COLOMBO, March 9, (RTRS): Five overs of mayhem have shown up a host of problems that Pakistan will need to fix in a hurry at the World Cup.
New Zealand piled on an extraordinary 100 runs in their final five overs to set up a target of 302-7 which proved way beyond the pre-match Group A leaders in Kandy on Tuesday.
Ross Taylor, who led the assault on the Pakistan bowlers on his 27th birthday, took most of the plaudits but in the cold light of Wednesday, the weaknesses of Shahid Afridi’s team were there for all to see after three straight wins before this.
In a nutshell, Pakistan looked to have shortcomings in every area of the game — bowling, fielding and then batting.
First and foremost among coach Waqar Younis’s concerns will be behind the stumps where Kamran Akmal had a nightmare.
Taylor would not have gone on to wreak such havoc had the hapless wicketkeeper not missed two early snicks from him when he was on zero and eight.
One fan on Twitter questioned whether, in his case, wicket-keeper meant allowing opposing batsmen to keep their wickets.
“That was a huge turning point, given the way Ross Taylor played. That cost us the match,” Waqar said before ruling out any suggestion that his keeper could be replaced.
“We can’t just do that. We have to talk to him about how to improve. After the World Cup we will see what we can do,” he added.
Pakistan’s bowling too will give Waqar and Afridi considerable concern.
They were simply blown away by the New Zealanders’ middle and latter order who, while obviously possessing considerable capacity to swing a bat, would hardly be regarded as the tournament’s most dangerous batsmen.
Indeed in the seven-wicket defeat by Australia, the same order more or less were skittled for 206.
Asked whether Pakistan would want to consider introducing another bowler into the side to strengthen the attack, Younis replied simply: “We can’t afford another.
“Most of the teams play with four bowlers but we play with six including Mohammad Hafeez and Abdul Razzaq.”
Waqar emphasised that panicking was not the way forward.
“We have a quite a few problems,” he admitted. “But we are going to sit and talk in the next five days before the next match.
“We are not going to panic here. If we panic, we are really going to struggle. We should stop here and look forward to the tough game against Australia (on March 19 in Colombo).
“Still, the tournament is open. We have won three matches and we don’t have to be worried.”
Pakistan will next face Zimbabwe on Monday at the same ground in Kandy.
With Group B leaders India looking set fair to top that section, Pakistan will want to finish first or second in Group A to avoid the well supported co-hosts in the quarter-finals.
To do that, however, they will probably have to beat four-time winners and holders Australia and that, on the evidence of Tuesday, looks a tall order for Waqar’s men.
New Zealand’s crushing of Pakistan in World Cup Group A came at the price of an injury to their captain Daniel Vettori which they hope does not prove costly to their long-term tournament hopes.
Early in the Pakistan innings during the Kiwis’ 110-run win over one of the group’s favourites in Kandy, Vettori attempted to take a catch in the outfield and damaged his knee in the process on Tuesday.
A New Zealand spokesman said the extent of Vettori’s injury would not be assessed until the team arrived in Mumbai for New Zealand’s fifth group match against Canada on Sunday.
“Daniel is a key player in our team. We need him to go further in this competition,” said Ross Taylor, who led New Zealand in the absence of Vettori.
“Yet he didn’t bowl a ball today and we won. We have to give it a couple of days and see but obviously he is a big part of our team and hopefully he will be fit in two or three days.”
Vettori is the main spinner in the New Zealand bowling line-up although they did not require him much for the Pakistan game because the seamers did most of the damage to their batting after Taylor (131 not out) had set the Kiwis up for 302-7.
But on the generally spinner-friendly sub-continental wickets, New Zealand will require Vettori’s versatility as a bowler if they are to progress much deeper in the World Cup.
Apart from Vettori, the only spinners New Zealand can use are Nathan McCullum and the relatively inexperienced left-arm spinner Luke Woodcock.
If Vettori is ruled out of the competition it will be a big blow to New Zealand’s chances of reaching a World Cup final for the first time.
They have reached the semifinals on five occasions.
New Zealand went to the top of Group A with the win over Pakistan and have a great chance of runners-up spot in the group at least if they can win their remaining two matches against Canada and Sri Lanka, both scheduled to be played in Mumbai.
New Zealand, who went through a lean period leading up to the World Cup, seem to be peaking at the right time with 10-wicket victories over Kenya and Zimbabwe which came either side of a seven-wicket defeat by Australia.
“We are the underdogs ... so we don’t get carried away,” said vice-captain Taylor following his slugfest against Pakistan.