World Cup 2019: Match 2, PAK vs WI- Analyzing Pakistan's batting collapse
A sequence of dominoes collapsing, that is what could come to your mind when you reel from watching one of the worst batting collapses seen by Pakistan in their cricketing history as they suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of the West Indies.
West Indies went all-in as they operated only with their pace bowlers to bowl out Pakistan for 105 and chased down the target in just 13.4 overs with a rapid flurry of boundaries that boosted their net run-rate substantially.
The pumped and passionate Pakistan fans who had laid waste to their daily schedule to see their heroes play in Trent Bridge, Nottingham were in for a shocker as a mean pace bowling machine shook their bases to leave them reeling for a long time after the loss.
Perhaps the best batting surface and highest run-yielding surface in England, Trent Bridge didn't hold much for the fans who had arrived in large numbers as the game folded within 200 minutes from the start.
With only 35.2 overs being bowled in the match courtesy a very smart batting effort from the West Indies, there might seem like this match had very little to offer, perhaps even drawing comparisons to a botched T20 game. However, the little action which the crowd saw might have far larger implications than it seemed.
The Caribbean army had clearly pirated Pakistan’s ship with a well-planned assault which left them with almost nothing to make a match of and with a fearless stint with the willow from Chris Gayle, West Indies rose to the top of the table leaving Pakistan with a broken sense of confidence and a lot to ponder.
Here is an analysis of how the West Indies pace attack went about the demolition job against Pakistan.
The Set-Up for the Assault
Not all bad encounters start that way and though skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed lost the toss to an inspired Jason Holder, batting first on a belter of a batting surface with prospects of setting a high score didn't seem bad. Just as Fakhar Zaman whipped Jason Holder for a six over mid-wicket in the second over, one was left to wonder if West Indies were in for a hiding.
It turned out to be quite the opposite as young Imam Ul-Haq fell prey to an angled delivery wide of leg stump which cramped him for room on a pull shot as he ended up gloving to Shai Hope behind the stumps. Out came the crisp salute from Sheldon Cottrell who has a habit of creating early breakthroughs for his side.
Babar Azam arrived at the middle with his form and swagger and started off in style as he flicked a stray delivery on leg stump with disdain, only to see the slow outfield and the big ground slow the ball down as they scampered across for three.
Holder then put on his thinking Cap and threw the ball to a man who everyone saw a lot of during the IPL. Andre Russell was certainly in the mood as he kept steaming in and put more and more effort into each delivery. He eventually broke through as he caught Fakhar Zaman napping with a 138 kph bumper that ricocheted off the grille of his helmet and on to the stumps.
Azam batted on unfazed, clipping good deliveries to the on-side and brandished a couple of boundaries with a crunching pull-shot. However, Russell sent in a rocket, a 146 kph delivery a couple of overs later which sped past Sohail’s outstretched bat, catching him in a bad position as the edge was taken safely by Shai Hope.
Then came skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed shaking his head in disbelief as he made his way out to the middle. His side was reeling at 45/3 with two balls left for the power play to end and Russell did close the over out as he slammed in a yorker before bowling a good length delivery to finish a brilliant maiden over.
With Babar clipping balls past mid-wicket and hooking and pulling short balls with comfort to ease off the mounting pressure, Holder was forced to introduce Oshane Thomas. Babar welcomed the burly, fiery fast bowler who ran in with full steam by creaming a pull shot past mid-wicket.
Yet, Pakistan couldn’t score enough runs as they were slowly slipping under par on a great Trent Bridge batting surface and Thomas showed that he had a big brain to go with his pace. He hit the deck hard with a short of a length delivery outside off and Babar went at it recklessly like a hungry lion only for the extra pace to rise on him and induce an edge as Hope dived to his right and took a stunning catch.
The plan had worked and with Babar gone, there was no one left to stop the West Indies from peppering the Pakistan batsmen with short balls and with the pitch also offering assistance, the final attack was in plan.
