I'm not sure whether the recent trend for Associate teams who win the toss to send in their most experienced opponents to bat first has a reason. Perhaps they believe it is the best chance for their less penetrative bowling attacks to utilise the fresh wicket to attempt to make early breakthroughs. May be they are resigned to their fate, and believe the best way to get the most out of the match is to have their fifty overs at their opponents, before (hopefully) being able to bat out their own fifty overs. Or is it a directive from the ICC? That the Associates must allow the big teams to bat first in order to have the match stretch out to its full limit? Whatever the reasoning may be, here was another match where the experienced team (Pakistan) was able to have first use of a very good batting wicket, and work their way to a 300+ score without too many problems, before then giving their peripheral bowlers a crack at their opponents, with the match extending to the 100th over without the result ever being in danger.
That's not to say there were not good performances. Misbah-ul-Haq continued his excellent tournament, racking up another half century. Ahmed Shehzad and Haris Sohail scored their own fifties, and got some good batting into them before the bigger games ahead. Manjula Guruge, who is without a doubt the U.A.E's best and most effective bowler, took four wickets, yet bowled only 8 overs. Pakistan's total of 6/339 came at a rate that barely changed through the whole innings, there was no acceleration nor deceleration. In the U.A.E's innings Shaiman Anwar impressed against in top scoring with 62, while former captain and the team's other most stable batsman Khurram Khan made 43. Pakistan moved through their peripheral bowlers, and the result was certainly never in question as the Emirates totalled 8/210.
Both sides would have been satisfied with the game, despite the ease of the result. Pakistan got some good time for their batsmen and their bowlers. The U.A.E got the maximum benefit fro their match against one of the world's best team's and can only improve and benefit from such fixtures. While their World Cup will not progress beyond this stage of the tournament, Pakistan have put themselves back in the frame for a quarter final position, and the results of the final matches of Group B will be fascinating for this reason.
That's not to say there were not good performances. Misbah-ul-Haq continued his excellent tournament, racking up another half century. Ahmed Shehzad and Haris Sohail scored their own fifties, and got some good batting into them before the bigger games ahead. Manjula Guruge, who is without a doubt the U.A.E's best and most effective bowler, took four wickets, yet bowled only 8 overs. Pakistan's total of 6/339 came at a rate that barely changed through the whole innings, there was no acceleration nor deceleration. In the U.A.E's innings Shaiman Anwar impressed against in top scoring with 62, while former captain and the team's other most stable batsman Khurram Khan made 43. Pakistan moved through their peripheral bowlers, and the result was certainly never in question as the Emirates totalled 8/210.
Both sides would have been satisfied with the game, despite the ease of the result. Pakistan got some good time for their batsmen and their bowlers. The U.A.E got the maximum benefit fro their match against one of the world's best team's and can only improve and benefit from such fixtures. While their World Cup will not progress beyond this stage of the tournament, Pakistan have put themselves back in the frame for a quarter final position, and the results of the final matches of Group B will be fascinating for this reason.
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