Pakistan brimming with confidence

It was always on cards that once New Zealand won the toss, they would bat first to put pressure on the wobbly and temperamental Pakistan ...

It was always on cards that once New Zealand won the toss, they would bat first to put pressure on the wobbly and temperamental Pakistan batting. The conditions were excellent for batting as New Zealand prepared to tackle Shoaib Akhtar and Wasim Akram.

The packed house was treated to a wonderful exhibition of fast bowling by Akhtar who stole the show. He got rid of Nathan Astle and Wasim complemented by picking up Craig McMillan. Matthew Horne looked convincing until he was yorked by an inswinging beauty from Abdul Razzak.

Captain Stephen Fleming joined Roger Twose to stabilise the rickety platform and led from front with steady batting. It took a special delivery to get Fleming out, a thunderbolt from Shoaib 8212; toe-crushing yorker 8212; to give Pakistan a vital breakthrough in the middle of the innings.

If Shoaib bowled the delivery of the tournament, it was the catch of the tournament that got rid of the in-form and potentially match-winning Roger Twose. Ijaz Ahmed dived full length to pluck a stunnerout of thin air with his wrong hand, thus depriving New Zealand of a launching pad for a 250-plus total. A well-paced innings by Chris Cairns and a luxurious gift of 47 extras helped New Zealand to 241.

The Kiwis had to pick up early wickets and frustrate the Pakistani batsmen with length bowling to create opportunities. Instead, they met with stern resistance from the Pakistani openers, who put on the highest partnership in World Cup cricket. It was not only the quantity but quality of runs which gladdened the hearts of Pakistani fans.

The uni-dimensional New Zealand attack, consisting of medium-pacers, was exposed by Wasti and Saeed Anwar, who scored at will. New Zealand failed to impress with their game plan and looked helpless when it mattered most. They waited for opportunities to come their way and could not force the pace because of an average attack.

Anwar repaid his captain8217;s trust by anchoring the innings. Wasti needlessly threw his wicket and missed the opportunity to get a century. Theyoungster showed great temperament and technique and at times outshone his senior partner. He has been a bright spot for Pakistan along with Razzak, who has performed admirably throughout the testing campaign.

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New Zealand are considered a boring outfit, with predictable strategy and average talent. At times, it takes just one class player to roll them over and in the semi-final, it was Anwar who did the honours.

Pakistan are now brimming with confidence. The batting is firing, and complementing the strong bowling attack. One more win and World Cup 1999 will be theirs.