Pakistan Team director Mickey Arthur had fielded a question on the brand of cricket the team is playing a day before the ICC World Cup opener against the Netherlands at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, and the South African had said, “We’re playing a brand that is very, very particular to Pakistan and suits our team dynamic.”
But, as Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth”. And punch in the mouth is what Pakistan endured in front of a sparse Friday crowd of 5000 after being put into bat when they found themselves tottering at 38/3 with Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam and Imam ul Haq back in the hut before the 10th over.
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Netherlands Leave Pak Huffing and Puffing
For all the talks of Pakistan’s dependency on the top three, something Arthur had shrugged off a day before was to be put to the test and the inclusion of Saud Shakeel in the playing XI looked timely when he and Mohamad Rizwan put on a 120-run stand for the 4th wicket to dig Pakistan out of a hole.
For the Netherlands, it is their batting that is the stronger suit, but with decent support from the travelling fans – the Orange troupe enjoyed the upper hand in the early proceedings. You do your basics right, and you will get the reward.
Logan Van Beek bowls at a good pace and with the incoming delivery being Zaman’s kryptonite off late, Van Beek, set up the left-hander beautifully with a couple of fuller deliveries angling in before foxing Zaman into a false short off a 137kmph delivery he rolled in fingers over.
The Netherlands skipper had started with spin alongside Van Beek in the form of Aryan Dutt and then Colin Ackermann and both the offies managed to keep Azam quiet. On a flat batting deck, the lack of pace was decisive as a frustrated Azam tried to pull a length which cramped him up for room and was caught. Imam was undone by a surprise bumper by Paul Van Meekeren.
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Rizwan, Shakeel to the rescue
Mohammad Rizwan has had a stellar 2023 averaging over 60 in the ODIs, his best by year by a fair distance and it required Rizwan’s bustling energy douse out the Netherlands’ charge. Rizwan was on top of his game and did not allow the situation to dictate his tactics and most importantly, he cashed in on all of the scoring opportunities that came his way.
The flat deck meant the medium pace of Van Meekeren and Vikramjeet Malik were easy picking while Saqib Zulfiqar’s leg breaks were easy to negotiate in the middle overs.
Lucky for him he found the company of Shakeel, only in his 7th ODI, playing a World Cup game. Shakeel is coming off an outwardly run in Test cricket where he has conjured up a Bradmansque average, and if there was time for him to convert that form to ODIs, this was the day – and he did.
He started a touch nervy to begin with, getting himself a streaky boundary off the second delivery, followed by another nick towards the third man, but he grew in confidence with each delivery faced and by the time he hit Pakistan’s first six, the duo had ensured that Netherlands were losing their tight grip. A product of the Pakistan domestic setup, Shakeel had been the captain of Pakistan Shaheen’s for well over and year and was biding his time, and this tournament could be the one that makes him a permanent fixture in the middle-order. Had it not been for a lapse in concentration, Shakeel had a century for taking. He toe-edged a full delivery from Zulfiqar to depart for 68. His 32-ball half-century is now the second highest in 50-over World Cups for Pakistan, after Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 31-ball fifty in the 1992 World Cup.
Bas de Leede – the Clutch Dutch Player
The Pakistan innings, however, could have gone out of the Netherlands’ hand with Rizwan still around had it not been for their star allrounder- Bas De Leede who cleaned up Rizwan with the one that nipped back in swiftly between the bat and pad of the wicket-keeper batter, followed by the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed for 9. De Leede is that clutch player who had taken the Netherlands to the World Cup in the first place with and five-wicket haul and then a century, and here again, he stepped up with a four-wicket haul to limit Pakistan to under 300.
Still, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz’s late order runs could very well prove just about enough for Pakistan to get off to a winning start.
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