Pakistanis are no strangers to making a mess of games setup for them. The first ODI against New Zealand at Wellington was just another instance of Pakistan’s extremely volatile nature as an ODI outfit. After reducing the Kiwis to 99-6 on a lively track, the Pakistanis allowed the New Zealand lower order to get to 280-8 in 50 overs.
Batting coach Grant Flower was simply livid with Pakistan’s performance in the first ODI and he said that the visitors did not use their brains at all. “We didn’t use our brains at all towards the end,” Flower said. “Bowling yorkers is skilled execution, and we didn’t do that. They played well at the end. The short ball worked to a certain extent, but we overdid it, and we didn’t learn and we just didn’t bowl enough yorkers. “If we’re going, to be honest, we should have got them out for 200-odd, seeing the start we had.”
Flower felt that the Pakistani seamers should have understood that bowling length deliveries was not the solution. “You can get as many messages as you want out to the players, but it’s got to come from within,” Flower said. “It’s also executing your skills. If there’s a yorker to be bowled, you have to bowl it as a yorker, not a half volley.”
“Even though we should have got them out for a lot less, I still backed the guys to get the target. We lacked a bit of intent at the start and then we had quite a few soft wickets. We didn’t take advantage of a good batting track in the afternoon,” a dejected Flower said.
“It doesn’t seem like we’re learning from our mistakes – that’s the disappointing part,” Flower said. “It’s one thing losing, but you’re paid to do a job and if you keep making the same mistakes, there are going to be questions asked.”