Thu, 03 Mar 2011 - Pakistan vs Canada, World Cup 2011, 17th match Group A - Bulletin - Part 2

Afridi fifer dashes Canadian hopes

Led by their skipper Shahid Afridi, Pakistan bowlers displayed an inspiring show to help their side to defend successfully the meager total of 184 runs overcoming a reckless performance of their batsmen.

Afridi took his second five wicket haul of the tournament to boost his side to a 46 run victory from the position when it looked Canadian side might romp home with the victory.

The 4th wicket partnership of Hansra and Surkari had Pakistan on ropes getting the singles and doubles easily and looked to meander easily towards the target but Saeed Ajmal had other ideas trapping Surkari leg before at the team score of 104 runs.

It was Afridi all the way after that spearing some faster ones to rattle Canadian hopes taking five for 23 runs in his ten. He mixed his faster ones with guile and bowled danger man Rizwan Cheema by a peach of googly luring him to a lofted drive only to sneak through his bat and pad to castle his off-stump.

While Hansra and Baidwan had no answers to his faster ones, he had Gordon caught beautifully by Wahab Riaz in the deep.

He then made his day even better by running out Balaji Rao thanks to a direct hit from mid-on position. Wahab Riaz rounded off a Pakistan terrific performance in the field by castling Henry Osinde with a pacy straighter one.

Earlier Pakistan new ball bowlers Abdur Razzaq and Umar Gul bowl their heart out not to let Canadian off to a god start getting both openers out as well.

Afridi also accounted for his opposite number by a straighter one which Ashish Bagai failed to pick only to be trapped leg before the wicket.

After opting to bat first, Pakistan lived up to their reputation of inconsistent performers with the bat as they were folded for paltry 184 runs by a weaker Canadian bowling attack.

The poor batting display was combination of impressive bowling performance by Canada aided by the lack of application from Pakistan batsmen.

Pakistan batsmen never looked comfortable against Canadian bowlers who were very accurate and kept plugging away to bring about downfall of batsmen.

Pakistan were off to a sluggish start losing four of its wickets for 67 runs inside 17 overs but looked to recover thanks to 5th wicket partnership of 73 runs between Misbah-ul Haq and Umar Akmal.

The duo during their rather slow partnership looked to resurrect Pakistan innings by picking up the singles and doubles but could never dominate the disciplined Canadian bowlers. Both went in a quick succession triggering a collapse with last six wickets lost for only 44 runs.

All Canadian bowlers were right on the money from the word go with HS Baidwan getting three Pakistan wickets while Rizwan Cheema, Balaji Rao and Hansra getting two wickets each.

Canadian bowling display was supported by their fielders who dived around in the field to make life difficult for Pakistan batsmen and holding on to some good catches.

They were led magnificently by their captain Ashish Bagai who not only marshaled his players well but kept beautifully behind the stumps.

Umar Akmal with 48 runs off 68 runs and Misbah-ul Haq with scrappy 37 were notable scorers for the Pakistan with majority of their batsmen failing to convert starts into a big score.