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So far so good for Louis Van Gaal. He’s achieved what he set out to achieve without really setting the world alight. He’s convinced without ever really being convincing.

But that’s a good thing, and there’s more to come.

Building a football team is a progressive thing. Jose Mourinho came back to Chelsea and worked on the overhaul in the first season and saw the benefits in the second. His first season back was itself a case of convincing without ever really being convincing. Chelsea came third, were kind of in a title race and made it to a Champions League semi-final. It sounds like an impressive season, but there were too many slip ups against the lesser sides – it was close but no cigar. Still, it was progress.

This season Chelsea are back to where Jose Mourinho feels they belong. They’re champions and they’re not going to stop there, they’ll strengthen their side.

And that’s the model Van Gaal will surely follow. One season to steady a rocking ship, add some more quality where he needs it – a striker and a defender should surely be on the list – and then challenge for a title next season. Sounds simple doesn’t it?

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We can be fairly sure that United are going to spend big when the transfer window opens. It’s United’s way of acting like a big club. They’ve worked so hard to build up one of the most lucrative business models in the world – or you can call that billions’ worth of debt if you’re of the jealous type – and now that they are in trouble they can use that money to bail themselves out. So Van Gaal has a considerable war chest to dig into this summer.

Despite the well-publicised defensive failings last season, Louis Van Gaal is probably more worried about his attack than his defence. United’s defensive woes were partly caused by a myriad of factors. Youthful inexperience, individual errors, injuries and maladaptation to Van Gaal’s formation and tactics are all blame-able to various degrees.

Their attacking failures are a little more difficult to pin down. United suffered three consecutive defeats against Chelsea, Everton and West Brom as their season came to a grinding halt. But worse than the defeats was the fact that United didn’t score in any of those games. They had 60%+ of the possession and created a multitude of chances but never rippled the net fabric. For a team that has spent so much on attacking options, that’s simply unacceptable.

The stats don’t lie either. United’s goal difference of +25 is worse than all three teams above them, they scored 62 goals – almost 10 fewer than Chelsea (73) and Arsenal (71), and 21 fewer than Manchester City (83). Defensively, though, it’s a better story. United conceded just five goals more than Chelsea and a goal fewer than City.

In an attacking sense, it’s clear to see that United are struggling. For all of the wonderful possession stats, United’s domination of games has been sterile. They’ve offered a lot of passing around the final third but little penetration, even resorting in the end to lumping it to Fellaini with varying degrees of success.

An interesting stat is that United are 6th in the chances created table. Last season they managed to create 391 chances (interestingly, QPR managed 385), but that’s a whole 141 behind leaders Manchester City. Arsenal and Chelsea managed a similar amount to each other, and are still miles ahead of United.

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And that’s where United need to strengthen. It’s important to score the goals. If the defence looks weak it’s probably because United camp in the opposition half for so much of the game. The whole team is just shifted up the pitch a few yards, so one bad pass allows a counter, and Premier League teams are all adept on the counter. But when you have 60%+ of the ball possession, the opposition doesn’t get many chances to counter.

The progress United need to make is up front, they need to create chances and they need to convert the ones they do make. That’s why Van Gaal seems to be blindly focussed on attackers at the moment. Surely that’s where they’ll strengthen this summer.

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Football Chiefs being jailed for ten-and-a-half years, referees accepting bribes, four national team players caught match fixing, teams going on strike and fans not wanting to watch any more.  Can football in China really make a comeback?

Football in China hit rock bottom in 2012, in total over 50 officials and governing body members were sent to jail, 33 were banned for life.  Incredibly, one of these was former Chief of Chinese football Xie Yalong and Vice-President Nan Yong, both were given ten-and-a-half year sentences and both were handed a fine of 200,000 Yuan (£20000).  After being tortured and having his family threatened Xie confessed to accepting bribes of up to ¾ Million.  These included Nike officials to secure a sponsorship deal with the Chinese Super League and Zhu Guanghu, in order to keep his place as National Team Coach.  On the other hand Nan was guilty of accepting up to £140,000 in bribes.  This is all kick started after a campaign to clean up Chinese football started in 2009.  Unfortunately for the Super League this wasn’t the worst of it; four national team players were found guilty in accepting 8Million Yuan (£800,000) in bribes in order to fix domestic league matches.  All were fined 500,000 Yuan and given up to 6 Year sentences.

