Stani Army

I for one am glad I didn’t get too carried away by Pakistan’s day 2 second innings recovery as they would have inevitably let me down having raised my hopes. And so it proved, as another batting collapse saw them go from 285 for 1 to 320 all out in their second innings. This left Sri Lanka needing 171, and with their tales up they ran through comfortable winners in the end, getting there in just 32 overs with 7 wickets in hand.

Pakistan’s 2nd innings recovery did nothing but raise even more questions as to why the 1st innings performance was so bad, and despite the 2nd innings collapse, it was this 1st innings total which cost in the end. Had they scored even a hundred more, they would have fancied bowling out Sri Lanka for less than 270 on a 4th innings pitch.

So, where did it all go wrong? Pakistan’s 2nd innings collapse all started when Sri Lanka took the new ball and the Pakistan batsmen just did not have an answer. The Sri Lankan’s did bowl well but questions will be asked of the Pakistan batsmen, particularly the early to middle order. Though Misbah was unlucky to be given out today

Read the rest of this entry »

…at their brilliant worst. Well who would have thought it? Those Pakistani fans around the world who stayed up to watch the climax of the 1st Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, will probably now be wondering why they bothered. Those who thought they’d hit the sack since the contest was over will still be asking themselves if they are yet to awake from their nightmare.

Having required just 97 runs over night, Pakistan managed to lose their remaining 8 wickets for just 46. Divide that 97 by 8 and all each batsmen had to make was a measly 13 runs and victory would have been achieved. Unbelievable when you look at it like that right?

So was it devil of a wicket, good Sri Lankan bowling or Pakistani complacency? Judging by reports, the wicket was not a 46 for 8 type of wicket and though the Sri Lankan bowlers did bowl well, their first innings bowling and the small target meant that this second reason wasn’t the main cause of Pakistan’s downfall either. This leaves the reason of complacency, for which I will now introduce Mr Younis Khan: “We never thought we’d lose this game”. Lovely.

Read the rest of this entry »