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“I cracked it (bat) in the nets a couple of days ago. It seemed to go OK today but hopefully the new one can be just as good.” -Photo by AP
PALLEKELE: Birthday boy Ross Taylor destroyed the Pakistan attack in a devastating display of power hitting on Tuesday - and revealed he had done it all with a broken bat.
Taylor, celebrating his 27th birthday, hit 131 in 124 balls with a whopping seven sixes to take his side to a total of 302-7 in their 50 overs at the Pallekele stadium.
He was helped out by Nathan McCullum, who smashed 19 in just 10 balls, and Jacob Oram, who hit 25 in nine balls, including three sixes, off a shell-shocked Pakistan attack.
Before he had even opened his account, Taylor received a huge let-off when an edge flew between wicket-keeper and first slip, and the same over 'keeper' Kamran Akmal put down a straightforward chance behind the stumps when he was on eight.
“I had a bit of luck early on which I put down to my birthday but towards the end there I hit a few boundaries which was pretty sweet,” said Taylor.
He said it had been tough going early on.
“They're very good exponents of reverse swing. I played and missed a lot but hopefully we can learn from the way they bowled.”
Towards the end of his innings Taylor signalled for a new bat and he revealed the one he had been using had suffered damage before the match.
“I cracked it in the nets a couple of days ago. It seemed to go OK today but hopefully the new one can be just as good,” he said.
Taylor said New Zealand's approach had been to establish themselves before launching a blitz at the end of their innings.
“One of our strengths is the power we have down the bottom and it showed today with the way Nathan McCullum batted and Jake (Oram). We had a bit of impetus to go into it so it was really good.”
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Comments (28) Closed
Mar 08, 2011 10:05pm
I don't know why in the world Shoaib, Akmal and Hafeez are in the Playing Eleven. Shoaib is done with bowling career, Hafeez has never been a match wining player, and Akmal - I will never bet on his keeping skills. Shame on Pakistani Selection Board to consistently ignore the rising talent.
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Mar 08, 2011 10:26pm
Poor performance today from Pakistan but may be blessing in disguise. Fears about lack of balance in the side were clearly exposed when Afridi had no choice left for last few overs. Dropping Rehman and Shehzad for Wahab and Saeed will make a more balanced and attacking side. Only God knows what to do about Kamran. I am just hoping he performs in worldcup and then he can be dropped or better he gets injured. I can just see him making us loose a next round match and throwing us out of the tournament.
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Mar 08, 2011 10:33pm
Please change team i.e.:- 1) Hafiz, 2) Kamran, 3) Umar, 4) Younus, 5) Misbah-ul-haq, 6) Shahid Afradi, 7) Abdul Razzaq 8) Abdul Rehman 9) Umar Gul 10) Saeed Ajmal and 11) Shoaib Akhtar for the next match will be the best for Pakistan side. – InshaAllah
Afradi you are doing great-Masha Allah, but enough is enough with the same team.
Shahzad is still young for another few ICC world cup.
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Mar 08, 2011 11:16pm
We lost the match because of bad wicket keeping. This thing will not work if team wants to progress forward and want to win world cup. Kamran Akmal really let us down in this match. I think bowlers did good job except last few overs. It would be different result if Ross Taylor would have caught earlier in his innings.
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Mar 08, 2011 11:25pm
why can we not get rid of Kamran Akmal and Hafeez? I swear they need to go!!!!
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Mar 09, 2011 12:39am
It is puzzling why kamran Akmal stays in the team. After his dismal performance in Australia his exlusion was considered inevitable. Pakistan can never win against a competitive team
when Akman keeps missing the chances. It s time to put him
on the bench.
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Mar 09, 2011 04:08am
that performance from Kamran Akmal is unforgiveable, this clown should never be allowed near a Pakistan jersey again.
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Mar 09, 2011 04:12am
We will be hearing again the same old excuses from our captain and team management that Kamran had a bad day and he will "learn" from his mistakes and will perform better in the next game. But lets see what Chappel had to say about Kamran: "If his batting was as good as Don Bradman's," he said on air, "he couldn't score enough runs to make up for what he costs them with his keeping." All I can add is that, Nepotism ... thy name is Kamran Akmal.
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Mar 09, 2011 04:19am
Please change team i.e.:- 1) Hafiz, 2) Kamran, 3) Umar, 4) Younus, 5) Misbah-ul-haq, 6) Shahid Afradi, 7) Abdul Razzaq Abdul Rehman 9) Umar Gul 10) Saeed Ajmal and 11) Shoaib Akhtar for the next match will be the best for Pakistan side. – InshaAllah
Afradi you are doing great-Masha Allah, but enough is enough with the same team.
Shahzad is still young for another few ICC world cup.
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Mar 09, 2011 05:59am
Pakistan has a wonderful team. I am not one of those who jump sky high when Pakistan wins and condemn when they dont. This is cricket happens all the time to the best teams when they sink and not so good teams when they rise above the event.
Forget about what happened today and look to do better in the next game---Go Pakistan
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Mar 09, 2011 07:09am
I have said it before and I shall continue to repeat. K. Akmal has NO ROOM in this side.
Afridi is no captain material.
A. Razzak, though put up a good score is over the hill.
Lastly our batsmen need to understand that they must not go out to win a game in under 10 overs. Each one plays like it is the final ball of the match.
An shameful loss against New Zealand today.
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Mar 09, 2011 08:42am
Its shame to call this pakistani team my home team...They are just pure shameless
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Mar 09, 2011 09:28am
Breaking News:
"New Zealand is play with 12 Players"
12th Man Kamran Akmal.