Not only were players and governing members mixed up in all the corruption, it appeared officials had played a part too.  Ex-Referee Lun Ju, who had previously refereed at the World Cup in 2002 and the Olympics in 2000, was put behind bars for five-and-a-half years.  It was reported he accepted 790,000 Yuan to fix seven Super League matches.  Ju’s imprisonment caused quite a storm showing a sharp decline in his fortunes since his impressive career achievements.  One of the clubs he had said to have officiated and altered the outcome of were Shanghai Shenhua.

Shanghai Shenhua have been one of the biggest teams in terms of wealth and performance in the Super League.  However the team was cast a bad image when it was found guilty of involvement in bribery.  Chinese Media reported Shenhua offered bribes to officials to secure a 4-1 victory against Shanxi Guoli.  In addition to being fined, the club were given a six-point penalty and were stripped of their 2003 title in what was formally known as the Chinese Jia-A League.  In total 12 clubs were given financial or point-based penalties.  Shenhua must have thought they turned a corner when they signed Nicolas Anelka and then Didier Drogba.  Two big name players which arose plenty of excitement as these were some of the first globally named players to participate in the Super League.  With Drogba on the back of winning a Champions League winners medal, Shenhua had hoped this would bring good publicity to not only the club but the Super League itself.  Both were paid handsomely, Anelka’s salary was $12million annually and Drogba was on £200,000 a week.  However both left only after one season, those saying money is everything were proved wrong.  Anelka left to train with PSG with no real statement as to why he left.  Drogba departed on more controversial grounds as he joined Galatasaray immediately after returning from the African Cup of Nations.  Shenhua claim that Drogba is still their player and are ‘deeply shocked’ after taking on the Ivorian for a two-and-a-half year deal.  It is very clear that something is very wrong to send both Drogba (11 games, 8 goals) and Anelka (22 games, 3 goals) running in the opposite direction only after one season.

It is clear to see with the evidence shown that football in China is in a terrible state, it got to the point at when fans were being interviewed they said the didn’t want to watch the game anymore.  It was all fake.  Something big needs to happen to grab Chinese football by the scruff of the neck and bring it back into the light.  That ray of light has somehow appeared to be David Beckham, international superstar.  With having previous experience in being an ambassador for the Olympic and World Cup 2018 bid, and not to mention his world loved reputation, this could be China’s man.  David Beckham has taken up the role as ambassador for Chinese football, and with the new league only having just started, it seems like this is a new era for the Super League.  Although many Chinese journalists feel there is no way back, even just the sheer presence of Beckham should create an impact big enough to start the change of Chinese footballs reputations.  Beckham will take on a tour round China in a bid to promote a better side of football, one which should invoke passion.  Make the youth of China fall back in love with the sport which has been ridden by treachery.

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It will take time before we see an impact, if any from ‘Little Becks‘ as he is known in China.  But it will take years before football can be returned to a normal state of affairs and all is forgotten.  Football in China is in too deep, it needs serious help, Beckham is a start, however China needs something more.  If they can lure big name players and create a league that has all of a sudden become very attractable, only then will the past be forgotten.

Many fans and pundits alike have waxed lyrical about Liverpool’s attacking flare this season.

It is hard not to be mesmerised by the fluidity and skill of Jurgen Klopp’s trio of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.

The group have scored 81 goals between them in all competitions, with Salah leading the charge on 40.

The attacking side of Liverpool’s game has rarely been a problem; it is the defence that has raised alarm bells at times this season.

Since Virgil van Dijk arrived from Southampton in January, the back line has improved, but question marks remain over the goalkeeping situation.

