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| December 16, 2006 | Saturday | Ziqa'ad 24, 1427 |
WI hope to surprise full-strength Pakistan: Fifth ODI in Karachi
KARACHI, Dec 15: Both Pakistan and the West Indies have everything to play for as they prepare to clash in the all-important fifth and final One-day International at the National Stadium here on Saturday.
While Pakistan are seeking their only second series win this year – they defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 in the latter's backyard in March – the West Indies want to carry on with the momentum they had emphatically gained in Multan as they bid to end their long journey to South Asia on a winning note.
Pakistan's current campaign, beset by afflictions starting from a family bereavement (in Younis Khan's case) to a finger injury to their captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, has only served to expose shortcomings in their ranks.
This point was brutally proved in Multan the other day when the absence of top guns saw the hosts team getting blown away in easily the most one-sided game of the series. With no backup to speak of – which according to many, the current team hierarchy has overlooked for obvious reasons – Pakistan are riding their boat on choppy waters with the World Cup now just under four months away.
Pakistan's gamble to make as many as four changes in Multan – where West Indies ran out convincing seven-wicket winners – didn't pay off as both Inzamam and coach Bob Woolmer would have wanted. The decision to open with the recalled all-rounder Shahid Afridi was one prime example of how the experiment fizzled out.
But Woolmer openly said that Multan was the right place to experiment. "It gave a chance to look at certain individuals. And Yasir Hameed cashed in on the opportunity given to play a good hand despite on the sidelines for such a long period of time. Woolmer sounded optimistic on Friday when he announced that Inzamam was 98 percent fit to play and also welcomed the return of Yousuf, who skipped the fourth ODI to look after his ailing wife in Lahore.
“We will be definitely coming out on all cylinders come Saturday since we have both Inzamam and Yousuf back in the side although Younis Khan won't be available. When you lose experienced guys such as Inzy, Yousuf and Younis all at the same time, it becomes a different ball-game altogether. West Indies thus head into the final game with the balance heavily in their favour as Pakistan now have a real struggle on their hands to regain confidence before they head off to South Africa in the New Year.
Pakistan, however, will make at least four changes from the side that was led by Abdul Razzaq for the first time in Multan - Inzamam, Yousuf, Umar Gul, Abdur Rehman - who were rested in the fourth ODI.
Bennett King, the West Indies coach, hoped that his charges will continue from where they had left off in Multan when Marlon Samuels came out with arguably the most breathtaking innings of the series with a memorable 100 not out.
“We would like to finish this tour by levelling the series especially since we have been on the road for over three months. Importantly for us this match is crucial because we face Pakistan in the opening match of the World Cup," King remarked.
King, who hails from Australian state of Queensland, predicted a good game on Saturday.
"The pitch here appears to be very flat and compared to the wickets we played on earlier in the series, this one is quite dry and hard," he noted. "We won't be finalizing our XI until tomorrow morning because we would like to keep all our options open until the last minute."
West Indies have a formidable one-day track record at the National Stadium where they defeated Pakistan four times in five meetings apart from winning both their World Cup fixtures against Sri Lanka (1987 group match) and South Africa (1996 quarter-final).
Pakistan's solitary win against the West Indies was achieved on Nov 9, 1990.
Pakistan's last match here was great disappointment against India in February this year when Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni guided their side to a crushing seven-wicket victory as the Indians clinched the series 4-1.
Compared to the matches played earlier in the series, the last fixture will start half an hour late at 11.30am.
Teams (from):
PAKISTAN: Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, Rao Iftikhar, Danish Kaneria.
WEST INDIES: Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels, Brian Lara (captain), Runako Morton, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Dave Mohammed, Ian Bradshaw, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Daren Ganga, Corey Collymore.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Nigel Llong (England).
TV umpire: Riazuddin (Pakistan).
Fourth umpire: Salim Badar (Pakistan).
Match referee: Alan Hurst (Australia).
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