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| Wednesday, 1 September 2004 |
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Kiwis, Pakistan need watching by Elmo Rodrigopulle The New Zealanders who won a triangular series beating England and West Indies recently in England,are determined to keep the good work going in the ICC Champions Trophy beginning in England next month. The Kiwis make their first appearance against the USA at the Oval on September 10. Led by Stephen Fleming, the Kiwis are good allround side. They get on to the field with great determination and are not afraid to take the risks in probing for victory. They are intelligently and capably led by Fleming who opens the batting and more often that not gives them a good start with either Hamish Marshall or Michael Papps. Fleming would once again show the way for strokemakers such as Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan and Scott Styris to bang the ball about and run up a big score. As an allrounder a lot will depend on Chris Cairns. A batsman who like to go for his shots, he should be one of the entertainers if he gets going. Veteran Chris Harris is another good contribute in an allround capacity. The new ball will be in the capable hands of Darrel Tuffey and Jacob Oram. Cairns and Harris are also capable of using the new ball. For spin they will rely on Daniel Vettori who can have any batsman in a flat spin. The Kiwis will not lack for want of trying. Pakistan Led by the dashing Inzamum Haq, the Pakistanis are capable of beating any team. Their problem is that they are unable to play as a team. If they can shed this shortcoming and contribute as one, then winning this trophy would be no big deal. The only captain who got them to play together was the great Imran Khan and this was proved when he led them to win the World Cup in Australia. In the captain, openers Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Moin Khan, Abdur Razzack and Shahid Afridi they have some exciting ball hitters. The bowling will be spearheaded by 'Rawalpindi Express' Shoaid Akhtar with his terryfying pace. If the wickets are helpful, he would be among the wickets. He will be one of the eye catching players in the tourney. Shabir Ahmed and Mohammed Sami will share the new ball with Akhtar. Spin will be in the hands of Shoaid Malik, with the occasional trundling from Afridi. They lost a final to Australia recently and blamed umpire David Shepherd for their defeat. If they can put their defeats behind them and concentrate and play the game the way they are capable of, then they will be concerned at the finish. |
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