At the moment, Loris Karius is number one, and has been since the turn of the year when Klopp opted to drop Simon Mignolet down the pecking order.

The German has put in some solid displays in between the sticks, and has won over plenty of supporters as a result, but rumours are still rumbling about the club potentially recruiting a new keeper in the summer.

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A recent report by Mundo Deportivo claimed that the Merseyside outfit are keeping tabs on Barcelona’s second-string shot-stopper Jasper Cillessen, while Roma’s Alisson has regularly been mentioned in the transfer gossip columns.

With that in mind, do you think that Klopp should stick with what he has or bring in a new face for next season? Let us know by voting below…

When Manchester United striker Robin van Persie left the field against Swansea after picking up an ankle injury, things looked ominous for the Red Devils.

United slumped to a 2-1 defeat in Wales that day, as the Swans recorded a memorable double over Louis van Gaal’s side leaving their hopes of securing Champions League qualification in some doubt.

Still struggling for form and with one of their most influential players out of action, not many could have foreseen the run that United would put together from that moment on, but the turnaround has been incredible.

Six straight league wins has not only put the reds within touching distance of a return to the Champions League but has also seen them leapfrog rivals Manchester City and move to within a point of second place.

And while at first Van Persie’s injury was seen as a blow to United, unfortunately for the striker his spell on the sidelines has actually proved to be a blessing in disguise.

Van Gaal’s side have picked some fantastic results in recent weeks with impressive victories over the likes of Tottenham, Liverpool, Aston Villa and most recently Manchester City. Even more impressive has been their performances in these games with the manner of victory a huge positive given their struggles earlier on in the season.

12 goals in the process have put to bed their problems in front of goal, with United finding a way to cope without the underperforming duo Radamel Falcao and Van Persie.

Prior to his injury Van Persie was considered the main man upfront for the Red Devils, although is form and fitness had been brought into question following some below par displays.

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There were calls for him to be dropped from the side, but luckily for Van Gaal the injury to the Dutchman forced his hand and there was no need to upset one of his star players.

The problem Van Persie now faces however as he nears a return to action, is that their might no longer be a place for him in the side given how well they have coped without him.

Wayne Rooney has taken centre stage in attack leading the line brilliantly and forming a tremendous partnership with the likes of Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini and Ashley Young. These four have been pivotal to the club’s success over recent weeks and on current form they can’t be dropped.

Not long ago it would have been unthinkable to say this, but United have actually improved since Van Persie has been out of the side, and as a consequence the future of the United forward is now in some doubt.

The Dutchman continues to be linked with a move away from Old Trafford in the summer, and while this would have unimaginable a few months ago, it’s now a possibility that won’t trouble many United fans who have seen just how well the side can cope in his absence.

It’s clear he is still a world class forward and on his day can prove a match winner. His lack of form and fitness can probably be attributed to a long summer which saw him feature heavily in Holland’s World Cup campaign.

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Given a full pre-season to rest and recuperate it would be no surprise to see him return to his best, an outcome that would surely benefit the team given the extra European games they will need to accommodate in their season.

But while he still has a big part to play at Old Trafford, the last few weeks mean he is not considered as important as he once was and the side have shown they can cope more than adequately without him.

Does a fully fit Van Persie make it into United’s starting 11? On current form you’d have to say it’s unlikely.

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Manchester United winger Ashley Young is hopeful that he has finally put his injury woes behind him.

The Red Devils star has been restricted to just 17 Premier League appearances this term, with a succession of injuries hampering his chances of regular playing time.

But, the 27-year-old has finally recovered from his latest set-back and been granted permission to join up with England’s squad for their up-coming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro.

Young admitted tat it has been a difficult spell in his career and is hopeful that he can now get back to playing regularly for United:

“It’s been very frustrating as a player when you’re injured and seeing the other players training every day,” he is quoted by The Mirror.

“For me, the injuries have been very disappointing and I just wanted to get myself back fit.

