 "World Cup 2019 Social Pavilion: Shambolic Pakistan, furious Shoaib Akhtar and West Indies being West Indies")
Well well well… What is happening? Pakistan have been in the UK for 38 days now and came come to a flat wicket like Trent Bridge and ended up being bowled out for 105. Surely Pakistan can do better than that. Twitter even designated the hashtag #WehaveWeWill after Pakistan’s dismal performance. Here’s what transpired on social media following Pakistan’s terrible loss against West Indies. To start with, Pakistan PM and former World Cup winning captain sent in his wishes to the team ahead of their clash against West Indies.
Cricket pundits, broadcasters, journalists and keyboard warriors of social media went all out on Pakistan for their shambolic effort. Guess the England series right before the World Cup didn’t work out as planned.
Pak top order in a shambles. Worthwhile recovery from here looks far-fetched. West Indies starting their campaign with gusto #ICCWorldCup2019
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 31, 2019
It didn’t look as bad as it eventually ended up being. They were 35 for the loss of 2 wickets with Harish Sohail, babar Azam and the skipper yet to come in(and be dismissed to a short ball). Side note :Cricket has always found a way to give technology a nip in the bud. (Cue: DRS)
At the end of the 13th over, our forecaster had Pakistan projected to score 288 runs.
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 31, 2019
On the fall of Babar Azam's wicket, that plummeted to 223 😱#WIvPAK #CWC19 https://t.co/RjjCbihtSR pic.twitter.com/7IWcRfXxNO
And then, Pakistan succumbed to a 105 in a 50 over game. Oshane Thomas, Andre Russell and Andre Russell were the destroyers-in-chief.
Vinod Kambli thought the Pakistani team was a little too novice to play against West Indies who qualified from the World Cup qualifiers. Hmmmmm.
Lack of @cricketworldcup experience hurt @TheRealPCB.
— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) May 31, 2019
Also felt @windiescricket fast bowlers bowled a very good line and length and didn't allow Pakistan to score.#PAKvWI #WIvPAK #CWC19
Every cloud has a silver lining. Every loss has something positive to look forward to. Even if that means you are experiencing one of your worst losing streaks in ODIs. So, in the 1992 World Cup winning campaign,
Anyone looking at this Pakistan display and discounting their chances should look at the '92 World Cup. In their match against WI they lost by 10 wickets & then were shot out for 74 by England before rain washed out play. And Pakistan won that tournament. Totally unpredictable!
— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) May 31, 2019
However, the best comment/review came from the Rawalpindi Express. And much like his bowling, it was unapologetic to say the least.
Let’s look at some stats here.
Pakistan's total of 105:
— Fox Sports Lab (@FoxSportsLab) May 31, 2019
- Pakistan's 2nd lowest total in a World Cup match (74 v ENG at Adelaide in 1992)
- 2nd fewest overs Pakistan has faced to be all out in an ODI (21.4)
- 2nd lowest total by any team in an ODI at Nottingham#CWC19 #WIvPAK #PAKvWI #WeHaveWeWill
Some more stats.
Guess we’re going nowhere with the stats now. Let’s look at the batting highlights of Pakistan. Oshane Thomas, Andre Russell and Jason Holder bowled short balls in tandem to rip apart their batting. Here are the highlights from Pakistan’s innings.
SUPER WICKETS ☝ victory for @windiescricket was built on a formidable pace bowling display with Oshane Thomas and @Jaseholder98 doing the bulk of the damage #MenInMaroon #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/ZOoHQinYgY
— ICC (@ICC) May 31, 2019
Wait, What? ICC scammed you into watching a video of their fall of wickets and you thought it was their batting highlights. Well played, ICC. Well played. Honestly, we wouldn’t be too surprised if the highlights video was a replica of this and they added a few short balls from 3 of Windies’ pacers. What succeeded the brief Pakistani innings was an even briefer innings from the Windies. With a perpetually sprained back, Gayle storm was out in full force.
Gayle Force 🔥🔥#WIvPAK @henrygayle pic.twitter.com/t5GDf9R5jc
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 31, 2019
If only a decimal of Gayle Force had rubbed on the men draped in red kits a couple of nights ago in Azerbaijan. What say, Piers Morgan?
Friday night or Monday night, the Windies have been partying from a long time.
#MaroonMoments When it's Friday and your boss says you can leave work early! 😆🏃🏽♂️💨🕺#CWC19 #MenInMaroon #ItsOurGame #tgif #WIWin pic.twitter.com/ehVtHPHzy2
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) May 31, 2019
With his innings today, Gayle also topped the most sixes hit in the world cup. #UniverseBoss for a reason.I guess we now the reason for his child-like excitement ahead of the World Cup.
Safe to say @henrygayle is excited for #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/zsvTy8IVui
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 26, 2019
Guess who wasn’t excited for the World Cup. We’re not telling you it is the man dressed in green jersey with a badge of Pakistan on the front and sitting on the couch. We’re asking you to take a wild guess.
The captains. 👊 pic.twitter.com/4G2rtlfuVD
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) May 23, 2019
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