Asian giants bring vital heat to warm-ups
India able to lay claim to bragging rights over old rivals Pakistan at a vibrant, noisy and sold-out Brit Oval in South London
The Northern Line to Oval was packed three hours before the start of play, thousands milled outside the Hobbs Gates, faces painted and bodies draped in flags that announced their allegiance, and the touts were out in force, so scarce were tickets for the match. The hosts were not involved but it felt as if the international season in England had finally arrived.
There were more bums than seats (two thousand people were turned away) to watch India play Pakistan at the Brit Oval in what was billed as a World Twenty20 warm-up match, but was supported with the kind of fervour that befitted two nations almost at war. What with the teams, the crowd and advertising billboards that were aimed squarely at an Indian audience, this could have been a match anywhere in South Asia. Andrew Flintoff would, no doubt, have something to say about that.
Ultimately, it was the Indian portion of the crowd that went home with the bragging rights - and the suspicion is that within the Asian community they are not to be sniffed at - as their team cantered to victory by nine wickets with 18 balls to spare; a thrashing. India are pre-tournament favourites and on last night's evidence it is easy to see why.
They looked decidedly sharp in the field, reflecting, surely, the influence of their South African coach, Gary Kirsten, and a changing cricketing landscape that no longer allows for the kind of slothfulness that India were once renowned for. They also had the best bowler by far on show. Ishant Sharma ran in like a thoroughbred and performed like one, sending down 11 dot balls in three outstanding overs.
The openers, Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir, then carved open Younus Khan's field settings with surgical precision, getting ahead of the rate early on and taking their team to the point of victory with an opening stand of 140. Sharma, in particular, with quicksilver hands and the only two sixes of the match, looks a force to be reckoned with.
The cricket world was a very different place in the early summer of 2008 when the organisers of the World Twenty20 decided to spice up the practice matches with as many derbies as the draw for the group matches allowed. This was before the Mumbai terrorist attacks, before India refused to send their team to Pakistan in response to the atrocities, and before the World Cup matches had been withdrawn from Pakistan. What seemed a good idea at the time was suddenly fraught with danger.
Accordingly, security had been beefed up to levels beyond that which would be required for an England match, although the organisers were understandably coy about revealing their hand. Four hundred and fifty stewards manned the boundaries, a hundred more than usual, and the Metropolitan Police sniffer dogs had cleared the ground the night before.
The first ball of the game - a dot ball - was greeted with the kind of hysteria that suggested the children of Kennington were not going to get an uninterrupted night's sleep, but any pre-match concerns were unjustified. There was much taunting between the two sets of supporters who sat side by side but, thankfully, no violence.
In the circumstances it was either brave or foolish to have one of the standing umpires, Asad Rauf, from Pakistan. In the end, he didn't have to do much at all, not even raise his finger when Shahid “Boom Boom” Afridi went bust and edged his first ball to the wicketkeeper before walking off dolefully.
At that point, Pakistan were struggling at 45 for four, but lusty hitting from Younus (32), Misbah-ul-Haq (37) and Yasir Arafat (25), the last two sharing a 45-run partnership off 27 balls, lifted them to 158 for six. Other than during that period, Pakistan looked rusty - as well they might given their isolation.
There will be more important matches during this tournament, but unless these teams meet again, none will be accompanied with quite this level of fervour. It is easy to see why the ECB is desperate to host neutral Tests between these teams. In fact, if the aim is to rejuvenate cricket across the land, it may be better off without England at all.
Pakistan
Ahmed Shehzad c S K Raina b I Sharma 25
Shahzaib Hasan b Kumar 0
Kamran Akmal run out 19
Shahid Afridi c Dhoni b I K Pathan 0
*Younus Khan st Dhoni b Harbhajan 32
Shoaib Malik c Dhoni b Ojha 14
Misbah-ul-Haq not out 37
Yasir Arafat not out 25
Extras (lb 2, w 4) 6
Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 158
Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamer, Fawad Alam and Sohail Tanvir did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-45, 3-45, 4-45, 5-63, 6-113.
Bowling: Kumar 3-0-32-1; R P Singh 3-0-33-0; I K Pathan 2-0-18-1; I Sharma 3-1-11-1; Harbhajan 4-0-27-1; Ojha 3-0-18-1; Yuvraj 2-0-17-0.
India
G Gambhir not out 52
R G Sharma c Shehzad b Aamer 80
*M S Dhoni not out 9
Extras (lb 7, w 9, nb 2) 18
Total (1 wkt, 17 overs) 159
S K Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Y K Pathan, I K Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, R P Singh, I Sharma and P P Ojha, P S Kumar did not bat.
Fall of wicket: 1-140.
Bowling: Gul 3-0-39-0; Yasir 3-0-25-0; Aamer 3-0-18-1; Ajmal 2-0-16-0; Shahid Afridi 2-0-23-0; Tanvir 2-0-13-0; Shoaib 2-0-18-0.
Umpires: Asad Rauf and B R Doctrove.
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