“Fingers crossed, from now until the end of the season, I can stay injury-free and get a run in the team.”

Young enjoyed a successful debut season at Old Trafford last term, producing a number of fine displays.

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His impressive form allowed him to be a part of Roy Hodgson’s squad for EURO 2012, however the ex-Aston Villa man failed to replicate his club form in Poland and Ukraine.

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India will face the winner of Thursday’s clash between Bangladesh and Pakistan, while Sri Lanka are out of contention now

Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Sep-20251:20

Chopra: Very little the bowlers could do against Abhishek

India are in the final of Asia Cup 2025, where they will meet the winner of Thursday’s Super Fours clash between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Sri Lanka are out of contention, and their game against India on Friday is now a dead rubber.India sealed their place in the final with a 41-run win over Bangladesh that was, for the victors, both comfortable and discomfiting. Bangladesh never really looked in contention at any point during their chase of 169, with their limitations as a T20 side exposed by the depth and variety of India’s bowling. But they would feel they should have made a much better fist of that target, after their bowlers had done brilliantly to haul India back when Abhishek Sharma had seemingly put them on course for 200 and beyond.Related

• The relentlessness of Abhishek and the ruthlessness of Bumrah

• Aaron: 'Axar ahead of Samson? I do not understand it'

• Abhishek Sharma is on his way to becoming an elite six-hitter

• Shaheen Afridi brushes off criticism as Pakistan eye Asia Cup final

Abhishek continued his magnificent tournament, following up his 39-ball 74 against Pakistan with a 37-ball 75, but India struggled when he wasn’t at the crease.Their innings followed a pattern not unlike Pakistan’s against their bowlers on Sunday: a strong start followed by a dramatic slowdown when the ball became older and harder to time. India scored 95 runs in overs 3-11, when Abhishek ran rampant, and just 73 runs in the 12 overs either side of that stretch.In the end, Abhishek’s innings proved the difference between the teams. Bangladesh didn’t have anyone in their line-up with that level of relentless boundary-hitting ability, even if Saif Hassan showed the promise in their ranks, hitting five sixes in a 51-ball 69.

Bangladesh begin brightly

Bangladesh could have dismissed Abhishek for 7 off 8 in the third over, had the wicketkeeper held on to an edge off Tanzim Hasan Sakib, who came into an XI with as many as four changes, and bowled brilliantly with the new ball, swinging it prodigiously while also hitting the deck hard.The wicketkeeper who shelled that chance – and Bangladesh’s captain on the night – was Jaker Ali, standing in for Litton Das who was ruled out with a side strain.That moment ended the first chapter of this match, which Bangladesh dominated without quite being able to separate Abhishek and Shubman Gill. Tanzim had beaten Gill’s bat twice in the first over, and left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed had used his swinging arm ball cleverly to take the ball away from Abhishek’s hitting arc in the second. By the end of the third over, India were still going at less than a run a ball.

Abhishek and Gill take over

Gill began the counterattack by stepping out to the first two balls of the fourth over and hitting Nasum for four and six. That began a torrent of boundary-hitting that Bangladesh seemed powerless to stop. Abhishek looked unstoppable once he got to grips with the conditions, hitting Mustafizur Rahman for two sixes in the fifth over, peppering the off-side boundary with four fours off Mohammad Saifuddin in the sixth, and carrying on in similar vein beyond the powerplay.In all, Abhishek hit five sixes and jumped to joint No. 7 on India’s all-time T20I six-hitting charts. He has now hit 58 sixes in just 21 innings; Suresh Raina, with whom he drew level, hit 58 in 66 innings.2:57

