da dobrowin： Only 19 days after the World Cup ended, and already there’s anothertournament final to be played, as Pakistan take on Zimbabwe to decide thewinners of the Cherry Blossom Cup in Sharjah
Freddie Auld09-Apr-2003Only 19 days after the World Cup ended, and already there’s anothertournament final to be played, as Pakistan take on Zimbabwe to decide thewinners of the Cherry Blossom Cup in Sharjah. It may be just another match injust another one-day competition, but there is something special about tomorrow’s final – it’s the 2000th one-day international.Yes, it was just over 32 years ago that Graham McKenzie bowled to GeoffreyBoycott at Melbourne to start the ODI circus rolling all round the world.And yet, while it’s taken only that long to reach the 2000th ODI, there havebeen only 1637 Test matches since the first – also at Melbourne – way backin March 1877.But while the Sharjah Cup final may not be the most important match to gracethis landmark, it is fitting that the game is being held at what might becalled the spiritual home of one-day cricket. The SCG has hosted 115 ODIs,the MCG 114, and Lord’s only 32, but Sharjah leads the way with a whopping197.But enough of the history lesson, what about the game itself? Pakistan startas favourites, having won three out of three here, including a comfortable68-run win over Zimbabwe in the first match of the tournament. With anew-look young team under the older heads of the captain Rashid Latif andthe coach Javed Miandad, they have made a good start to their life after theWorld Cup. Younis Khan has relished the responsibility as the senior batsmanof the team and new boy Mohammad Hafeez has also made a good impression atthe top of the order.Zimbabwe also had their problems in the World Cup, mainly off the field – soa chance to escape the poverty and politics which currently engulf theirhomeland has been a welcome weight off their shoulders. They have playedwell to reach the final, including a hard-fought and unexpected win over SriLanka, and Pakistan should be wary of the Zimbabweans, despite their earlierwin over them. Douglas Marillier has excelled at No. 2 in the batting order,scoring his maiden ODI hundred against Kenya, while Grant Flower has donehis best to fill in the huge hole left by his brother’s enforced retirement.A lot depends on the Sharjah pitch, too. The wickets have been on the slowside, which has meant low scores. However, Pakistan smashed 286 againstKenya – the highest total of the tournament – on one of the more livelypitches in the last round-robin match, and they will be hoping tomorrow’strack is of a similar nature. If it is – and they don’t have any pre-matchfootball games – then expect a Pakistan win.Teams (probable)Pakistan1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Faisal Iqbal, 4 Yousuf Youhana, 5Younis Khan, 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Rashid Latif (capt, wk) 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9Naved-ul-Hasan, 10 Mohammad Sami, 11 Umar Gul.Zimbabwe1 Craig Wishart, 2 Douglas Marillier, 3 Gavin Rennie, 4 Grant Flower, 5Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Sean Ervine, 7 Dion Ebrahim, 8 Heath Streak (capt), 9Andy Blignaut, 10 Ray Price, 11 Douglas Hondo.