Pakistan Vs Newzealand : 2nd ODI Live From Abu Dhabi

by Crackerpotato on November 6, 2009

Kiwis were put to the sword in the first ODI, thanks to swash buckling innings from Afridi and Akmal. All the Pakistani bowlers than bowled well. Aamer, Afridi , Ajmal were superb and Newzealand players found them difficult to score off.

So a good start for Pakistan, but pressure mounts on Younis Khan and Salman Butt who scored DUCKS in that match. Younis is out of form for a number of matches and its about time he starts scoring serious runs (though he was carrying injury in CT , he is fully fit now). Opening position is very tricky!!! why they didn’t open with Kamran Akmal? I think he did well in CT and was in good form as we saw later on, when he scored a brilliant 50. What about Shoaib Malik? he batted well in CT too! but didnt find place in the playing 11. Its a good sign that at least Pakistan has got a very very strong pool of players now and there is virtually fight for every position (barring wicket keeper’s). Khalid Latif was cautious ! as was required and will definitely play today’s game. The only problem seems to be that there are no part time bowlers in the Pakistan team, so if anyone gets hammered ? Gul & Razzak! the likely candidates ! Younis will have to manage a sixth bowler from somewhere.

Kiwis were depleted in the first game, but the return of Mills (ranked No1 bowler in ODIs) and Franklin. This will give some added ammunition to the NZ bowling and some pressure would be released of the two world class bowlers Bond and Vettori. Batting remains to be really brittle and would be relying heavily on the top order.

Below is the live telecast of this second ODI from Abu Dhabi.

2nd ODI: New Zealand v Pakistan at Abu Dhabi Nov 6 (15:00 local, 11:00 GMT)