By Saj
February 29 2004

Pakistan Under 19s defeated their Indian counterparts by 5 wickets in Dhaka. India could only muster 169 after great bowling from all 5 Pak bowlers. After Paks top order initially struggled, it was left to Fawad Alam and Tariq Mahmood to see their team home. Whilst Robin Singh and Aaqib Javed the respective coaches of Indias and Pakistans under 19 teams, tried to play down the rivalry ahead of Sundays match in Dhaka. Most fans from both teams knew that this was a crucial encounter in terms of the who the opposition was and also ahead of the forthcoming series between the senior teams.

Both coaches had also openly commented on the importance of winning the toss and both captains I am sure would have preferred to bat first. So after the Indian captain Karthik won the toss and opted to bat first, the Indians must have been feeling pretty confident. Commentators and the Indian contingent of players must have been looking to a score between 260 and 280 on a wicket made for batting, although a little on the slow side.

The in form and highly rated opening pair of Uthappa and Dhawan were given a good examination by the burly and chest on Ria Afridi and the wiry and slippery Ali Imran. It was Dhawan who was the first wicket to fall flat batting a short pitcher from Ali to mid on. Afridi struck next as number 3 batsman Waghela played down the wrong line and was given out by umpire Lloyds.

Solani and Utthapa steadied the ship with some fluent strokes against the quicks, but a run out always seemed likely as both these batsman seemed hell bent on running each other out. Pakistan brought on spinners Mansoor Amjad and Salaman Qadir and the runs dried up. The Pakistanis missed a few chances, as a slip catch was put down by Jahangir and a couple of run out chances were missed.

The missed chances did not prove to be too costly as a combination of terrible running, poor shot selection and excellent bowling were to leave the Indian youngsters on a perilous 113 for 6 after 33.3 overs. A big partnership was required together with some lusty hitting and Sunny Singh and Dhiman tried to rescue the situation with a bit of aggression and started to use their feet against the spinners. Tariq Mahmood was mesmerising the Indian batsman throughout his 10 over spell and in conjunction with the other 2 spinners in the Pakistan line up proceeded to keep a tight rein on the Indian batsman.

Mansoor Amjad produced a peach of a delivery to get rid of Singh. A flighted googly which had Singh reaching out and playing it as a leggie and before he knew it, the ball had hit his off stump. Dhiman tried to loft Tariq over the infield but was unsuccessful and was caught by Salman Qadir. India were now in big trouble at 146 for 8 after 42 overs. The talk from the rather biased and subdued commentary box was of 180 could still prove to be a defendable total. However the Pakistani bowlers were not in a very generous mood today and when the opening pair of Ali Imran and Riaz Afridi came back, they finished things off in fine style. India 169 all out from 47.3 overs.

Was the Indian total going to be enough? Under normal circumstances and on this wicket 170 was a total that Pakistan would expect to reach at a canter. However this was India versus Pakistan and also the Indian juniors had recently defended a very low total against this same opposition only a few weeks ago, something that must have been in the back of both teams minds.

The Indian bowlers and fielders came out full of aggression and looked sharp in the field. Both opening seamers Dhiman and RP Singh were swinging the ball both ways and the Pakistani opening batsman seemed more concerned with survival than scoring runs. 2 pieces of poor footwork and Pakistan were 20 for 2, with skipper and man in form Khalid Latif and Jahangir Mirza back in the pavilion. The Indians were just scenting a victory in the early stages of the Pakistani innings, but there was still a long way to go for both teams. Adnan and Usman calmed things down for the Pakistan team, but runs were still a difficult commodity even as the Indian spinners came on to bowl. With the score on 48 and the pressure building, Adnan Zaheer played a wild slog and was caught at short third man. Next wicket to fall was Usman Saeed who had played a patient knock of 18 from 42 balls, playing back to a quicker one from spinner Sharma. At 68 for 4, the game was wide open and there to be won for either team. Salman Qadir, son of the great Abdul Qadir played some beautiful shots before he was caught behind off Singh for 24. Now with the score on 83 for 5 after 27.4 overs, the Indians were in the driving seat. The Indians were lively in the field, the captain in an aggressive frame of mind with silly points and slips evident and they were clearly the favourites at this stage of the match.

The Pakistani dressing room must have been quite tense and were relying on Fawad Alam and all rounder Tariq Mahmood to take some of the sting out of the Indian team. What ensued was a remarkable and match winning partnership which belied the ages of these 2 cricketers. As the crowd numbers seemed to swell with each passing over and the pressure built on the team chasing, Fawad and Tariq played with cool heads and superb techniques. Fawad aggressive and not afraid to be unorthodox, running the quick singles hard, something which the Indians earlier in the day had made such a mess of, whereas Tariq the elegant left hander, swept the spinners with regularity and seemed to have a lot of time when playing the medium pacers. Both these batsmen looked a cut above the other batsmen that had been seen earlier in the day.

As the Indian bowlers toiled away without success and captain Karthik seemed to run out of ideas, Fawad and Tariq seemed to relish their roles as matchwinners with regular smiles and pats on each others backs. After 44.5 overs the match was over as another crashing boundary went over the rope.

Excellent disciplined bowling from all 5 Pakistani bowlers ensured that their batsman were left chasing a moderate total of 170. However a combination of good bowling, some poor shot selection and poor footwork from the Pakistani top order meant that the Indians were back in the game, but Fawad Alam and Tariq Mahmoods partnership of 88 proved to be vital as Pakistan won by 5 wickets and with 31 balls to spare.

Pakistan who are through to next Fridays final, now await the result of Tuesdays semi final between England and West Indies.