Stani Army

New Zealand turned up to the semi-final of the Champions Trophy and did exactly what you should do against a Pakistan side which is to stick in there, not force the pace and allow Pakistan to implode. They only made one mistake in the field that I can recall and never allowed themselves to get above their station, cruising home comfortably in the end.

Though the scars of our bowling performance will be fresh, it was the batsmen that cost us again I’m afraid. Many may argue the total was a defendable one, but it was by the bats of our bowlers that we were spared embarrassment and got to such a total in the end. Shoaib Malik and Shaid Afridi went off the same high risk shot, trying to cut fine instead of playing straight. When you’re 50 not out, you can play delicate shots but not when you just got in.

Umar Akmal played another encouraging knock (55) and was very unlucky to be given out lbw by Simon Taufel after sweeping the ball off the middle of his bat and onto his pads. Taufel is an excellent umpire who very rarely makes

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