Mohammad Hafeez came in and opened his account fearlessly as he creamed Oshane Thomas past extra cover to get off the mark and looked solid in his approach to try and salvage the innings.
Holder re-introduced himself despite of a battering at the start of the innings and struck immediately as he angled a delivery towards Sarfaraz’s left thigh that took a tickle off the bat as the Pakistan skipper looked to glance the ball. A review against the decision given by the umpire went in vain as Holder roared with delight on getting the better of his opposite number.
Falling 'Short'
The title can be used to describe accurately what followed with three of the next five Pakistan batsmen falling prey to short-pitched deliveries as the relentless pacers kept the heat on that saw the 'Men in Green' crumble.
Holder then dished out a bouncer to close out a successful over only for Imad Wasim, who, caught in two minds, swiped at it aimlessly as the ball lobbed up in the air and the offering was grabbbed by Chris Gayle at the first slop position. 17 overs were bowled and Pakistan were struggling at 77/6.
To put a quick end to what remained, Oshane Thomas came back and drew deep breaths as his latest target was Shadab Khan who had just walked out to the middle. He did the trick once more as he bowled a quick delivery on full length, leaving Khan stranded at the crease with his bat miles away from making contact and gave umpire Marais Erasmus an easy decision to make.
Pakistan were soon seven wickets down and lost yet another to a short pitched delivery to Hasan Ali, who made a meal out of it attempting to go over mid-off and ended up giving catch practice to the fielder.
Pakistan, were in dire straits with only the experience of Mohammad Hafeez to lean on but the support was withdrawn as his attempt to play a pull shot after being beaten for pace and thrown completely off balance fell into the hands of deep fine leg. Pakistan were well beaten and the sorry looks of the faces of their fans told the story.
Wahab Riaz delayed only the inevitable as he clubbed Jason Holder for a couple of sixes but he too fell prey to a fiery full length delivery from Thomas which knocked him over as he tried to make room for a needless slog.
Pakistan were all out for 105 and West Indies coasted to a victory thanks to their T20 approach to the chase.
What this means for Pakistan
Pakistan were clearly caught off-guard by the chin music and other teams will certainly identify this as a weakness to exploit against them.
However, is this really a grey area which they need to address or is it a manifestation of their poor form in the last couple of months aggravated by the initial fall of wickets? They have some very good players of the short ball and their top order generally felt quite comfortable dealing with them.
While Sarfaraz mentioned that his team will surely not retain this black spot in their memories and work on winning their next games, how can they not remember such a downfall?
They could easily be double-bluffing themselves expecting short balls from Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes when the face England next while the host pacers could well nail a couple of yorkers and full length deliveries to initiate another collapse.
Pakistan have allowed their opponents to get in their head and Shadab Khan's dismissal is a clear indicator of the same. He was anticipating a short ball from Oshane Thomas which never came and his pre-medidated stroke was an utter failure as he was stranded in the middle of the crease and was out leg before wicket.
This is also a warning to their future oppositions who might use the short ball against Pakistan only to be met by a fierce assault. They were clearly not in form on the day but that doesn't mean that it is going to be the same way next time they take the field.
Looking Forward
Pakistan will no doubt like to put this behind them but they must in fact keep this as a reminder of their vulnerability as a unit. Partnerships never came and their entire structure of building their innings never took off. The openers need to make themselves comfortable at the crease and while what took place was a well executed plan, it could have been completely different if the Pakistan batsmen had applied their skill to negate the threat early on.
While what took place wasn't a fluke, it isn't a hole in their team dynamics nor is it the end of their dreams. Both the team members and their fans need to understand that it was a mixture of poor shot selection caused due to pressure initiated by their inability to generate a win in their last 10 ODIs such that it drove them into the desperation of thinking that they had to go after their opponents from ball one in order to secure a victory.
The Pakistan batsmen should not put their head down but in fact take this to be an eye-opener and with them facing England next, the underdogs should be ready to make use of their tag and deliver an unexpected victory for their fans.