Chopra questions India’s batting order logic

Experimental India slow down

India were 112 for 2 at the start of the 12th over, and Bangladesh seemed powerless to stop Abhishek. But they did, via a run out manufactured by Rishad Hossain’s brilliance at backward point. He dived to his left to stop a dab from Suryakumar Yadav and sprang up, ready to throw in one motion, leaving Abhishek with little chance of regaining his ground at the non-striker’s end.That moment changed the complexion of the game, exposing India’s middle order to an issue that has troubled every line-up in these conditions in the UAE – the difficulty of starting innings against the old ball. Bangladesh’s bowlers did their bit too, with Mustafizur, Tanzim and Saifuddin finding plenty of purchase with their slower cutters and with Nasum varying his pace cleverly, and India only scored 56 runs across their last nine overs. Hardik Pandya, who was out off the last ball of the innings for 38 off 29, did the bulk of the scoring.India’s slide looked worse for coming against the backdrop of batting-order changes that didn’t come off on the day. India promoted Shivam Dube to No. 3, and sent in Hardik, Tilak Varma and Axar Patel above Sanju Samson, who did not get to bat at all.Handshakes all around after India completed an easy win•AFP/Getty Images

Saif wages lone fight as Bangladesh fade away

Bangladesh seemed in with a real chance at the halfway mark, but the required rate kept slipping further and further away from their reach. Jasprit Bumrah, once again bowling three overs in the powerplay, struck in his first over, and looked close to unhittable with the new ball, finding prodigious swing and at one stage beating Parvez Hossain Emon’s bat six times in eight balls.And then, just as Emon had seemed to shrug off that early struggle with a six off Bumrah and a pair of swept fours off Varun Chakravarthy, he fell while miscuing a slog-sweep in Kuldeep Yadav’s first over, the seventh of the innings.Then it became a game of two ends. At one end, Saif showed off his hitting range, particularly off Axar whom he hit for three sixes. At the other, batters came and went, with Jaker’s run-out dismissal in the 13th over, while trying to steal a quick single to get Saif to his fifty, effectively bringing Bangladesh’s challenge to an end.All that remained was for Kuldeep to pull off his customary two-wickets-in-two-balls trick, for India’s fielders to shell a series of catches to extend Saif’s innings into the 18th over, for Bumrah to come back and pick up a second wicket, and finally for part-timer Tilak to roll his arm over and end the match with three balls to spare.

Derbyshire’s Alex Thomson continues impressive match to claim maiden ten-wicket haul

ECB Reporters Network13-Apr-2024Spin continued to dominate proceedings on the second day of the Vitality County Championship match between Glamorgan and Derbyshire in Cardiff.Mason Crane took four wickets on his Glamorgan debut as Derbyshire were bowled out for 198, 39 runs behind on first innings. Wayne Madsen top scored for Derbyshire with 63 but his departure brought about a collapse of five wickets for 33 runs.Alex Thomson was once again the star man with the ball for Derbyshire as he secured his first 10-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Glamorgan had reached 74 for 4 at the close, a lead of 113 with six second innings wickets in hand.With the pitch offering significant assistance to both seam and spin bowlers the destination of this game will depend on how well Glamorgan bat in the first session of day three.Having resumed on 46 for 1, Derbyshire while placed to get past Glamorgan’s total and they started the day with captain David Lloyd reaching fifty from 65 balls against his former county. He was the first wicket to fall on day two when he was trapped lbw by Crane for 60.Harry Came made a patient 25 from 113 balls but he never really found runs easy to come by on a pitch that is slow enough that batters had to take risks to score quickly. He was dismissed by James Harris for the second of his three wickets in Derbyshire’s innings. Harris conceded runs at less than 1.5 an over, conceding just three boundaries, one of which was an edge past the slips as he finished with figures of 3 for 28.As was the case in Glamorgan’s first innings, it was the spinner who was the most consistent threat with Crane starring with the ball on his Glamorgan debut. Figures 4 for 60 was his best return in first-class cricket since his five-wicket haul against Lancashire for Hampshire in 2021.While Crane was a consistent threat, it was the seamers who took the heart out of the Derbyshire batting line-up with Dan Douthwaite and Mir Hamza picking up wickets.While Madsen was at the crease it felt as is Derbyshire could claim a first-innings lead but when he was well caught in the covers by sub fielder Asa Tribe off Douthwaite it began the collapse that prevented Derbyshire eclipsing Glamorgan’s first innings total.Crane was brought back into the attack after a short break and claimed the last three Derbyshire wickets as scoring became increasingly difficult against the aging Kookaburra ball. When the last Derbyshire wicket fell on the stoke of the tea break Glamorgan had secured a 39-run lead.When their second innings got underway the Glamorgan openers once again found Thomson extremely difficult to face. Having claimed career-best figures of 7 for 65 in the first innings he opened the bowling and had two wickets in two balls. Both Zain-ul-Hassan and Sam Northeast were dismissed lbw, the latter for a golden duck.Thomson claimed his 10th wicket of the match when he bowled Kiran Carlson for 11 before Sam Conners bowled Billy Root for 32 to put this game into the balance heading into the third day.

