Pakistan v England - 5th ODI

[greg]

Good to see Pakistan can throw away matches like England can.

As for Blackwell getting a test call up,i wouldn't mind finding out if he is good enough for it.He is surely a better option than Udal and if Giles is struggling for fitness then we may have to go with Blackwell.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

Would anyone like to see him get a go in a test match, possibly in India?

He could be a better alternative to Udal who did nothing in the Test series, so why not? Coming in at no 7 or 8 would mean a very healthy batting order..

[Notts Exile]

Blackwell's bowled very well in all five matches. He appears to give the ball a bit more of a tweak than the King of Spain. I'd certainly have him playing in the ODIs in India, maybe the Tests but that's a different question.

[flanflinger]

So it finishes 3-2 which actually doesn't look that bad considering how out-played we were in the second and third games.

Still feel we need to get more runs out of the top order, as per usual our bowlers have won us a game. Well played Jimmmy Anderson, a nice man of the match award for a good days work...

[Spinner]

Also congratulations must go to Plunkett - without those 14 runs he scored off the last three balls the game could have had a quite different result.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Spinner

Also congratulations must go to Plunkett - without those 14 runs he scored off the last three balls the game could have had a quite different result.

I said it in a roundabout way!!

Originally Posted by flanflinger

as per usual our bowlers have won us a game.

[Zainub]

Congratulations England, a fine win that. A two wonderful games at Pindi, Pakistan will be slightly dissapointed to have not won this too, especially given they were in a good position to do so at one point, when Yasir Hameed and Yousuf were batting together, but we lost 4-19 just when we needed one of those two to put the anchor down and carry the side to vicotory, but never mind. Credit where it's due, all the England bowlers bowled really well today and they deserved to win more then we did. Our disappointment on losing this will be over shadowed by the over all results of what has been a very good series for us.

In fact, barring the odd thing or two, it's actually been a very good tour for cricket all round. I can't wait for the time we'll be in England next summer, I don't expect people to give us much of chance, but that's perfectly alright with me. Dont think we were favorites in the test series here to start with either, but we ended up playing reasonably well. I think we generally fare better when we go in a series being the under dogs, so I wouldn't mind the same then.

Some time though, between now and then. Pakistan will resume their old rivalry against India very shortly, and we'll try and stuff them so England don't have to face an up beat Indian side when they arrive there in March, think of it as a favor (wonderful to dream, isn't it?) !!!

After that we have a short, two test trip down in Sri Lanka and winning there is never easy, depsite Sri Lanka's on going struggles in India, and the fact that it's only going to be 2 test series. So some tough cricket ahead for both England and Pakistan before we meet again in under 6 months time on 13th July for the first test at Lord's (full tour dates here). I hope that tour is just as entertaining as this one.

PS: I just realised, both my predictions for the test and one-day series were correct, I must take my talents more seriously from now on !!!!

[greg]

What this match showed was how important Inzamam is to Pakistan's batting line up.No way would they have lost today if he had been playing.

[Zainub]

It does indeed show how important he is to us. Thing with Inzi is, once he gets set he doesn't throw his wicket away, like did Yousuf or Hameed, he's always more likely to be got out with a good ball. You can sort of forgive Hameed, he's young, relatively inexperienced and still learning the art of playing the game at the highest level, but Yousuf has loads of experience to fall back on, and in the knowledge that

a)this wasn't an uneasy pitch to bat on,
b)there was no Inzi,
c)he in turn was the best batsman in the side,
d)and him being there in the end would have won us the game

he should have showed more sense then to have hold out to long on when a flurry of wickets had already fallen from the other end. I would have come harder at him it weren't for the fact that this was a dead rubber, but this is one area the whole batting line up barring Inzi can certainly improve on.

[Occasional Fan]

Seems as though I have to eat my words (not for the first time and probably not for the last). Good effort by England, and especially by Anderson and Blackwell to judge from the scorecard. Unfortunately I missed the last six overs due to a work commitment. Glad to see England finish with a win, however, at the end of a tough tour. Thanks to Pakistan for giving us some really good games - of which this is one of the best, and the other at Rawalpindi also. Thanks also to Pakistan for a great tour. Overall, the spirit in which the games have been played has been exemplary. Look forward to the return fixtures in England next year.