Story Story Ended!

[BKB1991]

17th April

We reached Dubai at 3 AM local time and reached our hotel at about 5 AM. The flight had been delayed by 4 hours due to bad weather in Karachi. The boys were very tired and we decided to have a good sleep and see what we will do later. I went into my hotel room and changed and got ready for bed. I hadn?t slept in the plane so I was very tired.

I woke about 1PM in the afternoon. I went downstairs and into the Restaurant and saw Afridi Malik and Younis were having tea. I joined them had some lunch and then tea, and during the time all players and the support staff started coming. At about 3 all the players and staff were here. There was no point going to the Dubai stadium and start training, so we decided since we were in the hotel might as well have some fun. We went to the Indoor Games room and we started playing table tennis. There were only 4 tables but we took turns. Shockingly, the best players were Yasir Arafat and Salman Butt. All of us played reasonably but these 2 were above the rest. I played against Shahid Afridi (beat me 21-14), Younis ( again beat me by 21-19) and Ajmal (I beat him 21-13). We finished at about 6 and decided seeing Dubai around a bit and took the tour guide of the Hotel. Most of the players were here before as well, but some like me were here for the 1st time. We saw a lot of places but for me the Burj Al Arab was the best. We decided to have dinner and had it at Steak House. It was a good place to eat. When we were on the way back to our hotel, I stood up in the bus and said:
?Look Guys, we had a lot of fun today, but now the fun is over. From tomorrow its back to business. Australia as we all know is a quality side and we will have to be at our best to beat them. I want to meet you guys in the Lounge at exactly 6 AM tomorrow. Good Night. ?

Burj Al-Arab looked spectacular​

19th April

It was 6 15 and I was waiting in the lounge. All of the squad was here waiting for two people. Kamran Akmal and Mohammed Aamir. Akmal, as I was told by Afridi was usually late. They came at 6 20 and started apologizing straight away, I gave them a good long stare before telling them not to do it again. We took off in the bus and it took us 45 minutes to reach Dubai Sports City. The place was brilliant. As soon as we got into the stadium I told the fitness trainer and they started doing warm-ups for 45 minutes. The Aussies were already here. After that the boys went on for a fielding drill for another hour. I kept supervising the training and it was really hot here. We took a 10 minute break and then it was the nets. In the nets the batsman each take a 30-45 minute time and the rest of the guys basically bowl. They were three nets set up and the Akmal, Butt, Ahmed Shehzad, were the first guys. After their turn we prayed and then had some lunch. We sat down inside for some time, then at 1PM started again.

The training was finally completed at 5PM. I told younis to meet me backstage while the other players where practicing extra fielding. ?It?s time to select the team.? Myself, Younis, Waqar, Saqlain, Fahad Khan (My assistant) sat down and made the final 11 in only 10 minutes. Afterwards Younis went for the pre-match press conference and the rest of us waited and then went home.

The Dubai stadium at night​

20th April

0600 hours. This time no one was late. We took off to DSC, and reached there by 7. I announced the team as soon as we reached the stadium. The boys started warming up and I sat up in the pavilion setting my laptop etc. At 8 Younis went for the toss and came back 10 minutes later telling us he lost the toss and we were to chase. The pitch as Waqar told me yesterday was dry and good for batting but will spin later. The match was a day-game, and it would really get hotter as the day would proceed. We made a hurdle, I wished the boys good luck and told them to give everything they got in the field. I came to the pavilion and turned on the TV.

 

[BKB1991]

Pakistan Vs. Australia
1st ODI, Dubai
1st Innings

The Australian went in with probably their best team, with Warner, D.Hussey, C.Ferguson, Siddle, and Hilfenhaus on the bench.

So here we go. Sohail Tanvir will start it from the pavilion end. To face him is Haddin. It?s a good first over but unfortunately for us there is hardly any movement. Umar Gul starts from the other end. Both bowlers are keeping the ball in the right areas with the Aussie pair looking for only singles. Haddin looks in good touch but Watson is struggling with rhythm. The pitch is dry and the bowl isn?t coming to the bat. After 5 slow overs, Haddin starts to improvise and gets couple of boundaries. Watson on the other hand is taking the support role. The openers start getting the hang of things, and look to build a solid partnership as they cross the 50 barrier. Younis replaces Tanvir with Rao and instantly gets his reward as Rao bowls a decent bowl at middle-leg stump and Watson plays it straight to Afridi. Yes!

