Pakistan beat a depleted Delhi side by seven wickets in their warm-up game at the Kotla on Thursday.Pakistan restricted Delhi to 213 for nine.
Visitors warm up in style, routing a depleted Delhi side by 7 wickets
NEW DELHI: Pakistan beat a depleted Delhi side by seven wickets in their warm-up game at the Kotla on Thursday.
Shoaib Malik put the host side in first as he looked to exploit the early morning moisture and Pakistan restricted Delhi to 213 for nine in the allotted 50 overs.
The visitors waltzed to 215 for the loss of three wickets in 42.4 overs.
For India the match was one big yawn. High-profile names like Gautam Gambhir and Aakash Chopra were meant to light up the batting line-up in the wake of Virender Sehwag’s withdrawal.
They refused to move their pads out of the way in time. Stand-in captain Gambhir was the first to go with just four for his efforts while Chopra amassed 16 from 42 balls.
While all eyes were on the ‘reincarnated nice boy’ Shoaib Akhtar, it was Younis Khan who came good to strike the next two quick blows after Umar Gul had upstaged Gambhir’s resolve.
Delhi were tottering at 41 for 3 and it was only the fifth-wicket partnership between Shikhar Dhawan and Rajat Bhatia that added 91 to bring in some stability.
Imran Nazir’s 34 from 22 balls and Salman Butt’s man-of-the-match knock of 83 from 84 were the highlights of the visitors’ innings.
Butt retired at the end of the 29th over to give his teammates more bat in the middle but surely the day’s outing would have given coach Geoff Lawson some hope of curtailing his team’s top-order blues.
The best action was perhaps outside the stadium with thousands denied entry despite a great section of the stadium empty as police cited their inability to handle a larger crowd.
In any case, cricket in the Capital no longer attracts the sports lover alone. Instead, it has become this spectacle that also reels in the exhibitionist and the me-too fan.
The thousands that thronged Kotla on Thursday hardly seemed inclined to follow the game, instead it was a riot of jeers and cheers at inane bits.
Shoaib Akhtar’s spell of 10-0-46-1 may have not been much cause for applause but his walk on the sidelines in a vest made for much more noise from the stands.
Sure this lot packing the seats makes the numbers that advertisers lust after and circlet officialdom thrives on, but as to whether they come for cricket or for being part of a mass hysteria generated by media overkill is a question that nobody really seems to care for.
Brief scores : Delhi 213-9 (Dhawan 52, Bhatia 75; Younis 2-25, Alam 1-36).
Pakistan 215-3 in 42.4 overs (Butt 83, Misbah 39; Bhandari
1-25)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}