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Pak pip SA to lift Sharjah trophy

Pakistan, with the win in the final league game, appeard to have stopped the rot just in time, ending the Proteas' seemingly endless winning streak against them. And, in the process, getting the confidence they needed going into the final -- imagine having to go in with 15 defeats on the trot!

Which should have put them in just the right mood for yet another final appearance in Sharjah on a Friday -- or would it? Pak went into this one with Shoaib Akthar, their main destroyer, out of action. South Africa similarly were without Gary Kirsten, but on balance, you had to figure that Pakistan was the worse hit -- time and again, it was Akthar with his brute pace who had swung the game in favour of his team.

Moin Khan won the toss, opted for first strike,a nd almost saw his rising star, Imran Nazir, walking back in the very first over. The ball was driven to cover, and Crookes produced a brilliant stop, with Nazir a good halfway down the track and hopelessly stranded. Crookes, having done well to dive and stop, then did badly to hurl the throw wide of the keeper, and let the batsman off the hook there.

And from then on, it was all Pakistan, as Nazir and Afridi opened out in a blitz of awesome proportions. Afridi, the slogger, did well in this innings to hit straight through the line, and also looked to take singles and keep the strike rolling over, as opposed to his usual practise of swinging at everything till the eventual mishit.

At the other end, Nazir took 18 balls to get off the mark -- but once he was away, he looked unstoppable. The more you watch this lad play, the more you begin to speculate on what could happen when he teams up with Saeed Anwar at the top of the order. Unlike Afridi, Nazir hits clean cricketing shots -- the thing being, he hits so many of them, and seems totally unafraid to lift in the V even against the fast men.

Run progression tells the story of their partnership: 13/0 in the first 5, 49/0 in 10; 85/0 in 15; 115/0 in 20.

Where the SA bowlers erred, during this phase, was to bowl too full, letting both batsmen set themselves and, on a nice flat batting track, plonk their front foot forward and hit cleanly through the line.

It was the advent of Lance Klusener that swung SA back into the game. Klusener, following his injury, has cut down a lot on his run up, and pace, but has instead brought to his bowling a considerable amount of brainwork, with lots of changes in pace and angle to make things very difficult for the batsmen. His first ball took out Afridi, to as good an outfield catch as any we've seen all season.

Afridi, just past his 50 at well over a run a ball, set himself and swung hard. The ball flared high off the toe of the bat. Kalllis at mid off began running back, keeping his head turned back as he kept his eye on the ball over his shoulder. The ball seemed to be coming down in a straight line, but swerved in the air late. Kallis had to stop, then fling himself sideways and forward, arms extended to hold at full stretch, his back to the batsman -- a masterpiece of judgement, really, and one that gave SA the toehold they needed to get back into the game.

Imran Nazir, at the other end, was playing the innings of a lifetime, the shot of the game being an effortless inside out lift over extra cover for six off Pollock, the shot hit with minimum effort on the rise. A superb lofted drive over long on off Crookes produced another six, and the youngster seemed on course for a century when youth and impetuosity did for him. Later in the 25th over, Nazir tried to repeat the shot, came charging down but came too early and Crookes, spotting it, fired one wide down the leg side. The wide was called, but Boucher held well down leg side and whipped the bails off to combine with the bowler and con the youngster out of his wicket.

The next over saw wicket number three go down -- Klusener swung wide of the stumps, got some reverse swing going and beat Younus Khan on the defensive push, taking him on the pad bang in front of off and middle, and suddenly Pakistan had lost the momentum so well built up by the openers.

Youhanna and Inzamam, who had combined so well in that match-winning partnership against India, got together this time with a job of recovery to do. And made a good fist of it, intially with nudges and pushes for singles, slowly opening out into strokeplay as they settled and got their eye in. Again, the story of the recovery comes through in the progression: 138/2 in 25; 148/3 in 30; 165/3 in 35; 193/3 in 40. And by this point, in their contrasting styles, Inzamam and Youhanna were beginning to really turn it on and, in the process, give Cronje more than a fair share of headaches as they took runs with equal felicity off both seam and spin.

The 43rd over saw the Proteas clawing back into the game. Kallis, who in the end overs has taken to bowling a stream of indipping full tosses on the stumps, produced one such and Youhanna, looking to clip over the infield, managed only to hit it straight to mid on -- a soft ending to a good innings. And later in the same over, an inswinging delivery on off saw Moin looking to push to third man, the late swing beat the shot and took him on the toe of the boot, bang in front of the stumps, and suddenly, Pakistan had suffered another mini slump, going to 209/5 in the 43rd.

From then on, Inzy, with Akram in support, controlled the innings with some superb strokeplay. After a nightmare tour of Australia followed by the home series against Sri Lanka, Inzy has batted himself back into form -- and when on form, he is dangerous at the death. A yorker took him out in the final over, but by then, he had caused enormous damage, helping to power Pakistan to 263/6 in the allotted 50 overs.

That was a good score -- but a good batting track, and the absence of Akthar, meant that South Africa had a chance. What Pakistan needed was early wickets, and Wasim Akram provided just that when, after a superb first two overs that had Gibbs in all kinds of trouble, he produced an away swinger to follow up a ball that came back in off the seam, the mixing up of deliveries left Gibbs uncertain, he pushed, got the edge, and Inzy at slip held a good catch.