Jacob Oram, meanwhile, has joined MI Cape Town as the team’s bowling coach

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Dec-2022J Arunkumar, the former Karnataka captain and coach, has been roped by Mumbai Indians as their assistant batting coach ahead of IPL 2023. Arunkumar joins his former team-mate R Vinay Kumar, a talent scout, on the franchise’s support staff roster, that will be headed by Mark Boucher; Arunkumar and Boucher were colleagues at Royal Challengers Bangalore during the inaugural IPL season in 2008.Arunkumar will work in tandem with Kieron Pollard, who was announced as batting coach in November after he was released by the franchise ahead of the auction. Pollard had represented the franchise in 189 matches since first coming on board in 2009.A veteran of 109 first-class matches, Arunkumar was until recently head coach of the USA men’s national team for over two years. Prior to that, he was involved in the Indian domestic circuit with Puducherry and Karnataka. In the IPL, he’s previously worked with Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) as batting coach in 2017.Arunkumar achieved great success with Karnataka
During his tenure [Arunkumar and Mansur Ali Khan coached the team together], Karnataka won back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. They also won two Irani Cups and Vijay Hazare Trophy titles in the same seasons. His time coincided with the team establishing themselves as a dominant force in domestic cricket, with KL Rahul, Manish Pandey and Karun Nair all graduating to play for India.Arunkumar also had an impressive career as a player with Karnataka, being part of two title wins as a player, in 1995-96 and 1997-98. He made 7208 first-class runs in 176 innings, with 20 centuries and 36 half-centuries.The new support staff appointments followed the group’s overhaul of its existing coaching set-up after the acquisition of teams at the UAE’s ILT20 (MI Emirates) and the South African SA20 league (MI Cape Town). Mahela Jayawardene, who was the head coach at Mumbai Indians since 2017, has been elevated to the global head of performance, and Zaheer Khan, the director of cricket operations till last season, is now the global head of cricket development. They will both be involved with all three teams.Jacob Oram roped in as MI Cape Town bowling coach
In another update, Jacob Oram, the former New Zealand allrounder, has been appointed MI Cape Town’s bowling coach ahead of the inaugural SA20 season.Oram, who played 33 Tests, 160 ODIs and 36 T20Is between 2001 and 2012, also played four seasons of the IPL, in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013, finishing up with Mumbai Indians. A coach after retirement, Oram’s most recent position was as the assistant coach of the New Zealand women’s team.He now joins the MI Cape Town support staff team of Simon Katich (head coach), Hashim Amla (batting coach), James Pamment (fielding coach), and Robin Peterson (team manager).

The new board has advertised the CEO’s position, with applications due to close on July 31

Firdose Moonda31-Jul-2021Cricket South Africa’s former acting CEO Kugandrie Govender has been dismissed with immediate effect, bringing an end to the disciplinary matters that have stretched back to December 2019. Govender was suspended in December 2020, four months after former CEO Thabang Moroe was fired over allegations of misconduct.Specifically, Govender was under scrutiny for the role she played in revoking the accreditation of journalists in December 2019, for breaches of the Companies’ Act, and her part in the dismissal of the former head of sales and sponsorships Clive Eksteen, whose sacking was ruled unfair. She was found guilty after a lengthy process which has lasted more than seven months.”The Chairperson of the Disciplinary Tribunal, Advocate Terry Motau SC, imposed a sanction of immediate dismissal, having regard inter alia to the seriousness of Ms Govender’s misconduct, the breach of trust and including the fact that a continued working relationship between Ms Govender and CSA would no longer be possible,” a CSA statement read.Related

