Plays of the Day

Please, not another blackout

Osman Samiuddin in Lahore

April 8, 2008

	At least some bothered to show up © AFP

100 and counting
The burden on Mashrafe Mortaza is a heavy one. He is Bangladesh's first real pace star and the continued overlooking of Shahadat Hossain means he is the only one currently. He strode a manly path today, bowling with considerable zip to end with respectable figures. His second wicket - that of Misbah-ul-Haq - was his 100th in ODIs, becoming only the second bowler from Bangladesh to achieve the feat and the first pace bowler to do it. He is also, by far, the quickest to the landmark though said later it could have come in better circumstances. "Definitely it is a good feeling, but the team didn't play so well today so I'm not that happy."

Low-key you say?
Bangladesh was never going to draw the crowds in the way Australia would've done, but considering the scarcity of international cricket in Pakistan you would've expected more than tonight's turn-out at the Gaddafi Stadium. Hardly any marketing pre-series didn't help but all told, and then maybe adding some on out of sympathy, no more than 2000 people were present. Perhaps what was really needed was a crowd-puller: if this is a sign of things to come, all is forgiven, Shoaib.

Blackout of the day I
Pakistan is going through a pretty severe energy crisis at the moment. Most cities experience between 6-8 hours loadshedding a day and the situation, according to some experts, will get considerably worse next year. So the power blackout after the 12th over of Bangladesh's chase should not have been totally unexpected, especially as the same venue also saw play halted for an hour when West Indies were here in November 2006. Play was suspended for about half an hour this time, enough time for one reader to surmise, "I think Naseem Ashraf forgot to pay the bill for the electricity." Either that or WAPDA, Pakistan's power supplier, just got bored of what was turning into a mismatch.

Blackout of the day II
...came one over after the original when one of the floodlights conked out, halting play for a further 18 minutes. By the time full power was restored, the already sparse crowd clearly had had enough and by the end, there were less than a thousand left.

Mercy gesture of the day
The decision to play on after a floodlight failed for the third time with Bangladesh on 105 for 9 and the match all but over. Another delay for a match that was effectively over halfway through would've been unbearable torture for the handful of spectators left at the end.

Collective brain drain of the day
Bangladesh's top and middle order: a target of 323 was never going to be easy but the way Bangladesh's went about the task, they might as well have not bothered. Of the first six wickets to fall, not a single one could be attributed to the bowler, the ball or a flat track. The worst of the lot? A three-way tie between Mohammad Ashraful's awful slog, Aftab Ahmed's ugly charge and Shahariar Nafees' horrendous swipe at a ball so wide it was last spotted in Sialkot.

Osman Samiuddin is Pakistan editor of Cricinfo

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