Shoaib propels Pakistan into final

OLD TRAFFORD (New Zealand won toss): Pakistan beat New Zealand by nine wickets

OLD TRAFFORD in hot sunshine was a cauldron yesterday and, for Pakistan's compelling mix of wise old hands and talented young ones, it was a home from home. Roared on all day by supporters who began the day in a joyous mood and ended it in ecstasy, they claimed their place in the final on Sunday with some more dramatic bowling by Shoaib Akhtar and an opening partnership by Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti that created a World Cup record.

The game ended in disorder as invaders from the boundary's edge could contain themselves no longer, but neither an 11-minute delay shortly before the match was won, nor the second and larger wave of onrushing spectators when Saeed struck the winning runs with a ball that disappeared for ever into the advancing tide, made any difference to the result. Lord's must gird its old loins on Sunday for scenes and noises that it has not seen for years, but there is no malice in these incursions, only indiscipline. It has been a problem, but it would be possible to overreact.

The New Zealand team will have seen the closing stages as the final humiliation, but the day had long gone flat for them. They had done the first part of their job, with the bat, perfectly well, but this was a fourth semi-final defeat in the World Cup and they have yet to reach a final. Eventually, they were utterly outplayed. Winning the toss and batting first gave them their best chance, but, on a pitch that became slower and slower, Pakistan found themselves batting on a surface remarkably like their own at home.

It took something special to upstage Shoaib's searing fast bowling, but Saeed and Wajahatullah managed it, making light of a pitch that had gone dead and matching each other stroke for wristy stroke. They made a nice contrast, the veteran left-hander from Lahore in his 179th one-day international and the tyro right-hander from Peshawar, on the edge of the northwest frontier, playing only his ninth. Wajahatullah's highest score before yesterday was his 40 against Zimbabwe last week, but when he had shown himself to be a batsman of perfect technique and considerable class, he threw away a hundred yesterday only through his eagerness to make one in a hurry.

Saeed made no such mistake. This was his 17th one-day century, the same number as Desmond Haynes, although the Bajan had 238 innings to Saeed's 177 so far. He is scoring a hundred every ten one-day matches and only Sachin Tendulkar, with one every nine and 22 in all, can better that. Saeed has made two hundreds in succession.

Wasim Akram stressed in advance of this match how important the little left-hander is to the team. He was not at his best against Zimbabwe at the Oval, but assuredly he was yesterday, using the pace of the new ball to cut with a surgeon's precision, then making his own pace with wristy on-drives and skilful placement. He hit only nine fours in his 113 not out, which says much about both the slow pitch and another admirable containing job by Gavin Larsen.

In fact, Shoaib got the man-of-the-match award yesterday rather than Saeed and probably deserved it, because he took wickets in each of three spells and all were important, both actually and psychologically.

Since he toured England with the Pakistan Under-19 team - and Martyn Moxon, the Yorkshire captain, announced to anyone who wanted to listen that he was already the fastest bowler he had faced - Shoaib's amazing pace and athleticism have been no secret to professional cricketers. But he has since learnt the subtleties of fast bowling and was as pleased yesterday with the wicket he got with a 71 mph slower ball, that of Chris Harris, as he was with the devastating yorker, timed by the Speedster machine at 92 mph, that plucked out the leg stump behind Stephen Fleming and left the other two still standing with the bail on top. Shoaib's first wicket was that of Astle, beaten for pace in the sixth over at a time when New Zealand were still congratulating themselves on winning the toss. Wasim had begun with a no-ball and such was the relative indiscipline of Pakistan's bowling that they bowled 17 wides and 12 no-balls in all. At 47, extras contributed more than any of the individual batsmen who gradually built a useful total.

McMillan again moved his bat but not his feet, but Matthew Horne played some good shots on the way to 35 before he got an inswinging yorker from the comparatively unsung Abdur Razzaq that was as perfect as anything Shoaib or Darren Gough could have managed.

Fleming played a sound innings marked by stately driving between mid-off and mid-on and Roger Twose again made a solid contribution on the big occasion until he, too, was the victim of a spectacular piece of cricket, as Ijaz Ahmed flung himself to his "wrong" side, his right, to hold a firm back-foot steer at backward point. When Ijaz, the one front-line batsman still short of runs, also played some brilliant shots in the last few overs after Wajahatullah had skied to mid-off, Pakistan could feel that their day had been just about perfect.

Compare and contrast with New Zealand. Indeed, as Alec Stewart was reflecting on his 95 against Lancashire yesterday, he might even have stolen a glance at the television in the Surrey dressing-room and thanked his lucky stars that it was not England being made to look like cannon fodder.

The World Cup is wonderful for the teams who keep on winning, but unforgiving when hopes are dashed. For Pakistan, it remains boisterous good fun.

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