• CSA appoints new majority independent board, reports Rand 250 million loss

• CSA's acting CEO suspended amid disciplinary proceedings

• CSA release forensic audit in wake of firing of CEO Moroe

Since Govender’s suspension, CSA has also parted ways with former chief operating officer Naasei Appiah and former finance manager Ziyanda Nkuta after previously ending their relationship with Moroe and Eksteen. Govender’s immediate predecessor, Jacques Faul, resigned from the acting CEO role to return to his post as CEO of the Titans franchise. She was succeeded by Pholetsi Moseki, who remains CSA’s acting CEO to date.However, CSA is in the process of finalising a new governance structure after a new, majority-independent board was ushered in in June. The new board has advertised the CEO’s position, with applications due to close on July 31, though no date has been set for confirming the new candidate.

Fifties from the middle-order pair helped Pakistan overhaul a 263-run target against co-hosts New Zealand

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy01-May-2020 #RetroLive They lost three of their first five matches, and should probably have lost a fourth too, when England bowled them out for 74. Rain saved them there, and gave them an underserved point, a point that was eventually critical to their progress into the last four of this World Cup.But don’t take anything away from Pakistan for what they’ve done since that early run. They beat Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand on the bounce to reach the semi-finals. And now they’re in their first World Cup final, having pulled off a sensational chase to dump out New Zealand, the co-hosts and league-table toppers, on their own turf.They’ve pulled off the fourth-biggest successful chase in any World Cup match. Of the three above it, two came in 60-over matches, and the third against an Associate side, Zimbabwe. And none of the top three chases came in a knockout match.It was challenge enough for Pakistan to chase 263. When Imran Khan and Saleem Malik fell in the space of five balls, their task had grown immeasurably more difficult: 123 needed off 95 balls, with six wickets in hand.It was here that Inzamam-ul-Haq, all of 22, with only 15 ODIs behind him, joined Javed Miandad at the crease. Inzamam wasn’t unknown or unproven at this level; he’d scored back-to-back ODI hundreds against Sri Lanka earlier this year. But this had been a quiet World Cup for him up to this point, and this was a semi-final.For a player of quality, though, a semi-final is a cricket match like any other. And Inzamam is most definitely a player of quality. How else do you score a half-century in 31 balls while exuding the air of someone taking a leisurely stroll around the neighbourhood, pausing occasionally to chomp on an apple?It wasn’t an in-your-face explosion of sixes and fours. There were moments of sublime timing, such as when Inzamam stepped out to Gavin Larsen and sent the ball racing to the midwicket boundary with the gentlest of nudges, and shots that hinted at supreme judgment of length, such as a pulled four off a Chris Harris delivery that was only marginally short. But more than all that, it was an innings of awareness, of where the gaps were and how to find them; to that end, his best shot was probably a dancing flick over midwicket off Willie Watson, which landed in a wide, unguarded area to the left of deep square leg and allowed him to run three.There was some poor bowling too; Harris kept floating the ball wide of off stump when the batsmen advanced at him, with no sweeper protecting the off-side boundary. Inzamam and Miandad threaded fours through the off-side infield once each in successive overs. Dipak Patel, the offspinner, kept bowling into Inzamam’s sweeping and pulling arc despite leaving a massive gap between deep backward-square leg and deep midwicket.Inzamam, in truth, was showing up a limited New Zealand attack for what it was. Their dibbly-dobblers – Harris, Larsen and Watson – have been unhittable at times during this World Cup, especially on the slower pitches in New Zealand, but there’s a sameness to this attack, and a lack of genuinely attacking bowlers apart from Danny Morrison.Once Inzamam and Miandad brought the required rate back under control with an 87-run partnership off 63 balls, New Zealand