Reverse swing key to Aust-Pakistan final
Plenty of questions will come under consideration when Michael Clarke or Misbah-ul-Haq win the toss on Friday.
What does the pitch look like?
What is the weather forecast?
What would suit your team best?
What would the opposition prefer?
Many other issues will be running through Clarke’s head when Australia confront Pakistan in their first knockout fixture of the World Cup.
The dark art of reverse-swing is likely to be among them.
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Pakistan’s pacemen are in impressive form and made the ball ‘go Irish’ against Ireland at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
In doing so, they restricted the opposition to 49 runs in their final 10 overs and laid the platform for a seven-wicket win.
Generating more reverse at the same venue will help Pakistan’s chances of an upset, particularly given the way Australia collapsed against the swing of Trent Boult and Tim Southee in Auckland.
“Sometimes you get reserve swing, especially when you are bowling first,” Misbah said.
“It’s really difficult in the evening, especially with a little bit of dew.”
Mitchell Johnson largely agreed, adding that the use of two new balls had made it much harder to achieve reverse-swing.
“I hope it reverses you occasionally see the ball reverse-swing in some games,” Johnson said.
“If it’s abrasive you might see it reverse late.
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“Which would be very nice, but at the same time they’ve got some pretty good reverse-swing bowlers.”
Beanpole Mohammad Irfan missed last Sunday’s clash with Ireland due to a quad injury, but could return on Friday.
Even without the bounce generated by the 2.16-metre Irfan, Pakistan looked potent.
Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq labelled their attack “the best in this ICC Cricket World Cup” in a post on the tournament website.
“Pakistan’s confidence returned with victories against Zimbabwe and South Africa,” Inzamam wrote, praising the accuracy of Ehsan Adil, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan.
“In both these matches, Misbah-ul-Haq’s pace bowlers successfully defended less than 250 runs.”
Misbah backed his quicks to trouble the hosts, even if the ball didn’t swing.
“If you’re bowling in the right area you could really create pressure. That’s what these pacers have been doing,” he said.
AUSSIES SWINGING THE BLUES IN RECENT YEARS
Feb 2015 in Auckland: Collapse of 8-26 against New Zealand during their World Cup pool match, with Trent Boult and Tim Southee moving the ball well
Feb 2014 in Port Elizabeth: Collapse of 10-90 against South Africa ended the second Test, with Dale Steyn’s reverse-swing proving almost unplayable
Aug 2013 in Durham: Collapse of 8-56 against England ended the fourth Test, with Stuart Broad bagging six wickets to win the Ashes
Jan 2013 in Brisbane: All out for 74 against Sri Lanka in ODI, Nuwan Kulasekara and his teammates had the ball hooping.
– AAP
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