Wahab Vs Watson: Cricket at Its Best

[RiazHaq]

Haq's Musings: Wahab Vs Watson: "Cricket at its Absolute Best"

Ricky Ponting, the legendary captain of the Australian national cricket team, has described Pakistani fast bowler Wahab Riaz's bowling in Pakistan versus Australia quarter final at the ICC World Cup 2015 as "extraordinary spell" and the contest between Wahab and Watson "cricket at its absolute best".



Brian Lara, another great cricketer and ex-captain of the West Indies, has called the decision to fine Wahab Riaz "ridiculous". Lara also offered to pay Wahab's fine.

Wahab's initial six-over spell brought 2 for 24. Then it was a dropped catch off of Wahab's bowling early in the innings that saved Watson from being dismissed at a very low score. Australia stood at 83 for 3 at this point. "(Watson) couldn't do much but survive against Wahab Riaz in that extraordinary spell on Friday night," Ponting wrote in The Australian. "Their contest was cricket at its absolute best. Watto (Shane Watson) didn't want to hook him and Wahab (Raz) was going to make life hell for him if he didn't". Watson made the best of the chance afforded by the dropped catch to score an unbeaten 64 off of 66 balls, taking Australia to victory.

Another critical dropped catch was that of Glenn Maxwell off of Wahab when Australia were at 185 for 4. Maxwell reached an unbeaten 44 to win the match for Australia. Although Pakistan couldn't win the encounter, it did earn a lot of respect for Wahab from Brian Lara who was incensed by the ICC decision to fine Wahab 50% of his match fee. "It's just unbelievable that that's the end result ... both were fined. I don't know what the ICC is thinking. It's just uncalled for. We need this in a sport that people are running away from, especially 50-over cricket. I loved the exchange. It was above board as far as I'm concerned and I can't wait to meet him. I want to meet with [this] Riaz guy. I'll pay the fine."

Wahab Riaz is the latest pacer to come from the land that produced legendary fast bowlers like Fazal Mahmood, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younus and Shoaib Akhtar. Mohammad Irfan, 7 ft 1 in tall fast bowler with the distinction of being the tallest in the history of cricket, could not play against Australia due to injury. The list of thevictims of bouncers bowled by Pakistani pacers reads like the Who's Who of international cricket: Sachin Tendulkar, Alan Lamb, Mohinder Amarnath, Lance Cairns, Brian Lara, Shane Watson, Saurav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh.

Pakistani bowlers, particularly Wahab Riaz, bowled their hearts out but they still couldn't make up for their team-mates' poor batting and fielding. The shot selections by Pakistani batsmen was just atrocious and the fielding extremely poor. It's hard for any side, including Pakistan, to win against a well-rounded side like Australia without strong performance in all three departments: Batting, Bowling and Fielding.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan Cricket Needs Top Sports Psychologist and World-Class Batting Coach

Pakistan Won 1992 World Cup After Losing to India and West Indies

Top Ten Sledges in Cricket

Pakistan Breaks Australia's 34-Match Winning Streak

Obama on Cricket

Case For Resuming India-Pakistan Peace Talks

Pakistan Punish Aussie 2-0 in T20 Series

Afridi's Leadership

Pakistan In, India Out of T20 Semis

Pakistan Beat India in South Africa

Kiwis Dash Pakistan's ICC Championship Hopes

Pakistan Crowned World T20 Champs

Pakistan's Aisamul Haq Beats Tennis Great Roger Federer

Haq's Musings: Wahab Vs Watson: "Cricket at its Absolute Best"

 

[Asian.Century]

it was one of the all time great bowl & bat fight...ESPNcricinfo, still talking abt it.

 

[RiazHaq]

Wahab Riaz's hostile six-over burst against Australia has been hailed as the spell of the Cricket World Cup by Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar has hailed Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz for producing the standout bowling spell of the Cricket World Cup.
Australia sealed their fifth 50-over world title on Sunday courtesy of a dominant seven-wicket victory over fellow co-hosts New Zealand at the MCG.
However, Michael Clarke's side were given a significant scare before prevailing in their quarter-final against Pakistan in Adelaide, as Wahab posed all sorts of problems in an eye-catching six-over burst early in Australia's chase.
Operating at express pace, the left-armer removed David Warner and Clarke in his opening spell, reducing Australia to 59-3 in pursuit of 214.
Wahab should also have picked up the wicket of Shane Watson, but Rahat Ali was guilty of a terrible drop at fine-leg and that proved a turning point as Australia recovered their composure to triumph by six wickets.


