The first match of the second leg of the DMC Toronto Cricket Festival, dubbed "DMC Trophy" expectedly generated more response from the crowd. This was the first match the Pakistanis were playing after the World Cup final debacle.
Pakistan captain Wasim Akram won the toss and immediately elected to bat. Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti opened the batting for Pakistan. Courtney Walsh, playing his 200th one-day International, was as accurate as ever, not giving anything away. Anwar was the more aggressive of the two openers and he went after the bowling right away. In the 4th over of the day, Anwar flicked King to the square leg boundary and then glanced him to the fineleg boundary the very next ball. In the next over, when Walsh sent a ball down the leg side, the treatment from Anwar was the same, a flick of the wrists, to the square leg boundary. The first signs of aggression from Wasti came in the 6th over, when he played a brilliantly timed stroke to midon off King. While Walsh was accurate throughout, King was wayward, giving away 5 wides in his first 4 overs as he simply cound't cope up with bowling to the left and the right handers alternately.
In the 20th over, King's 10th over (all bowled at a stretch), Wasti pulled a ball straight to Adams at square leg boundary and surprisingly Adams put the catch down. Adams had taken the catch perfectly but as he fell down, his elbow hit the ground and made him spill the ball. In the next over bowled by Bryan, Saeed Anwar played an uppish shot to midon where Brian Lara running backwards dropped the catch. This was going to be Pakistan's day.
Just as Pakistan's scoring rate was dropping considerably, Saeed Anwar got in to the act by playing a majestic shot through the covers off Bryan, a boundary after 74 deliveries! Anwar then got a boundary to fine leg via leg byes when Dillon misdirected a ball down the legside. In the same over, when Dillon bowled short, Anwar pulled him through the midwicket boundary. The introduction of part-timer Wavell Hinds helped increase the run-rate further as Wasti hammered Hinds through the cover boundary and also picked up singles and twos finding the gaps easily. Anwar turned Dillon to fineleg in the 26th over to get his 50, made off 82 balls with 7 boundaries.
In Hinds' next over, Anwar reached out to a wide delivery and cut him away to the backward point boundary. Next, a Dillon short ball was dispatched over midwicket for another boundary. Pakistan had substantially picked up the scoring rate with Anwar leading the charge. But after an over, Dillon came back to bowl a yorker at Anwar bowling him round his legs. Anwar was trying to shuffle and clip the ball to midwicket but had completely lost the ball which thudded into the stumps. Saeed Anwar had made 63 runs off 96 deliveries including 9 boundaries and together with Wasti composed 131 runs for the first wicket.
Immediately after the fall of Anwar's wicket, West Indies fightback began. Aamer Sohail had come to the crease after a prolonged absence from the International cricket. Jimmy Adams replaced Wavell Hinds and probably bowled the best spell of his career. In Adams' second over, Wasti went after a short ball but the ball kept low and all Wasti could do was to lob a simple catch to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at backward point. Wasti had made 40 runs off 88 balls with 3 boundaries and the score read 141/2. Two overs later, Adams tossed one to Sohail and lured him to play a drive on his front foot. Sohail couldn't get to the pitch of the delivery and ended up giving an easy return catch to the bowler. Adams bowled his 7 overs with the figures of 7-1-19-2, excellent for a part time bowler.
When Walsh came for his final spell during the slog overs, surprisingly, he gave away more runs than the other bowlers. Inzamam, in trying to step up the run rate, hit Dillon straight to Hinds at deep backward square leg. Hinds kept his eyes on the ball and nicely covered it moving couple feet to his back and took the catch well within the boundary. The next batsman Moin Khan got out to tragic circumstances. Dillon pitched one short and it hit Moin Khan in the body as Moin tried to pull the ball. Moin came couple of steps forward to pick up a leg bye but Dillon covered the grounds fast and thre the ball at the stumps. Moin couldn't get back to his crease as Dillon was on his way. The 48th over was a very useful over for Pakistan as Dillon slipped a ball down the leg side which was declared a no ball and it beat the keeper to the fineleg boundary. Youhana then smashed Dillon through long off. In the 49th over, Walsh had Youhana caught behind and bowled an extremely tight over. Youhana had made 25 runs off 37 balls. Just when it looked like Pakistan had scored fewer than they were promising to score came the fateful final over.
Dillon's first ball of the 50th over was hooked over deep square leg for a six by Azhar Mahmood. The second ball was wide outside the off and it was hit over the point boundary. The third ball was hit over deep square leg again, one bounce over the boundary. The fourth ball was hit inside out over extra covers! The fifth ball was played to covers, a catch that fell just short of the fielder yielding only a single. The last ball flummoxed Abdur Razzaq on its way to the wicket keeper, but Azhar Mahmood had ensured that the Pakistani total was more than enough by plundering 19 runs. Pakistan finished at 230/6 with Azhar Mahmood on 25 runs off 13 balls, including 3 boundaries and the only six of the innings.
Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram formed their familiar partnership as the West Indies started their reply. Jacobs pulled a short one from Wasim in his first over for a resounding 4, but fell in Waqar's second over, lbw to a Waqar "special", an in-swinging yorker that trapped him on the back foot. This brought in the West Indies current star, young Ricardo Powell, perhaps unwisely promoted to number 3. He half heartedly played at his first ball, and spooned a simple catch to mid-off, dropped by Wasim Akram. Astonishingly, and to Waqar's fury, he was dropped again off the next ball, this time by Abdur Razzaq at fine leg. Waqar was bowling well, and beat the bat of Campbell and Powell on several occasions, before encountering Powell's own "special"- it is not often that Waqar Younis is hit for a straight six. Powell hit Wasim Akram through point for 4 in the next over, but a change of bowling did the trick as Abdur Razzaq beat him for pace and bowled him. West Indies were 32/2 after 10 overs as Hinds joined Campbell.
Abdur Razzaq was working up a good pace, and was hurrying both bats into their shots. Campbell in the meantime was starting to look more comfortable and cut Wasim Akram superbly for four in the 12th over. This prompted a change of bowling and Pakistan's 4th seamer Azhar Mahmood came into the fray. He had problems with his line initially, as the extras count continued to mount. Abdur Razzaq had 3 overs and 5 balls for 3 runs before Campbell hooked him for 4, and he followed this with a lovely cover drive for another boundary in the next over. Hinds in the meantime was taking few chances, and letting his senior partner keep the runs flowing. He soon showed he could play shots too given the opportunity, dispatching a half volley from Abdur Razzaq through the covers. After 16 overs, Saqlain Mushtaq was introduced into the attack. He hit length and line immediately, conceding just two runs from his first over. This was followed by a maiden from Azhar Mahmood, but Hinds showed that reputation meant little to him, driving Saqlain for 4 with 7 runs coming off that over, leaving the game nicely poised with West Indies at 69/2 after 20 overs.
Campbell was looking in ominous form, and he confirmed this by smashimng the last two balls of the 21st over to the boundary, one slashed through point and the second driven through cover. Saqlain stemmed the flow of runs with a clever maiden, full of variation in flight. Campbell hit another boundary off Razzaq and then reached an excellent fifty with a drive off Saqlain, his third half-century in Toronto from 4 matches. Saqlain was replaced by Waqar Younis who had bowled so well in his first spell. Runs suddenly started to look more difficult to score, and a promising innings by Hinds was ended as the batsman looked for a quick single where none was to be had. Yousuf Youhana completed the run-out with a tidy piece of fielding.
As the match moved into the final 20 overs, Lara started to open up - the run rate required was over 6, and some quick scoring was needed. 9 runs came from the 31st over including a punishing on-drive from Lara. Wasim had to recall Saqlain, who had Campbell in some trouble, the over finishing in a near run-out with a mix up between the bats. Wasim Akram came back from the other end, but conceded a boundary to his opposite number, thanks to some indifferent fielding. Calling had been poor between the Lara and Campbell, and the inevitable happened in Saqlain's next over, a silly mix-up. Campbell was gone, run out for an accomplished 69. This brought in Chanderpaul, but West Indies were slipping further behind the required run rate. Their troubles deepened when Lara lashed out at Wasim Akram only to be superbly caught by the substitute fielder Hasan Raza - 137/5 and the required run rate over 7.
Adams and Chanderpaul tried to play themselves in, and in the 39th over launched a counter-attack. Chanderpaul hit two boundaries off Azhar Mahmood and in the next over combined with Adams to take 15 off Waqar Younis. Suprisingly Wasim turned to Aamer Sohail, an inspired change as Waqar Younis took a fine catch to dismiss Chanderpaul for 29. Aamer Sohail was unlucky to have Adams dropped in his next over, but as the pressure mounted Bryan was run out looking for a run that was not really on.
Abdur Razzaq completed a superb piece of bowling by conceding one run from the 45th over (and 26 in his 10 overs), and with Saqlain back on, the task began to look insurmountable. Dillon did his best to hit out, but could not clear the field. With 34 needed off the last three overs, Saqlain bowled the 48th without conceding a boundary, leaving 25 off 12 balls. A slogged boundary from Adams gave West Indies momentary hope, quickly quelled by a superb yorker from Azhar Mahmood bowling Dillon out. Saqlain was asked to bowl the last over. With 17 runs required, Adams took a single from the first ball, and the remaining runs were beyond the tail-enders.
Pakistan won the match by 15 runs, with Saeed Anwar declared the man-of-the match; a fine all-round bowling performance being the difference between the sides.