In a tournament already loaded with low scoring matches, and in aseason dominated by Australian wins, there came another contest at theMelbourne Cricket Ground today to reinforce the pattern
John Polack16-Jan-2000In a tournament already loaded with low scoring matches, and in aseason dominated by Australian wins, there came another contest at theMelbourne Cricket Ground today to reinforce the pattern. AgainstPakistan this time (and in the fifth match of this Carlton and UnitedSeries), it arrived under the imprimatur of a six wicket win with 13deliveries of a rain-reduced contest to spare.Assuming the rare guise of a day match in Melbourne (all the othergames at this venue in this series are day-night affairs as indeedmost have been here over recent seasons), this encounter initiallyconsolidated another convention too. Namely, that was the maintenanceof the almost inextricable relationship between rain and the MCG inthe 1999-2000 season – the start delayed by two and a half hours as apatient crowd of 37,325 waited for the heavens to clear themselves ofpersistent drizzle.When the action finally began, Australia struck the first and possiblyeven the most crucial blow of the entire day when it won thetoss. This afforded its bowlers the opportunity to expose the currentfragility of Pakistan’s top order again in humid, overcast andgenerally bowler-friendly conditions. Duly, Pakistan’s batsmen thenendured a torrid beginning – bounce and sideways movement in abundancethrough the early overs. It did not take long for the difficulty ofthe task in surviving the new ball to be revealed. Recalled openerWajahatullah Wasti (8) departed in the fifth over when he was unableto fully cover the line of a Glenn McGrath delivery which reared off alength and attracted his outside edge. And, as if the task was notarduous enough with which to begin, matters became even worse in theninth over, when Ijaz Ahmed (0) was the victim of a very doubtful lbwdecision from umpire Peter Parker after being struck high on the frontpad by a Damien Fleming delivery.There came a recovery in the middle of the innings from Saeed Anwar(49) and Yousuf Youhana (20) and again at the end from Abdur Razzaq(51*), but the die was essentially cast from that point. In fact, itsaid much about the extent of the visitors’ problems that more thanhalf of their wickets were lost to the unlikely combination ofbit-part bowlers Shane Lee and Andrew Symonds. Offering little in theway of anything other than standard medium pace, it was Lee (3/24 fromeight overs) and Symonds (2/27 off his eight) who essentially tore theheart of the Pakistani effort. In the space of eight deliveries at onepoint, the two made three vital breaks; Anwar (49), Youhana (20) andWasim Akram (0) all finding ways to get themselves out when rigidapplication and concentration should have been the order of theexercise. That Lee was then able to induce the dangerous Moin Khan (5)to swing a ball straight down the throat of Damien Martyn at deepsquare leg – another wicket thereby gifted in a manner which even thebowler himself probably would have been scarcely able to believe -only reinforced their impact in an innings in which the scoreultimately meandered to 9/176 at the completion of the 41 allottedovers.As paceman Shoaib Akhtar (2/32 off eight overs) made yet anotherdramatic entrance, the Australians suffered a rash of early problemsof their own – the score tumbling to 3/38 around the departures ofAdam Gilchrist (21), Ricky Ponting (0) and Mark Waugh (12). Introducedin the fifth over (with the score having already reached 32), herewrote the script with his very first delivery by convincing UmpireSimon Taufel to rule that a marginal lbw decision against Gilchristshould go his way. Just three balls later, he was irresistibly at itagain; inducing Ponting (0) to launch a loose drive at a scorching offcutter and edge a catch to Wasti at second slip. Suddenly, Pakistanwas alight; Youhana’s pick up and throw from square leg to run Waugh(12) out in the seventh over after a terrible mix-up with MichaelBevan (3*) confirming that they could suddenly do no wrong and thematch was well and truly alive.From there, though, Pakistan’s bowlers failed to make anotherincision and Australian captain Steve Waugh (81*), Martyn (39*) andBevan (15) led their team to the sort of regulation win that had beenanticipated prior to those three brisk dismissals. After a relativelyforgettable first three matches of the series with the bat, man of thematch Waugh played an innings of great substance and, typically,offered just the degree of patience and level-headedness required inthe situation. It was not a hand filled with great strokes necessarily(although some of his driving through the off side on occasions wasbrutal in its extravagance), but his nudges, cuts and glances wereexactly what were demanded against an attack that was shuffledrepeatedly, and which operated manfully in its quest for an unlikelysuccess.And whilst it was not a completely perfect display, because Waugh wasprobably the guilty party in the run out of Michael Bevan (15) and hewas also badly missed by Moin off Saqlain Mushtaq’s bowling with hisscore at 60, it was certainly well and truly satisfactory enough totake his team to the top of the Carlton and United Series table forthe first time this season.