Chants of “Pakistan Zindabad! Pakistan Zindabad!” in the stands. Wahab hugs Imad. Sarfaraz Ahmed looks skywards. #Scenes at Trent Bridge. England seemed to be ahead in the game when Root rattled away to a hundred. England seemed to be ahead in the game when Buttler rattled away to a faster hundred – this was in fact England’s fastest World Cup hundred. Shadab and Amir, however, got the two centurions and set the scene for Wahab’s late burst. With England needing 29 off 14 balls, Wahab then produced a decisive double-strike to effectively seal the game for Pakistan and shock favourites England. Not to long ago, Mickey Arthur questioned Wahab’s place in the side. The quick – who wasn’t in this World Cup squad in the first place – has responded strongly with a match-winning performance that had his coach applauding him in typical animated fashion. Well, what does this mean for England?
Bangladesh’s win yesterday and Pakistan’s win today has lit up the tournament after a rather tepid start.
Lessons from today’s and yesterday’s matches:- 1) this World Cup is going to be the most closely fought one 2) Spin is back in the equation. So are the Asian teams 3) chasing 350 in a bilateral series is different from chasing 350 in World Cup. It might be a high scoring WC, but not an absurd one 4) England is beatable; and Pakistan is well, Pakistan. 5) Experience pays – it was Sakib/Fizz yesterday, it was Amir/Wahab/Hafeez today
“To quote Nasser Hussain’s famous Champions trophy finals comment with a slight alteration. PAKISTAN CRICKET AT IT’S BEST, DOWN ONE DAY, UP THE OTHER. ”
Excellent and well explained regarding the ever changing state of our team. Its like that mathematics formula which is complex to understand.
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