25 overs Pakistan 76 for 5 (Misbah 25*, Afridi 12*) v New Zealand
Tim Southee cut through the Pakistan top order, New Zealand v Pakistan, 1st ODI, Westpac Stadium, Wellington, January 22, 2010
Tim Southee's first spell was exceptional and it hurt Pakistan © AFP
Shahid Afridi won the toss and batted. Daniel Vettori wanted to do the same. Both captains expected the drop-in pitch at the Westpac Stadium to have plenty of runs in it. Instead, Pakistan's batsmen faced a torrid examination of their techniques during an extravagant display of swing and seam bowling from Tim Southee. They were beaten innumerable times on both edges. Three succumbed. And the rest of the New Zealand attack, as well as their fielders, supported Southee by building pressure, giving away nothing.
The same sequence of events - with different characters - played on loop. A bowler pitched on a good length, the ball angled in before seaming away, and the batsman fished and missed, if he was lucky. Pakistan's run-rate fell below 3.50 after the second over and it did not reach that lofty height again. Of the five boundaries that were hit, only one was the product of a fluent stroke. Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, who secured victory in the Test series, struggled but survived, and appeared to be guiding Pakistan out of the mire. Then Hamish Bennett, a fast bowler built like an All Black, ripped through the resistance with a double-strike. It was down to Misbah and Afridi, central characters in the uncertainty over the identity of Pakistan's World Cup captain, to rescue the innings.
The day began with Kamran Akmal threading a square drive off James Franklin through the narrow gap between two fielders in the point region - the high point of Pakistan's afternoon. Southee's first ball was a wide outswinger that Akmal chased and missed. He then strayed on to the pads twice but wasn't punished by the openers. He was fine-tuning his line and length, and once he found it, he was swinging the ball into off and seaming it away. The one that cut back in amid the barrage of outswingers caused confusion.
Mohammad Hafeez had struggled for eight scoreless deliveries before he poked at one that seamed away, edging Southee to Brendon McCullum. Kamran Akmal, who had shown patience and adequate technique, eventually chased another away going delivery and watched Jesse Ryder leap to his left at point to take the sharp chance. Asad Shafiq was unlucky, because the one that nipped back into him after he had been beaten by several outswingers, hit him high on the back thigh. Southee's first spell was 6-0-16-3.
Southee was not without support, though, for Franklin, Jacob Oram and Bennett were tight. There was pressure at both ends and wickets from one. Younis and Misbah nudged it around for singles, unable to do much else. Younis got beaten several times and smiled, knowing that today would not be a batsman's day. And then he was late in pushing off the back foot against a quick one from Bennett and edged behind. Umar Akmal came and went in a flash, edging a rising delivery to first slip. Pakistan were 57 for 5.
They could have been worse off, though, but Afridi's attempt to attack Vettori, a mis-timed loft to long-on, was dropped by Oram. Afridi was on 3, and Pakistan need him to bat long and explode.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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