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Yesterday’s matches one significant and other not so, were played in quite the opposite ways. Not before the tournament would the Pakistanis have imagined that their team will be playing a do or die game against Netherlands and will not be the favourite to win it. The task for the Dutch going into the game was simpler for they didn’t have to win it outright but had to make sure that they don’t lose too badly.

That it in the end turned out be a lopsided encounter is a different story, but nobody can deny that Netherlands never tried. Nothing exemplifies it more than the two diving saves by the Dutch fielders which saved certain boundaries in the first over of the Pakistan innings. Nannes would still be nursing his hurt for not being picked up for his adopted land but in this critical encounter he showed his true mettle. By bowling quick – he bowled the fastest ball of the tournament so far – and accurate he managed to trouble the Pakistani batsman and in the process also make a statement. But that is where the fight started and ended for Netherlands. For rest of the evening the traffic was mostly one way.

Most of Pakistan’s problems are their own creations. But against the Dutch they made sure they created none and solved most of their previous ones. Their fielding against England had been sloppy with Salman Butt misleading from front. Yesterday he did much better. He caught a sitter. There is no format that would suit Afridi’s batting more than T20. But it is here that he has struggled the most. May be for an explosive batsman like him he comes too far low down the order. But if he cannot score any runs he also makes sure he doesn’t give away many. He yorked the Dutch middle order and sent four of their men back into the hut. Hopefully for Pakistan this victory should resurrect their campaign but rarely one can say anything about them with confidence.

In the other game, rendered inconsequential because both teams had already qualified for the semi-finals, the result was in balance till the last delivery. The game though not exciting as a whole was delightful in parts. B Mccullum gave up his gloves, in hindsight, for good. For without it, we would not have seen him break those stumps down with such consummate ease, to run high flying Kallis out.

T20 never allows bowling teams the opportunity to apply pressure for elongated periods. Fielding rarely gets to strangulate an opposition in a measured manner. Mostly its brilliance is sudden and reward fleeting. Yesterday though in ten overs of sustained pressure applied on the African batsmen by New Zealand fielders, very few runs were scored and many wickets fell.

In reply though, NZL’s innings never picked pace. And that they lacked urgency never seemed to alarm their batsman for it appeared that they were comfortable with their method of chase. They lost the match by a run and six wickets in hand. And that statistic tells a tale.