Ponting arrives to the crease and from the other end Afridi is introduced. Afridi mixes things up and starts putting pressure on Ponting. Meanwhile, Haddin is easily picking singles with the occasional boundary. In the 22nd he reaches a well deserved fifty.

Australia slowly reaches their hundred and Ajmal and Malik are introduced. In the 28th over Haddin comes down the track but Ajmal beats him for flight and Australia lose their second wicket for 112. After the wicket Ponting turns up a gear, while his deputy, and the new batsman, Clarke also keeps the momentum going with some fine stroke play. When the changed ball is introduced in the 34th over, Tanvir is called up by Younis and he disguises a brilliant slow Yorker causing the downfall of the Aussie captain.

Mike Hussey is the new batsman and looks to rotate the strike. But later Hussey tries to go for a run that was never there and his vice-captain rejects the call but it is too late and Hussey is runout. For some strange reason Younis decides to bring a slip-in for North but North smashes a couple of boundaries before edging on to slip(Younis Khan himself is there). What a strange idea but it worked! Clarke reaches his 50 but then looks for a double but Afridi is too quick in the outfield and Akmal flashes the bails in no time. However a six and a four by Johnson helps Australia reach a pretty decent score of 239.

SO as the boys arrived for lunch I congratulated them for a job well done. We were willing to chase anything around 250 and we had restricted Australia to only 239. But I told them very clearly that the Australian bowlers were world class and this score isn?t as easy as it sounds. As we had lunch I told both the openers to stay sharp, and be positive but at the same time play sensibly. I also told them to take their time at the crease and don?t worry about the required run rate. After the lunch the openers and Akmal padded up (he was going to be NO.3) Game on!

I have decided to add a few contests. Predict the following and earn cash prizes!
Highest Run scorer: 1,000vCash
Highest Wicket-taker: 1,000vCash
Player of the Tournament: 2,000vCash
Note: The predictions must come BEFORE THE START of the 4TH ODI. If users have selected the same player to win a certain award, the user that selected FIRST wins it.

 

[iridescentt]

H.R.S: Brad Haddin
H.W.T: Brett Lee
P.O.T: Brad Haddin

Great story, looks like I'll be following it.

 

[BKB1991]

Pakistan Vs. Australia
1st ODI, Dubai
2nd Innings

So here we go. Lee marks his run-up and starts and already in his first bowl gets a hint of early movement in the air. Johnson on the other end gets movement of the seam. It doesn?t look good, if they start swinging the ball it could be much more difficult for us. But our openers are batting quite sensibly. They try to survive the new ball, without taking too many risks. But at 32, on an easy single, confusion erupts between Butt and Shehzad and Clarke is the wrong guy to play this game with. A direct throw and Shehzad has to walk back. Akmal arrives. Lee bowls an over-pitched delivery Akmal drives his first bowl, mistimes it, and he goes for a first-ball duck. Oops 38/2.

Younis comes to the crease and with Salman Butt starts building a slow partnership. Australia next bowlers, Hopes and Bracken are dead accurate. They hardly providing any pace to the batsman and on a slow track it is extremely difficult for the batsman to do much. Salman Butt finally cracks under pressure at 34(64), playing another 120 kmph bowl straight up in the air North picks an easy catch and Pakistan are 64/3 in 22nd over. Malik arrives and keeps things going with consistent singles but is soon undone by some brilliant fielding by Ponting at cover. Misbah also keeps rotating the strike with Younis and they look to build a partnership. However their 42-run stand is over when Lee bowls a brilliant Yorker and it cleans Misbah in the 37th over at 140. With the Required Run rate nearly 8 we need an Afridi innings but he disappoints AGAIN by playing his first ball towards long on for an easy catch. Younis completes his fifty but then looks for a rash single and gets himself runout. Boy, that?s the 3rd runout in our innings already!

Tanvir lightens the crowd with a couple of sixes of Johnson, but the latter steals the show in his next over. He bowls a brilliant Yorker to get rid of Tanvir, then bowls short ball to Rao who top edges it to North (3rd catch for him) and on his hat-trick ball bowls a 140-plus bowl that touches the outside edge of Ajmals bat and Haddin takes a simple catch. Johnson gets his first hat trick in ODIs! We are wrapped up in the 42nd over on 179.

