Pakistan started their world cup campaign in a great style. Though the opponent was Kenya that had already lost to New Zealand by 10 wickets, Pakistan can still cherish their victory because they achieved it in a big margin.
Defending the target of 317, Pakistan quickly packed up the clueless batting lineup of Kenya to win the match by 205 runs. Shahid Afridi was the destroyer, who took 5 wickets in 16 runs and led the team to stop Kenya in 112 runs. Only Colin Obuya managed to stay on the crease for little longer by making 47 runs. Pakistan Inning and wonderboy Umar Akmal
Pakistan started slowly due to the loss of two early wickets. Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad, the openers for Pakistan, could not do much and returned within the first 10 overs. It was Kamran Akmal (55) and Younis Khan (50) who played sensibly after that and reshaped the score. The man-in-form Misbah Ul Haq (65) played another good inning to strengthen the Pakistan score, but the major pushup was provided by the blistering batting by very talented Umar Akmal. When small Akmal came to the crease, it was already 33.4 overs gone and team had only managed 155 runs, scoring under 5 runs per over. Umar Akmal then showed what he is capable of and scored quickly to get his team to touch the milestone of 300 runs. He contributed 71 runs off just 52 balls and hit 8 fours and 1 six. It was a treat to eye to see him batting. Pakistan got to 317 runs losing 7 wickets in the allocated 50 overs.
At the end
It is certain that Kenya would say goodbye early this time without doing any miracle like in 2003. But, we have seen a glimpse of Pakistan team and can say that this team is no joke. Team is a mixture of young and experienced players and can give challenge to team of any height. They have strong lineup with players in form.
Read the previous post on Pakistan.
