[Report] Pakistan v South Africa
rsci
Michael Atherton believes Wasim's team will recover from yesterday's
setback
PAKISTAN can never be accused of playing safe. They are the Jekyll and
Hydes of international cricket and can be at once either outstanding or
ordinary. They are a team full of mavericks, filled with talent, both brilliant
and fallible. Not for them the virtues of hard work, graft and honest toil.
Their captain has faith in such a mix and despite the fact that they were
blown away by Lance Klusener in the gathering gloom at Trent Bridge, their
World Cup challenge will remain strong.
The 1999 team, to the same extent as their World Cup-winning
predecessors, fight like "cornered tigers" and nobody fits the description
more than Moin Khan. Although he is from Karachi his ancestry is Pathan,
by nature aggressive and warrier-like, and here his fighting qualities were to
the fore when his team needed them most.
At 118 for five Pakistan were in the grip of some tight South African
bowling, and after he departed an hour later for 63 off 56 balls, he alone had
given the Pakistan bowlers a target to defend.
He came to the crease after Inzamam-ul-Huq's dismissal. Can there ever
have been two more contrasting cricketers cross on the pitch than Moin
Khan and Inzamam?
The latter, run out for the 30th time in international cricket, ambled off at the
pace you would take your dog for a walk. Moin entered the fray, all hustle,
arms pumping and immediately set about injecting some urgency into the
faltering Pakistan innings.
At the start, his bat and the white Duke ball had barely a passing
acquaintance. A combination of attempting to play to third man with half a
bat and the swing resulted in many a swish at fresh air. He is too
experienced a cricketer to be fazed however, and he battled through his
difficult period by dropping the ball at his feet and engineering the gaps and
gradually the fluency came. Even the Pakistan running between the wickets,
up until then faltering and suspect, gained momentum.
His technique is unorthodox and he often finds himself in a tangle at the
crease. But it is his hands which get him out of trouble. Crouching over his
bat in an old-fashioned way and without much foot movement to speak of,
he manoeuvres the ball as well as the best of Pakistan's hockey players,
using pace and scoring mainly behind the wicket.
With six overs to go he realised the need to open his shoulders. And it was
almost as if he waited for South Africa's strike bowler Allan Donald before
he made his move. In a ferocious assault, perfectly good deliveries were
hoisted over square leg, in a manner reminiscent of Viv Richards in his
pomp.
The bowlers adjusted their line to the off and he stepped away and smeared
them through extra cover. I have never seen Donald and Pollock so rattled.
When he became the third Pakistan batsman to be run out he had
transformed the innings, without which this match, which we had awaited
with such expectation, would have been one-sided.
His contribution did not end there. Does a wicket-keeper's contribution ever
end? And immediately upon the restart there he was urging his bowlers on,
berating the fielders, Schmeichel style, should they send in a poor throw.
And when the match was finely balanced it was Moin, running backwards
who helped Saqlain to achieve a crucial breakthrough by dismissing Jacques
Kallis.
Like all wicket-keepers of course he gets up the opposition's nose. I
remember when he appeared as a substitute fielder during the Lord's Test in
1996. He immediately perched himself next to me at silly point and
constantly chirped away, offering advice on how I should be playing the
leg-spin of Mushtaq Ahmed. Within five minutes chaos reigned, and the two
captains, old friends from Lancashire days, had to be separated by the
umpire.
Wasim Akram has recognised Moin's talents and returned him to the team at
the expense of Rashid Latif. One of the hallmarks of any great team is a
quality contribution from the wicket-keeper both in the field and with the bat.
In the absence of Ian Healy from this tournament Moin Khan has been the
outstanding figure.
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