The last of the three test matches between Pak and NZ had tilted seriously in favour of the Pakistani team with Kaneria having taken a five-wicket haul when no one was expecting the ball to turn. Well, to be honest, most of the wickets were handed out to him due to the inability of the Kiwis to come forward and meet the ball before it gained that decisive curve.
However, Vettori has delivered once again, augmenting and cementing his position as a contemporary all-rounder and not just another handy, low-order contributor with runs. His batting was simply awesome in terms of being choosy about his strokes. I cannot recall Vettori having made a more crucial century in his entire test cricket history. And now it seems that another comeback man in the series, Tuffey, has taken a liking to Vettori's mold and probably for the first time he contributed handsomely with a well-made 80. With a total of 450+ runs on the board, it will take some doing for the Pakistanis to turn the match around as they have to counters Vettori's bowling on a slowing pitch and overcome the first innings lead before even imagining of bowling-out the Kiwis on the final day. For now, it seems like a 2-1 result in favour of New Zealand unless they do something drastic to undermine their chances in this match.
Showing posts with label Kaneria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kaneria. Show all posts
Kiwis just cannot handle Pak bowlers
The final of the three test match series between Pakistan and the Kiwis is underway and it is very clear that no matter how little the Pakistani batsmen will score, their bowlers can always pull the game back, courtesy the poor batting on display by the Kiwi batsmen. It is not just the spin of Saeed Ajmal or Kaneria that they are struggling against, nearly every Pakistani bowler has got his number on a Kiwi batsmen.
Vettori must be scratching his head, trying to find at least two batsmen to bat at the top of the order who can at least play out a session without giving the jeepers to the men in the dressing room. What is amazing is that these are the kind of pitches that the Kiwis have been brought up on and yet, their footwork against swing bowling is almost non-existent. All of them are happy to be perched on the backfoot, waiting for the ball to swing and do something before they commit themselves to a stroke and by the time they do so, their stumps are shattered or they are caught plumb, in front of the wicket. As things stand now, it is again up to the latter half of the lower-middle order of New Zealand to somehow bail out the team, as the top-order has crumbled to Kaneria who has been absent from the wicket-taking scene for some time. Asif first and now Kaneria, it is like a comeback season for the Pak bowlers against suspect, under-par Kiwi batsmen.
Vettori must be scratching his head, trying to find at least two batsmen to bat at the top of the order who can at least play out a session without giving the jeepers to the men in the dressing room. What is amazing is that these are the kind of pitches that the Kiwis have been brought up on and yet, their footwork against swing bowling is almost non-existent. All of them are happy to be perched on the backfoot, waiting for the ball to swing and do something before they commit themselves to a stroke and by the time they do so, their stumps are shattered or they are caught plumb, in front of the wicket. As things stand now, it is again up to the latter half of the lower-middle order of New Zealand to somehow bail out the team, as the top-order has crumbled to Kaneria who has been absent from the wicket-taking scene for some time. Asif first and now Kaneria, it is like a comeback season for the Pak bowlers against suspect, under-par Kiwi batsmen.
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