Better show expected from Pakistan openers

Chris Dhambarage

Pakistan will be hoping to register a morale boosting victory when they take on Zimbabwe in their ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup Group ‘A’ fixture at the Pallekele International Stadium today.

This match is of great importance for the 1992 champions who are looking to reach the quarterfinals of the 14 nation tournament after a lapse of 12 years. Last week their hopes were shattered following a crushing 110 run defeat at the hands of New Zealand at the same venue.

This time they will be more determined as they look to produce an improved performance in all departments of the game ahead of their high profile game against the reigning champions Australia on March 19 in Colombo.

Pakistan’s main concern has been their fielding where they dropped a couple of crucial catches against New Zealand who took advantage to pile up a massive 302 for 7 from their 50 overs.

Pakistan also did not bat well in that match as they were dismissed for 192 runs in 41.4 overs. This time they will be hoping to put up a good score on the board and regain their confidence having recorded three victories against Sri Lanka, Kenya and Canada.

However the Pakistan openers have not yet performed to their potential and will be keen to get their act together well against a weak opposition. Pakistan coach Waqar Younis believe that it is high time that Mohammed Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad deliver the goods having failed to make an impact in the earlier games.

“We have to show real improvement in our batting, especially our openers who have not done well.

Both openers know they have not fired yet, but I’m not worried because there is no problem with their techniques, they were in good form coming into the World Cup, so I am sure they will come good soon,” Hafeez and Shahzad, who both showed good pre-tournament form, have managed partnerships of just 11, 28, 16 and 5 in their four matches so far which has put a lot of pressure on the middle order batsmen.

Pakistan and Zimbabwe have met 40 times in One Day Internationals with Pakistan winning 36 matches, Zimbabwe two, with one tie and one no-result. They have met four times in ICC Cricket World Cup tournaments with Pakistan holding a 3-0 advantage with one no-result.

This is just the third One Day International to be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, with the previous two also day night affairs. Both sides batting first passed 300 runs– New Zealand made 302 for 7 against Pakistan and Sri Lanka 327 for 6 against Zimbabwe.

Pakistan won its recent series in New Zealand 3-2 - its first success after nine series losses in a row. They beat Bangladesh by 89 runs and lost to England by 67 runs in the warm-up matches.

In contrast Zimbabwe has only won two of its last 12 matches, but did beat the West Indies, India and Sri Lanka in One Day International matches in 2010.Pakistan opening bowler Shoaib Akhtar needs three wickets to reach 250 in his One Day International career. Zimbabwe will be playing their 50th ICC Cricket World Cup match while Tatenda Taibu is 71 runs short of reaching 3000 One Day International runs.