It was an unsatisfactory performance by the team, we had bowled well to restrict the Aussies to a decent score but could not bat as well as we wanted to. The boys were disappointed with themselves so I didn?t say much, I told them to have a good night and we will see each other tomorrow.

Top Runscorers:
B.Haddin 70 Runs
Y.Khan 53 Runs
M.Clarke 50 Runs

Top Wicket-takers
M.Johnson 3 Wickets
B.Lee 2 Wickets

 

[cricket22]

H.R.S: Brad Haddin
H.W.T: Mitchell Johnson
P.O.T: Brad Haddin

 

[BKB1991]

23rd April

Pakistan Vs Australia
2nd ODI
1st Innings

The Australians like us didn’t make any changes for the 2nd ODI. They were obviously happy their team and we also felt that there was no need to change ours. The pitch today was much livelier for the fast bowlers but we still decided to bat first, as batting first was our main strength.

We won the toss and batted first. The openers padded up and I told them to be careful as there might be some movement early on. The openers got out to the middle and marked their positions. Lee and Johnson were the opening pair of bowlers and they bowled very tightly. Ahmed Shehzad was the more dangerous of the two as he was hitting out the bad bowls very well. On the other hand Salman Butt had gone to a nervy start and 27 Lee trapped him lbw with a ball that just nipped back into him. Ahmed Shehzed tried to keep the momentum going but Johnson got him to cut a bowl that wasn’t short enough. 37/2. Two balls later Younis poked an outside off delivery of Johnson and it we lost another wicket. Shoaib Malik, the new batsman, never looked comfortable and at 53 became Johnson’s third victim. Misbah departed next over nicking a great delivery by Johnson and we were 56/5.

Johnson picked up three crucial wickets​

Ponting changed his bowlers, bringing in Hopes and Bracken and they kept the pressure on Akmal and Afridi. Both batsmen were playing as sensibly as they can, taking singles. However, a harsh lbw decision by Steve Davies spelled the end of Afridi at 91. Akmal’s long resistant 37 ended in the 28th over when Hauritz in his 4th over made Akmal nick a flighted delivery. The tail batted bravely and wagged 42 vital runs but the damage was done.

It was a humiliating performance:doh. We had a quiet lunch, and after that I made a hurdle and said

"Look guys, the first innings is past. This isn’t a great score but it is still defendable. We just need to bowl in the right areas and keep up the pressure on them. Ok, we made mistakes earlier, but each one of you is Pakistan’s best players. Every ball is a war that we need to win. Its time to show the Aussies what we are made of, OK! Come on."

It was a poor speech and I knew it , but the players seemed much more confident . Even I couldn’t believe that we could do it, but what is the harm in saying it?

@ cricket 22: there is no point picking Haddin as skrillex_x as already picked him and its first come first serve as mentioned earlier

 

[cricket22]

H.R.S: Michael Clarke
H.W.T: Mitchell Johnson
P.O.T: Mitchell Johnson

Is that ok then

 

[BKB1991]

Pakistan Vs Australia
2nd ODI
2nd Innings

Watson Ensures No Slip-up​

Tanvir started from the pavilion end. The first bowl was a wide. The next ball was right on the pads and Haddin easily hit it on the legside for 4. The first over cost 9 runs. Umar Gul was much more tidy then Tanvir, going for only 2 runs. Haddin soon became the aggressor in the innings going after both the bowlers especially after Tanvir. Watson on the other hand, was playing sensibly going for the singles and getting Haddin on strike. Eventually Haddin’s luck ran out. Gul bowled a brilliant Yorker and Haddin missed it, Australia losing their first wicket at 53. Ponting arrived and with Watson played sensibly. Younis made his first change, bringing Rao for Tanvir which didn’t work out. Since the Aussies had no problem against the quick bowlers, Younis had to bring Afridi and Ajmal inside Powerplay 2. The spinners bowled a lot better but without any success. Watson and Ponting brought up their 50-partnership in the 20th over. But in the 26th over their partnership was broken when Ponting inside-edged the ball back into the stumps of the bowling of Ajmal.. In the next over Australia lost another wicket as Afridi bowled a quicker one to trap Watson lbw. But it didn’t matter in the end as Clarke and Hussey took their time as they guided Australia to 2-0 lead in the series.

