Squads
West Indies Dwayne Bravo (c), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Bravo, Tino Best, Johnson Charles, Jason Holder, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Devon Smith, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy, RamnareshSarwan. Pakistan Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Kamran Akmal(wk), Asad Ali, Ehsan Adil, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Abdur Rehman, Asad Shafiq, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Irfan, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Amin Match starts at 3PM IST. Pakistan & West Indies face off in the 2nd ODI of the Champions Trophy 2013 in their first game of the tournament at the Kennington Oval, London. Both the teams are coming into this tournament after winning each one of their 2 warm up matches. The last time the tournament was played in England, West Indies won a nail biting final & kept the hosts stunned, they will enter the field with an intent of repeating the same feat. On the other hand, three time semi-finalists (2000, 2004 and 2009) Pakistan are yet to get their hands on the trophy and would be keen on creating history this time round. Statistics In ICC ODI tournaments, Pakistan has beaten West Indies on four occasions and lost eight times. They won the last two encounters between the teams in ICC tournaments – in the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa and the World Cup quarter-final in Dhaka. West Indies & Pakistan has gone head to head in 120 matches with West Indies winning 66, Pakistan wins 52 & 2 draws. Chris Gayle is the highest run getter in the Champions Trophy till date (
695 runs).
Pitch and conditions On a sunny day, The Oval track could cater to a high-scoring game, and take a bit of a turn. The conditions may not support much swing. There hasn’t been an ODI played at The Oval in almost 10 months; scores of 238 and 252 were chased down comfortably by West Indies and England there last year. We can expect a high scoring game today. Who’s saying What “The plan should be that Imran Farhat plays as an anchor and last for 40 overs or so and the boys around him play freely but sensibly. Pakistani batting always comes under pressure if the openers fall early.” Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram.
Overview The Caribbean team, which won the title in 2004, is high on star power with the intimidating presence of an in-form Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard being a massive confidence-booster. Pakistan, on the other hand, is a team full of greenhorns despite being led by the oldest player in the event – a 39-year-old Misbah-UL-Haq. WI has got a decent bowling attack with the likes of Kemar Roach, Sunil Narine, Ravi Rampaul & a new face in the side Jason Holder. Pakistan’s major strength is their bowling attack & they will look to seek a major advantage of this but for Pakistanis their batting & fielding is a worry although Pakistan is a team who on their day can relish any team whosoever comes in their way. WI looks like a more balanced side with quite a balanced batting, bowling & fielding unit. With every game a sudden death, both the Caribbean & Pakistanis would like to start the tournament with a win & would love to continue their streak. Today’s encounter will certainly clear their chances in the tournament. So get ready to see which team nails it today!!!!!!!!!!!