Ballseye
Saturday, 9 June 2007
Saiful Kaiser
The first ODI between Asia XI and Africa XI was won by the Asians but Shaun Pollock single-handedly almost took his team to the brink. Had it been the loss of 4 or 5 wickets instead of the 8 and 9 wickets that Pollock had to contend with the story may have been altogether different. And the Asians had thought they had it in the bag after their opponents were 5 down for some 30 odd runs. From there Pollock took his team to within striking distance all the while bleeding at the other end as wickets fell until Chigumbura and Odoyo partnered him. And if Odoyo had not lost his head after hitting a six, they might still have made it.
Mohammad Yousuf (66) and Mahela Jayawardene (65) who skippered the team made the major contributions to Asia's mammoth 317. This was after Sehwag and Ganguly gave a great start to the innings with a 68-run second-wicket stand from only 49 balls.
The fact that Pollock showed what could be done (the Asians were all at sea when he was blazing away) means that at least the next two games on Sunday and Monday might be hard fought. One should remember that the African bowling attack was not at par with the formiable batting lineup of the Asians. It is likely that there will be changes in both the teams. And these are full fledged official one day internationals not impress-the-kids-and-the-ladies kind of exhibition stuff.
The first ODI between Asia XI and Africa XI was won by the Asians but Shaun Pollock single-handedly almost took his team to the brink. Had it been the loss of 4 or 5 wickets instead of the 8 and 9 wickets that Pollock had to contend with the story may have been altogether different. And the Asians had thought they had it in the bag after their opponents were 5 down for some 30 odd runs. From there Pollock took his team to within striking distance all the while bleeding at the other end as wickets fell until Chigumbura and Odoyo partnered him. And if Odoyo had not lost his head after hitting a six, they might still have made it.
Mohammad Yousuf (66) and Mahela Jayawardene (65) who skippered the team made the major contributions to Asia's mammoth 317. This was after Sehwag and Ganguly gave a great start to the innings with a 68-run second-wicket stand from only 49 balls.
The fact that Pollock showed what could be done (the Asians were all at sea when he was blazing away) means that at least the next two games on Sunday and Monday might be hard fought. One should remember that the African bowling attack was not at par with the formiable batting lineup of the Asians. It is likely that there will be changes in both the teams. And these are full fledged official one day internationals not impress-the-kids-and-the-ladies kind of exhibition stuff.