needed a couple of quick wickets to bring themselves back in the match, and lacked the bowling firepower with which to do it.Their fielding could have brought them a couple of wickets, though. Two direct hits from Harris had Miandad – batting on 1 at that stage – and Moin Khan – on 5, with Pakistan needing 16 off 16 with four wickets in hand – scrambling for safety. Replays showed both of them marginally, but clearly, short of their crease. There was no way the square-leg umpire could have given either of them out, but with technology playing an increasingly influential role at this level, expect video umpires to make an appearance soon.Who knows what might have happened had Miandad been run out so early, with Pakistan needing 177 off 161 balls. The fallout of Moin’s non-dismissal was clearer; he’s still new to this level, but he showed Miandadesque calmness and smarts in helping the senior man finish off the match, and clubbed a pair of unorthodox, Miandadesque boundaries to seal the deal.That Pakistan had needed to hustle to such a degree at the finish was down to their turgid scoring through the first two-thirds of their innings, which was largely down to Imran Khan’s struggle, after promoting himself to No. 3 once again, to pierce the field, and, on occasion, to put bat to ball. It lasted 93 balls, and brought him only 40 runs, 12 of them coming in two hits.A similar struggle took root at a similar stage of New Zealand’s innings, after they had chosen to bat first with a grim forecast in mind. Mark Greatbatch, as he has done through this tournament, clubbed a couple of early sixes, before failing to pick up a back-of-the-hand slower ball from Aaqib Javed that spun like a googly. John Wright and the No. 3 Andrew Jones struggled to time the ball, though, and Ken Rutherford, batting at No. 5, took an age to get going, remaining scoreless for 20 balls, and taking 43 balls to reach double figures.If it wasn’t for the in-form Martin Crowe, who moved his feet with precision and timed the ball like a dream from the moment he stepped in, New Zealand’s innings could have come to a complete standstill. Mushtaq Ahmed, who had returned figures of 2 for 18 in 10 overs in the league-stage meeting between these sides, dismissed Jones with a brilliant quicker one, and gave Rutherford a torrid time as well, and with Pakistan’s second legspinner, Iqbal Sikander, starting tidily as well, New Zealand crawled to 119 for 3 in 34 overs. Getting to 220 looked unlikely.But as if a switch had been clicked on, Rutherford suddenly found his rhythm, and his feet began to twinkle against the spinners, bringing him a series of boundaries including a straight six off Sikander. Crowe, like Inzamam would do later in the match, began punishing the smallest errors in line and length, sweeping and pulling the spinners at every opportunity, and whipping Wasim Akram for a stupendous six off his hip, over backward square leg. Crowe raced to his fifty in 51 balls. Rutherford flew from 17 off 47 balls to 50 off 67, before a miscued pull off Akram ended their partnership at 107.New Zealand’s innings had legs now, but their captain’s legs gave way in the 44th over, Crowe injuring his left hamstring while taking a single off Sikander. On 79 then, he would add 12 more to his score, before a mix-up involving his runner, Greatbatch, sent him back in the 47th over, right after another brutal pull off a barely-short delivery had moved him into the 90s.Crowe’s injury didn’t have any immediate effect on New Zealand’s morale, with Ian Smith leading their plundering of 40 runs off the last 22 balls of their innings. But their tactics during Pakistan’s innings lacked the Crowe stamp. Rather than swap his bowlers around constantly as Crowe has done through this tournament, the stand-in captain Wright kept his bowlers on for long spells, refusing to use Jones’ offspin as a sixth option. With Inzamam new to the crease, he delayed the reintroduction of Morrison, who had four overs left, and kept plugging away with his slow-medium trio.It’s hard to say, though, that this same New Zealand attack, shuffled into a different configuration, could have dealt with Inzamam in the mood he was in. Today was simply his day, and this tournament may simply be Pakistan’s, though England or South Africa may have something to say about that. RetroLive