Shahid Afridi
One can never say what the Pakistan team will play like before a match, for the volatility of its players have in the past hit the name of the team quite hard. However Pakistan were definitely the favorites for their group stage match against Kenya, and to no surprise the Pakistan team won the face off with ease.
Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat in the match which was staged at the Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota. However Mohammad Hafeez and Shehzad were sent off to the pavilion with meager scores of 9 and 1 respectively. At a stage of 12 for the loss of 2 wickets, Younus Khan and Kamran Akmal anchored the innings having scored 50 and 55 of 67 balls each.
Misbah Ul Haq (65) and Umar Akmal (71) took the innings forward after the dismissal of the two batsmen and scored wonderfully well. With some good strikes from Afridi, Razzaq and Rehman the team reached a total of 317 for the loss of 7 wickets in 50 overs. Odoyo was the most successful bowler from Kenya who took 3 wickets in 7overs.
Kenya started off rather defensively. Waters (17) was the first one to depart having been run out by U Akmal. Ouma was the second to depart who was caught behind by K Akmal off a delivery by Gul. Obuya (47) tried to anchor the innings however found no reliable partner at the other end to support him.
Kenya’s batting which is one of its weakest elements was thoroughly exposed in their first match against New Zealand when they were bundled out for 69 runs. A repetition of the performance was seen today when hardly any of the Kenyan batsmen could provide much resistance except Obuya.
Kenya was finally bowled out for 112 runs in 33.1 overs. Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was the most successful bowler for Pakistan having taken 5-16 in 8 overs. The other Pakistan bowlers were also quite economical. Gul for example took 2 wickets giving away 12 runs in 4.1 overs. Similarly Rehman bowled 7 overs giving away 18 runs while Akhtar bowled 5 overs giving away 10 runs.
Umar Akmal was awarded with the Man of the Match award for scoring a 52 ball 71 which was the launching pad for Pakistan’s high score.
Pakistan play their next match against Sri Lanka on the 26th in R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, while Kenya also play their next against Sri Lanka on the 1st of March.
Tags: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Kenya, Pakistan, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, World Cup
