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Shaheen had fun, Hafeez said, Haris jumped and Malik won

October 27, 2021
Henry

Who is the king of first few overs in T20? Shaheen Shah Afridi should be the first bowler in the T20 world when it comes to batsmen. Not getting any wickets seems to be a prized target and Afridi bowls the first ball to boot. Incredibly, Afridi is doing this in conditions that aren’t really known for exceptional swing. No other bowler has curved the ball so far in the IPL or the World Cup. He was a ball away and got the rest to turn back at New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, who, highly respected, shooed him away. Everyone knows what he’s going to do, but they haven’t responded yet. It seems that the picture of his unique flexible wrist confuses the batsmen about the length, if not the direction itself. The world is still waiting for a batsman who dares to attack Afridi in the first over.

‘What if’ day for Hafeez

At around 42 years old, Mohammad Hafeez keeps popping up every now and then like an evergreen number in Pakistan teams. He has played for over 30 teams and has been in pressure cooker situations several times. With Pakistan two wickets down, captain Babar Azam and No. 3 Fakhar Zaman gone, the next man needed to steady the ship. Hafeez went inside with a stern. He wasted no time to leave. The first ball he faced, he got it out Jimmy Neesham For a six, inside out and on extra cover. While bowling, he dismissed Neesham on his first ball. It looked like it was Hafeez’s day. That was until, in the next over, he came down the track and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner was carried over long-on, only to be caught by Devon Conway of the tournament. It was a ‘what if’ day for Hafeez, who looked in disbelief as he walked back.

Harris’s Leap

Haris Rauf jumped with joy and clenched his fist during a brilliant spell of four for 22 against New Zealand. Rauf’s best jump was when he dismissed Glenn Phillips, a muscular hard-hitter, with a slow delivery that was caught in the deep. He cut his pace when he passed Devon Conway to hit skyward and into the hands of a fielder running the ropes and a similar ball worked for Mitchell Santner. Opener Martin Guptill was beaten with a length ball. A true fast bowler who touches speeds of 150 kmph, Rauf can also bowl at a slower pace, with little variation in action or arm speed. It was only a few years ago that the 27-year-old broke away from being regularly tape-balled and attracted the attention of scouts. However controlling emotions is not one of their strengths. When Santner hit him from the off side, he leaned back, tucked his hands into his face and held that position for a while, like a bowler long enough to get hit. In fact, Vajra – at 149 kmph – had his very first very bad ball of the day. On the next ball, off the last ball of the innings, he clean bowled Santner followed by a mini leap.

Finishing Mentor Malik

Shoaib Malik is a reliable floater who can get past the finishers and get the last batch of runs in this Pakistan batting line-up. Not much though. He can have the cook on the preps and the second-in platter on the kitchen line. Only the tail of the comet that keeps them in business while pursuing yoga. On Tuesday, he will pull off another one in the company of Pakistan’s designated finisher Asif Ali, who went with 12-ball-27 glory at a strike-rate above 200 and had a physio look at his trouble after the throw . Helmet with Southee bouncer. Malik stuck around after ‘Pro’ Hafeez was sent back through a brilliant catch and Rizwan departed. It is in those days when Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman move quickly that Malik’s final touch is needed. He will pick spinner Santner after testing his big hit against Ish Sodhi first, to settle nerves near the end. He’s been at it for 22 long years now, and knows everything there is to know about finishing a chase, though his career doesn’t look anywhere close to ending at 39.

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