The crowds that made the trip through the hills to watch the first one-day international in Pallekele were treated to cricket's adaptation of The Comedy of Errors, with Shoaib Akhtar and Kamran Akmal in lead
roles. Their performance was so comically incompetent that it allowed New Zealand, who had to endure the struggle of Jamie How, to reach a satisfactory position even though their batsmen - with the exception of Martin Guptill - were far from convincing.The litany of mistakes began with the first ball of the game, after Daniel Vettori chose to bat, when Shoaib overstepped and the umpire Nigel Llong didn't spot the indiscretion. Llong called Shoaib's next three foot-faults during a five-over spell, though, and the New Zealand batsmen sent each of those free-hits to the boundary. Brendon McCullum, however, missed an incutter soon after pulling the first free-hit for six, and his dismissal brought How, playing for the unwell Jesse Ryder, to the crease.
How couldn't get the ball off the square. Pakistan used a spinner with the new ball for the first time in 13 years and Abdur Rehman's left-arm darts from round the wicket were hard to score off. Shoaib, however, was in a generous mood, throwing a ball he fielded on his follow through wide of Kamran Akmal to concede four overthrows. That Pakistan allowed 45 during the mandatory Powerplay - the most they had given in the first ten overs in this tournament - was largely due to Shoaib's largesse. It was also due to Guptill's ability to stay focused despite the drama around him. He put away two free-hits - one slapped through cover, the other pulled through midwicket - and dragged New Zealand forward with no help from his partner.
More confusion ensued when Afridi forgot to inform umpire Llong that he was taking the bowling Powerplay and then set a field for it. When the bowling Powerplay actually began - in the 12th over - How blocked out a maiden from Umar Gul. Guptill immediately released that pressure by driving Abdul Razzaq to the cover boundary and lofting him over his head.
How's misery finally ended in the 13th over, when Gul tailed an incutter into the right-hander and struck him so plumb that the ball would have hit the middle of middle stump. How had made 4 off 29 balls.
In walked Ross Taylor, on his 27th birthday, and he received two generous gifts from Pakistan. Before he had scored, Taylor edged the second ball of Shoaib's second spell. Akmal moved to towards his right to take a catch that was his for the taking, and then stopped and looked expectantly at first slip, where Younis Khan looked on in shock as the ball sped to the third-man boundary. A ball later Taylor edged again, this time the easiest of chances straight to Akmal, who dropped it again. In between those deliveries, Taylor had slashed to the point boundary.
Normalcy returned to the innings as Gul began to move the ball sharply into the batsmen at brisk pace, and Shoaib bowled with more control. Guptill carried on batting solidly, reaching his half-century off 71 balls, while Taylor, whose early struggle was substantial by normal standards but incomparable to How's, slowly grew in confidence.