"Wikileaks"
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Mar 09, 2011 09:39am
Pakistan team need to decide what they should do with Kamran Akmal.He seems to be neither able to do wicket keeping nor batting.Its hard to believe that there won't be another Wicket keeper in whole nation who can bat too.There is limit to how long can one carry on with player who lacks both wicket keeping and batting skills.Time to get into retirement for Kamran Akmal as he has been big disaster and lowering the morale of the team with his performance.
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Mar 09, 2011 12:29pm
hahaha...well said buddy!!!
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Mar 09, 2011 12:36pm
It is not Kamran who should be kicked out, it is the Board who is disgrace to Pakistani cricket. Well done Pakistani Cricket Control Board. What have you seen in Kamran???
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Mar 09, 2011 01:09pm
Yeh! it always happen to shameless Pakistani cricketers who can not face any strong team. Shame on slectors who slect these players based on theirs clouts not merits.. It will keep hapening in pakistani cricke all the time... Shame on pakistanis who brought the cricket and the country to this stage.....beghairatans.
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Mar 09, 2011 01:10pm
I think the Pakistanis lost their focus very early on when they thought the game was within their grasp after the exit of Brendon McCullum. Also, the idea of starting the bowling with Rehman, especially in view of the opener's early exit, was a gross error on the part of Afridi. The death bowling plan was ill-conceived, and, therefore, backfired. The opportunity of playing Saeed Ajmal for the semi-fit Rehman was missed, and, thereby gave the Black Caps an escape route to emerge victorious. Too much faith in Shoaib Akhtar yielded negative results. Generous reprieves to Taylor, who is basically a builder rather than a pinch-hitter (that's what he proved today), resulted in shattered nerves and a shameful loss for Pakistan. Unimaginative captaincy coupled with lethargic fielding and bowling stints cost them this match and the crucial two points. More pep talk and a little reflection is what is needed right now. A timely wake-up call for Pakistan.....please wake and smell the coffee!
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Mar 09, 2011 01:33pm
i am frazzled,its seems pak team was in apnea,there are two gangs inside the team,one lead by shahid includes ahmed shahzad,younas,umer gul,hafeez and abdul rehman.second by the great sattas/bokies n real traiotr kamran akmal including umar akmal,.rest of the team they are neutral but don't get supported like misbah,saeed ajmal,wahab riaz.then there are the expired cases like shoaib and abdul razzaq.
most intresting thing in pak team is long list of coaches,namely javed miadad,aqib javed,waqar younas and old lucky man intikhab alam.
we lost aamir,asif and a good wicketkeeper zulqarnain because of these dumb pepole.There is patriotism.there is sportsman spirit,there is common courtesey,there are manners,discipline.we have a characterless cricket team.starting from the captin till the last extra they have flown along.
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Mar 09, 2011 01:50pm
Yar we know that this is a game n Winning and loosing is a part of a game but time and again repeating the same thing, Common!.
I think Akmal have some links with bookies because whenever such type of situation arise, management never kick him out.
I also think he is involved in removing zulqarnain from the team as it will create problem for him.
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Mar 09, 2011 01:56pm
come on fellas give 'em a break after all he's a human being. kamran's still the best wicket keeper but he lacks self-confidence....comeon kamram u can do it......
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Mar 09, 2011 02:19pm
Viola !!! and how we all saw a 'CLEAN' kamran akmal intentionally NOT catching twice. If this is not FIXING then what will it be? anyone? hello ijaz butt sb. please stop turning Pakistan Cricket into a joke, forgod sake leave your office and let some able person handle the PCB. don't you get it yet?
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Mar 09, 2011 03:09pm
Jokes Circulating on Keeper Kamran Dropper Akmal in the Net
Behind every successful batsman there is Kamran Akmal.
What do Kamran and Michael Jackson have in common? They both wear gloves for no reason.
Kamran Akmal's favourite pickup line? "Can I drop you somewhere?"
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Mar 09, 2011 03:42pm
My team for the rest of the tournament would be Hafeez, Razak, Younis, Asad, Misbah, Umar Akmal(WK), Afridi, Gul, Wahab, Rehman or Ajmal and Junaid Khan. Get rid of Kamran, Shehzad and Shoaib Akhtar who can only bowl 5 overs and is rubbish at the end. So please pass this message to Afridi and Waqar on my behalf.
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Mar 09, 2011 04:50pm
NZ won. Let us give Ross Taylor credit. The Pakistan team's batting let them down, but, more than that, inability to plan fielding in slog overs, also caused the 300+ score. THAT was the issue. Catches may be dropped...didn't the Oz and English team do it in the WC too?
Point is - is this team strong on strategy or just good INDIVIDUAL players when form strikes???
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Mar 09, 2011 04:59pm
The team had a bad day in the field, but with the experience in the team they needed to maintain wickets and hit out near the end. This would have pressured NZ. Ross Taylor innings was magical but the bowlers helped him. He will not play another innings like that one for a long time. Kammi needs to concentrate on his work as WK, he is too anxious at times. PK can go a long way but they must think about the game and come under pressure for no reason, score getable as Razzaq showed!
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Mar 09, 2011 05:17pm
@Akbar... I like your way of thinking..We should be hopeful and its my belief that they will perform much better in next matches..Inshallah.
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Mar 09, 2011 06:50pm
Kamran should be kicked out immidiatly.pakistan has to suffle their bating orders.1.afridi 2 hafeez 3 razzak 4 umor 5 yunus 6 misbah 7 asad 8 gul 9 ajmol 10 junaid 11 shoib
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