2 defeats in a row. The next three games were in Abu Dhabi and hopefully a change in venue would bring a change in fortune. We went back to the hotel. The team bus was very quiet. We had performed poorly with the bat again. There would be a time of lecturing them but now definitely wasn’t. I packed my bags since we were going to Abu Dhabi tomorrow morning and lay down on the bed. Coaching the Pakistan cricket team wasn’t going to be easy.

@cricket22: Thats fine

 

[Gary123]

I have been following this story somewhat.
It looks like a rocking one.
Keep It Up.
Pak are 2 down and you as a coach need to put your Thinking Cap on.

Coaching the Pakistan cricket team wasn’t going to be easy.

That is absolutely right.
Just go on and surely success will be yours.
Reps.

 

[BKB1991]

27th April
3rd ODI
1st Innings


The day of the 3rd ODI. I had spent the last few days lecturing the batsman on their respective batting faults. Now was the time to see whether they were listening. Waqar and I went to look at the pitch. It was dry and a very, very good pitch for batting. The team batting first should be easily getting around 300.We would look to bat first if we win the toss.

We won the toss this time and obviously decided to bat. Both teams had made one change each. We had dropped Tanvir and replaced him with Arafat. In the Australian team Lee was not playing and Hilfenhaus was going to replace him. I knew that Lee was struggling with a thigh strain but it wasn?t serious and he would be back for the 4th ODI.

Pakistan Reach A Competitive 293​

Salman Butt top-scored with 66​

The openers, Butt and Shehzad went to the crease. They faced the Aussie pair of Hilfenhaus and Johnson with much ease then the first 2 games. The Aussie bowlers were getting movement, but it wasn?t enough to trouble our batsman. What troubled the openers was their pace. Johnson kept rattling them with bouncers and Shehzad tried to hit a hook shot but it fell to Hilfenhaus at fine leg when the score was 34. Kamran Akmal arrived and he along with Butt played sensibly to put up a 103 run stand which was broken when Butt was runout after a miscommunication between the 2. Akmal followed him soon in the 28th over edging Hauritz to Haddin. Younis and Misbah came together and took the attack to the bowlers especially Hauritz and Bracken. They played all the strokes in the book, putting immense pressure on Ponting. When we sent the message to attack the bowlers relentlessly Younis perished at 56 with the score at 243. Misbah lasted a couple more overs hitting it straight to Ponting at mid-wicket. Late order hitting by Shahid Afridi ensured we reached a competitive 293.

 

[BKB1991]

27th April
3rd ODI
2ndt Innings

Afridi, Ajmal Star as Pakistan Win​

Afridi was the most dangerous bowler today
​

The Australian openers looked nervous. The pitch was still good for batting but I think it was the pressure of chasing nearly 6 an over that got them worried. Our new opening bowling pair of Gul and Rao were a lot better today. They bowled much more accurately and Haddin and Watson weren?t given too many loose balls but they still managed an 81 run partnership which was broken in the 22nd over when Haddin was caught behing off the bowling of Ajmal. Watson and Ponting looked to play sensibly but Afridi and Ajmal bowled very tightly not giving runs easily. Watson eventually cracked trying to look for a risky single, Ponting rejected and Akmal was faster than Watson as he flashed the bails. Ponting joined the pavilion in the next over, mis-reading the straighter one form Ajmal and edging it to slip. From then on we didn?t look back. Hussey was caught behind by Rao on ten and Hopes was runout at 181 by some sharp fielding in the deep by Rao. North was bamboozled by an Afridi googly, while Hauritz gave Arafat an easy catch at long ?on. Clarke fought for some time but when he departed on 198 the game was over. Johnson and Bracken delayed our party but the innings was wrapped in the 47th over at 211.

My first win as a coach :happy ! The boys were ecstatic too. We had outplayed Australia in all departments. We congratulated each other and then went to the bus. We were all in a very good mood; after all you don?t beat Australia every day.

Well I am too lazy to do the calculations for the prediction competition so I have delayed the entries for the competition till the start of the 5th ODI.

 

[hedger_14]

Spin does it for Pakistan, Ajmal and Afridi bowling well, both being economical and taking wickets. Great update, KIU.

