscorer for the Black Caps.

Look for spinners to dominate the leading wicket-takers for the rest of the series if you can find series betting.  Pakistan 2-0 with New Zealand scraping a draw in the last of the International Cricket three match series.

Australia v South Africa

International Cricket is also in Australia at the moment as South Africa and Australia fine tune their World Cup preparations with a (recently completed) three match T20 series (won by Australia, 2-1) and five ODI’s.  While the B sides battled it out in the hit and giggle version of International Cricket, the ODI’s will be a much sterner test for both sides and I’m picking this to be a mightily close series.  The Aussies need to bring some respectability back to their summer game after the aforementioned spanking at the hands of Pakistan.  Whereas the South Africans were very strong against New Zealand in a hasty three match series played before they crossed over the Australia soil.

Bet365 have instilled Australia as $1.66 series winner favourites with South Africa paying $2.20.  In the personal stakes, Michael Clarke looks a great top run getter options at $6.  Faf du Plessis looks sensible at $4.50.  Draw permitting this could well be a World Cup Final next year so I’m expecting some high quality cricket and high scores.  The big grounds and flat pitches in Australia are conducive to quality one day cricket.

India v Sri Lanka

Filling in for the West Indies, who inexplicably pulled out of a partially completed Indian tour, the Sri Lankan’s have found it difficult to compete with the star-studded Indian line-up.  Already two down, the tourists will need something special to contain the likes of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dawan, Ambati Rayadu, and Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane.  That said, the resting of MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravindra Jadeja will give Sri Lanka a chance to salvage some pride.

The Indian batting lineup has been far too dominant early in this series and their bowlers have had the uncanny knack of starting with very early wickets.  That combination makes it hard to suggest any other winner than India.  Sportingbet Australia are offering odds on this International Cricket match.  They have India at $1.42, Sri Lanka at $2.85.  If Robin Uthappa gets a go in the last two games whack a couple of quid on him to top score.  He’s paying $7.50 to do so in the 4th ODI.

Zimbabwe v Bangladesh

Our International Cricket roundup finishes in Chittagong.  The 3rd test looms as another one-sided contest.  In Tamin Iqbal, Sahib Al-Hassan, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh have the best players on display and will again be too strong.  Don’t look to back any individual players who are not the four listed above.

Betfair Australia has Zimbabwe as rank outsiders at $7.40 for the third test.  Bangladesh are at $1.69.  The draw is actually quite attractive at $3.55.