Younis had a bad opening spell, Mohammad Akram replaced him, and struck immediately when he made one stand up off a length. Kallis seemed to have the right idea when he dropped his wrist on that to take the bat out of line -- but he was just that touch too late taking evasive action, and the ball flicked his glove en route to the keeper, for SA to lose a second wicket.

Hansie Cronje, not in the best form of late, then came out and gave a demonstration of the mind over matter style of play. At the other end, Neil McKenzie had evidently taken root -- unable to work the ball off the square, uncertain in his footwork, he kept using up deliveries and in the process, keeping Cronje at the non-striker's end.

Faced with a mounting ask rate, Cronje produced a superb exhibition of improvisation. Time and again he stepped to leg and hit over the off cordon. By way of variety, he went across to off and hit over leg. And to spice things up a bit more, he stuck a foot way down the track and swung clean, and straight, in a display of power hitting that rivalled the Afridi display in the first session.

The tale, via run-progression: 15/1 in 5; 34/2 in 10; 59/2 in 15; 84/2 in 20; 112/2 in 25; 139/4 in 30 (at that point, SA needed 125 off 120 balls, and looked in control).

The two wickets to fall between 25-30 were Cronje, who looked to swing over midwicket once too often and managed to pick out the fielder on the line. By that point, he had starred in a 105 run partnership off just 125, doing the bulk of the scoring and, in fact, using his experience and big hitting to negate McKenzie's strokelessness at the other end.

Crookes was sent out, presumably to try and hit a few lusty ones and knock holes in the target. What he did manage was to play down the wrong line to Arshad's off spin, and lose his off stump (127 more to get off 123 balls at that point).

McKenzie continued his tortured progress, and as the overs ticked by, the South African 12th man did more running than the players out in the middle, coming out after every over with gloves, bat, helmet, you name it -- and urgently conveying messages to the batsmen out in the middle with each visitation. It just wasn't to be McKenzie's day, though -- having used up 107 balls for his 58 which, given the circumstances, was very tedious work, he tried to work Arshad out on the on side and managed only to get the leading edge for a catch in the covers.

Waqar Younis had a pretty ordinary time of it in his first and second spells. Brought in for a third, he got rid of Niky Boje, sent ahead of the off-form Klusener. There was nothing in the ball, really -- bowled from round the wicket, it was going straight down outside off, when Boje slapped at it and managed to feather the edge through to Moin. The next ball produced more drama -- Younis swung wide of the crease, still staying round the wicket, and angled one in on off. Klusener, who with his lack of form resembled a rabbit caught in the headlights, pushed at it with bat and pad wide apart, allowing the ball to sneak through the gap and onto off stump. And Younis, with two successive strikes, had brought Pakistan right back into the game. And at just the right time, too -- at the end of 40 overs, SA was on 198/5 (Pak 193/3), at that point needing just 66 off the next 60 balls.

Pollock -- another off form batsman for South Africa -- came out to the middle. And at the other end, Boucher, who increasingly is getting to be South Africa's main man at the death -- took over in a display of innovative strokeplay that brought SA right back into a game that was by now becoming a roller coaster ride.

It was Younis, yet again, who swung Pak back into the game off the last ball of the 45th over. A superbly disguised slower ball, the off spinner on a very full length, had Pollock playing too early, missing, and being bowled through the gate. SA at that point, 224/8, against Pakistan's 220/5 at the end of 45 overs, but by then, the lack of wickets in hand was beginning to hurt the chasing side. 40 off 30 at that point, with two wickets -- neither Elworthy nor Hayward worth a cuss with the bat -- and the game was effectively in the bag for Pakistan.

That set up a cracker of a 47th over -- Boucher, doing a great imitation of Lone Hand Luke, against Younis, into his final over with 3 wickets to his name. Ball one, cracked out to midwicket, two. Ball two, lofted -- but none too cleanly. Abdur Razzaq nicely under it at mid off -- only to fluff a sitter. The next ball, Boucher setting himself, swinging high, hard and handsome -- six over midwicket (27 more off 21). Ball four, hit out to long on, one more. Ball five, Elworthy chips, one more. Boucher, last ball, and Younis, with a brilliant late inswinger on yorker length just outside off, has Boucher trying to hit, beaten by the late reverse swing, and bowled off stump. Waqar's fourth, making him easily the leading wicket-taker of the tournament -- talk of comebacks. And Boucher, after a superb cameo of 57 off 49, out just when he seemed set to make a real fist of what seemed an improbable chase.

Younis had finished his spell -- but with Akram around to bowl the 48th and 50th, and Razzaq to fill in with the 49th, the task was way too stiff for Elwrothy and Hayward, neither of whom is known for any kind of hitting. To their credit, both the tailenders refused to give it up, and swung away -- but the bowling was too experienced, and their own batting skills too limited. Off the last ball of the 49th, Razzaq produced the regulation clean-up ball -- a yorker fired into the base of the stumps, to finish off the game and take the match, and the trophy, by 16 runs.

South Africa, once again, had started strongly, and finished tamely. More important, Pakistan -- looking a disorganised side at the start of the contest, had fought back magnificiently, batting and bowling superbly and fielding (barring the Razzaq miss) with a fire not seen from the dark-green-shirts in a long long time.

Both sides -- toughened by battle these last few days -- now head off for tough assignments -- Pakistan against the West Indies, and South Africa against the all conquering Aussies.

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