 

[BKB1991]

30th April


The last 2 days, with the exception of Faisal Iqbal injuring his hamstring in training while fielding, were pretty uneventful. We had light training the day after the game, and yesterday we were back to the routine stuff. We were full of confidence going into this game. As we made a circle I said,

Look guys, we played one good game but that doesn?t mean the series is over. We need to play well today as the Aussies will come hard at us. We have won one game but this is the more important one, win today and the series is level. Keep playing like it?s a normal game. If we play tour full potential we will win.

The pitch was the same used a couple of days back and we predicted another 300 score for the team batting first. It was heavily in favor of the batsmen, and we would bat if we won the toss. But unfortunately we didn?t. Ponting decided to bat and also made 2 changes. Ferguson and Lee (both who were now 100% fit) were in for Hilfenhaus and the out-of-sorts North. We meanwhile went in with the same team.

4th ODI
1st Innings

Hussey Leads Australia Charge​

Hussey scored an unbeaten ton
​

Umar Gul started the first over and on his 5th ball struck. He got the ball to nip into Watson who missed it. This lifted our spirits a lot and we put a lot of pressure on them from their on. Ponting and Haddin started going at nearly 4 an over, and put up a strong partnership of 62 which was broken when Ponting was run-out by some brilliant fielding by Malik. 2 overs later in 18th, Haddin swept Ajmal but didn?t time it well enough as Umar Gul fielded an easy catch in the deep. Clarke and Hussey looked to get a partnership going but Afridi came with a quick delivery to clean Clarke?s stumps. Ferguson and Hussey looked dangerous too, but again Afridi struck this time getting Callum Ferguson lbw. With the last recognized pair batting at 163 in the 35th over we were closing in on them. But then the Aussies took Power play 3 and Hopes especially, played some counter-attacking cricket going after our bowlers. Rao and Arafat were ripped apart, and Gul and Ajmal were also not spared either. Hopes and Hussey kept the momentum going on for an unbelievable 118 partnership till the penultimate over when Hopes was dismissed by Rao but the damage was done. In the last over Hussey smashed 3 boundaries of Arafat to complete an unbeaten century of just 95 balls

When the boys met for lunch, we talked about went wrong. It wasn?t easy for us since our bowling wasn?t poor but they batted pretty well. Still we were confident we could win this game. I mean we really had no option but to believe that.

 

[Gary123]

That is a really good total by the Aussies.
Mr. Cricket batting like he always does.
It will be difficult for Pakistan to chase it down.
I like the scorecards[though font could be better]
KIU.

 

[BKB1991]

4th ODI
2nd Innings

Pakistan Fight Back But Australia Win​

Younis departure ended our hopes

​

I received a message from the PCB Chairman informing that Umar Akmal (replacing the injured Faisal Iqbal) would arrive tomorrow and that I had to talk to Wasim Akram and Inzamam regarding the selecting of the team for T20 World Cup tomorrow morning 10 AM(Pak time). Meanwhile the openers Butt and Shehzad were batting and were going along nicely, but then Butt hit to gully, ran for a stupid single that resulted in a direct hit by Clarke and he joined us in the pavilion. Shehzad and Akmal started the rebuilding process while I told Afridi to pad up as he would be going in next. Younis didn’t argue, since we both had agreed on this if we were going slowly. A lapse in concentration by Shehzad at the score of 72 resulted in him missing a Yorker and being given lbw to Johnson. Afridi went, but Johnson got him too. Afridi had tried to play across the line on Johnson and missed, his off-stump was dismantled. Misbah came ahead of Younis, as RR was creeping high. But Younis did not have to wait long; Akmal was cleaned by Bracken in 22nd over at 92. Misbah continued from where he left the other day and in the in the 73 run partnership with Younis he had contributed 50, but was dismissed when he topedged a slower bowl from Bracken. An out-of-sorts Malik arrived and started building a strong partnership with Younis. They kept our hopes alive and the longer they were going the more we had hope of an unlikely win. But the required runrate was also getting higher and when it was 8, Malik decided to go big, but chose the wrong ball, as Lee bowled a perfect Yorker. The game was over in the next over when Younis trying to keep the strike was runout by a good throw by Hopes in the deep.

@ Gary123: Which font would you recommend then?