On the Fourth Day Pakistan Created Collapse

continues from
http://voiceandview.blogspot.com/2009/07/match-so-far.html


To continue ...

13. Day 4: Pakistan could do little right. Sri Lankan bowlers stuck to excellent lines and made the ball do just enough and not too much. McGrathish I suppose but certainly did not look as devastating as the batsmen made it look. The way they went on playing and missing it looked like even another five batsmen would not be enough. Yousuf's was a curious out. Almost as if he was seeing the ball where it was not. Can't blame Butt for trying to take pressure off by scoring but again what he can be blamed for is his shot selection. Misbah was the worst. He yet again found a way to get out unnecessarily. He is starting to get a bit of a reputation for these in tight spots. However, the way he was playing and missing it probably took him out of his misery.
14. If Muralitharan is fit Sri Lanka will have a selection dilemma on their hands ... well maybe not until we see the pitch.
15. Pakistan's opening and batting brittleness remain the problems. It will be hard to fix either through selection since they have no other openers on tour and probably the current guys should get the rest of the series to make a claim but things seem to be opening up for the second coming of Imran Nazir.
16. Pakistan's attack did well but it will be too much to expect from a 17 year old to perform consistently at a very high level. The rest of the attack is too new as well. Gul will have to show up if Pakistan are to have a chance to make some reverses.
17. Things to ponder for Younis. The weaknesses were the transition game. At certain points the Pakistanis did not have a clear idea of what they should be aiming for. This led to not being able to drive the advantage through at key moments. Fielding is a problem but it always has been and its not going to be fixed in the next few days. Above all it will test him as a leader of men. He has been a clever tactician on the field and has been strategically sound and has developed his plans well but such a loss can devastate you long enough for the series to be over. He has to get his team back on its feet. He should also give up that line about being slow starters. First in this case it made no sense. Second it starts to sound like an excuse and losing early starts to be an expectation which may be fine for the fans but not the players themselves. It would be interesting if he makes any changes but one looks very unlikely given that he has no other openers out there and rest of the batsmen all did something in the first innings and nothing in the second except of course for himself. In tests it is highly unlikely that he would open with Akmal and opt to drop an opener since it is too much burden for the keeper. It would however give him an option to try Alam down the order. Unlikely though that he will go that far. Depending on the wicket Kaneria may or may not come into it at the cost of Rauf but again probably unlikely. He may choose to show confidence in the players and stick to his team here.