Inside four camps (15 June 1999)

15 June 1999

Inside four camps

Nizamuddin Ahmed

Manchester, June 14: Pakistan are happy but not complacent, and New Zealand think they are in with a chance as the two teams prepare for Wednesday's semi-final clash at Old Trafford.

Away at Birmingham, news is that Australia are bubbling with confidence and South Africa realise the cost of Jacques Kallis's absence. The mercurial all-rounder, who missed out on Sunday's Super Six defeat to Australia, will return when the two teams meet back-to-back to feature in Thursday's semi-final at Edgbaston.

Super Six toppers Pakistan are not so fortunate with Yousuf Youhana, who was nursing a hamstring injury. They will risk the semi-final without the star batsman but said coach Mushtaq Mohammad, 'We may have to play Yousuf if we reach the final'.

Admitting that their match was 'an easier game than the other one', Mushtaq revealed that Youhana may have played if their semi-final opponents were either Australia or South Africa.

Pakistan beat New Zealand easily in a group match by 62 runs at Derby and their supporters can only pray that complacency does not ruin the chances of Asia's lone ambassadors.

Pakistan must be haunted by their Super Six defeat to out-of-form India on this very ground at Old Trafford last Tuesday as they contrive of a plan to do away with New Zealand, easily the weakest of the four semi-finalists.

But, the relative strengths are on paper, and cricket is known for its notoriety in ignoring the book.

Speaking about his team's chances, New Zealand coach Steve Rixon reminded Pakistan that they were in the semi-finals after beating India in an endmost situation. That victory at Trent Bridge last Saturday appeared more important now as they finished above Zimbabwe only on a run-rate difference.

Rixon acknowledged that the semi-final berth was a long time hope for a team that has improved over the years. Citing victory over India as a 'big boost', the NZ coach said, "And we can beat anyone on our day."

The team was tipped to reach the semi-finals before the World Cup and, according to Rixon, they have overcome criticism to be where they were today.

With no respect to Zimbabwe, there seems to be some poetic justice in their departure from the tournament as they were about to qualify for the semi-final without winning a single match in the Super Six. To their credit, however, they had beaten South Africa and India in the group stage. This is why there is already much discussion at every ground on how to improve the 1999 format. Shane Warne was certain that the South Africans would think of something by 2003.

The Australian leg-spinner was again in the news with regard to newsmen back home who were after him. After revelations from the Aussie skipper Steve Waugh that the media pressure might force talented Warne out of international competition, fast bowler Allan McGrath has urged the star spinner not to take any 'rash decision'.

Zimbabwe, the newest Test nation, who were edged out of the semis at the eleventh hour, as skipper Steve Waugh played the innings of his life to overwhelm South Africa's substantial total of 271 at Headingley yesterday, were going home a 'proud' team. Both coach David Houghton and captain Alistair Campbell were proud of their team's performance. The contentment of the African country was underlined by the coach, who said, "We are not going home to fire our captain or manager or anyone else."

That was perhaps Zimbabwe's way of making an oblique reference to the sacking of Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga, rumours that England's Alec Stewart was under the grind and calls for the head of India's Mohammad Azharuddin.

All successful captains over the years in this form or that, but World Cup pathos demand a heavy price for failure.

Incidentally, Alec Stewart's ouster and the coronation of Nasir Hossain as England's captain are on hold. Selection Committee Chairman Tom Graveny said

that a further discussion will be required with Stewart and the matter was far from resolved. The statement was to some extent embarrassing for the British Press, some of which carried full-blown pictures of the 'new captain'.

The Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, however, does not think that changing the captain will do England any good. Instead, he has suggested on England to give their youth the chance to prove themselves. Even if they lost matches it would not matter, as they would ripen in the years to come, was how Wasim saw the future.

Away at Birmingham, the South Africans and the Australians were filing their nails for a repeat of the Sunday encounter at Headingley that was clearly the tournament's most closely contested match. In that the Aussies sneaked past with only two balls to spare.

For the Australians two-in-one Jacques Kallis would be in action after missing Sunday's match due to a stomach muscle injury. His absence proved costly, perhaps decisive, as captain Hansie Cronje and Boje had to bowl out his ten overs, giving away 79 runs for naught.

The South African captain considered Kallis indispensable and irreplaceable, as he was 'two cricketers...a batsman and a bowler'.

The Australian camp was exuding confidence after their dramatic entry into the last four. They were an example of how a defeat can inspire a great side. After falling short of Pakistan's 275 in a group match by only 10 runs at Headingley, many pundits and those not-so such as Yours Truly gave them little chance against South Africa's 271 on Sunday.

Following defeat against Pakistan, the Australians were told that they had to win only seven more matches to take the Cup home. They have already won five. With only two games to win to reach their target, Sunday's man-of-the-match skipper Steve Waugh said, 'The pressure is on Hansie Cronje'.

Source :: The Daily Star