Figures of 2-54 from nine overs did little justice to Wahab's performance, which left spectators on the edge of their seats.
In an interview with the International Cricket Council (ICC), India great Tendulkar - an event ambassador for the World Cup - said: "One spell that stands out the most, according to what I saw, is definitely Wahab Riaz's spell.

"He didn't pick up many wickets in that spell, but [what] a spell to watch. To me, I think the spell of the tournament. Those kind of performances stay with you forever."
Tendulkar highlighted a number of other impressive individual performances during the six-week tournament, reserving praise for the likes of Martin Guptill, Chris Gayle, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, AB de Villiers, Mitchell Starc and Kumar Sangakkara.
"We all enjoyed those performances," added the 41-year-old. "Fifteen years down the line you will be talking about these innings and these spells."


Cricket | Sachin Tendulkar hails Pakistan's Wahab Riaz for spell against Australia | SPORTAL

 

[Asian.Century]

Watson's wicket could have changed course of World Cup: Smith

Graeme Smith — Updated about 21 hours ago

Graeme Smith's World Cup moments to remember

Brendon McCullum’s captaincy

Many adjectives have been used to describe McCullum’s captaincy during the tournament. The word I will use is “revolutionary”. He was radical and innovative yet not reckless. Most importantly he kept faith in his bowling attack throughout giving them all the ammunition they needed to bowl sides out whatever the circumstances. In the same manner that Sri Lanka reinvented batting at the 1996 World Cup, I believe that McCullum has pioneered a new form of One-Day International captaincy.

Kumar Sangakkara's four successive hundreds

Bangladesh, England, Scotland and Australia all felt the brunt this tournament of one of the most brilliant batsmen of his generation. Bar lifting the World Cup, it was the most effective way of ending his career and cementing his legacy. 541 runs at an average of 108.20 from seven innings did exactly that.

Trent Boult’s 10-over new ball spell

Brendon McCullum knew that he had a bowling strategy which could potentially work as long as he had the personnel to execute it. Trent Boult was key to this. Boult broke the mould of new-ball spells by bowling a 10-over new-ball spell all the while maintaining a consistent pace and accuracy. His stamina and fitness has set a new standard for pace bowlers and raised the bar in what a captain should ask and expect from them in future.

Tim Southee’s 7/33 vs England

This was the game in which New Zealand laid down the marker. Tim Southee’s figures read one wicket for 20 runs after three overs. His next six overs produced six wickets for just 13 runs in one of the best spells of bowling in a One-Day International let alone a World Cup. It was a clinical and devastating 36 balls and set the tone for both teams for the rest of the tournament.

Mitchell Starc’s 6/28 vs New Zealand

In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 group game in Guyana, Lasith Malinga almost pulled Sri Lanka back from the brink with a devastating spell of bowling against the Proteas. In 2015 in Auckland Mitchell Starc almost did the same for Australia. His final three over spell at the death went for four runs whilst picking up three wickets but most impressive was the manner of these dismissals which was a result of his raw pace, hostility and never-say-die attitude.

Mahmudullah’s 103 vs England

Mahmudullah became the first Bangladesh batsman to score a World Cup century when he reached three figures in the group game against England. The score provided the platform and belief Bangladesh needed to attack England in the field and ultimately record a famous win.

Bangladesh vs England

In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Bangladesh defeated England in Chittagong to leave England precariously placed. In 2015 in Adelaide, they went one further by not only defeating England again but knocking them out of the tournament. More importantly, this win secured Bangladesh’s route into their first World Cup knock-out stage and deservedly so.

Proteas quarter-final win

The public will point out to the fact that the team has still not won a semi-final in a World Cup tournament. That next step will come shortly but for the time being we should acknowledge the fact that the team secured their first ever knock-out stage win in a World Cup tournament. It has taken 23 years and seven tournaments but the monkey is now firmly off their back which should allow for the team to move upwards and onwards.

Wahab Riaz’s spell to Shane Watson

Fuelled by comments aimed at him during his innings, Riaz took the ball in the ninth over of Australia’s innings and dismissed David Warner with his third delivery. With his 10th delivery he dismissed Michael Clarke. Two balls later he was clocked at 150 km/hour and this was just the beginning. What followed were five overs of enthralling cricket between Riaz and Watson. Riaz had Watson dropped in the 17th over of the innings and had that chance been taken who knows how the tournament may have unfolded.

New Zealand’s first final

Whilst South Africa was celebrating their first knock-out stage victory, New Zealand was trying to win a semi-final at their seventh attempt which they duly did. Like the Proteas, they didn’t go on to lift the ultimate prize but will take heart from the fact that they have progressed as a unit and if they continue in this vein will enter England 2019 as one of the firm favourites. 2015