The turning point of the match came when Pakistan skipper Younis Khan dropped a straight-forward catch off Eliott when 64 were still needed for the Kiwis to clinch victory. The bowler Mohammad Aamer and that changed the course of the game altogether. Vettori kept his cool even when the runs were hard to come by and the runrate had shot up past the seven-run-an-over mark. The Kiwi captain took the batting powerplay and immediately the match changed its direction. Runs came in a hurry and the match turned when Eliott smashed Umar Gul to all parts of the ground in the 45th over with two fours and a towering six.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan innings surprisingly had to depend on tailenders Muhammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal to score those crucial 35 runs towards the fag end as Pakistan stuttered against New Zealand.

As many as four of his top batsmen made starts, but failed to kick on thereafter as the innings never really picked up momentum. The New Zealand fast bowlers clearly were successful in extracting bounce in the pitch to good effect, and only an 80-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Mohammad Yousuf and Umar Akmal kept Pakistan ticking in the middle overs.

Sharp bowling from new-ball operators Kyle Mills and Shane Bond in particular pinned the batsmen back. Bond’s first spell of six overs in which he gave away just 17 runs and removed Imran Nazir, pushed the scoring rate right down. Given the bounce, the batsmen had to be wary and were never allowed to settle down. Bond made the initial breakthrough in the 10th over when Nazir was forced to fend off a snorter that reared right at his face and Ross Taylor cleaned up the lobbed chance.

Shoaib Malik was the next to go, snapped up sharply in slips by Taylor off Ian Butler. Kamran Akmal will probably never forget the abysmal scoop he attempted against Butler that looped towards Ian Redmond in the covers. Khan followed when his counterpart Daniel Vettori induced a leading edge on an attempted steer. At 86/4, Pakistan were in serious danger of embarrassing themselves but for the 80 runs Yousuf and Akmal junior posted. In the end it was not a score that the Pakistanis could defend.

Earlier, Tim Bresnan muscled his way to a career-best 80 as England recovered from a utterly dismal 101/6 in the 22nd over to post a reasonable 256 after opting to bat first. Bresnan and Luke Wright posted 107 for the seventh wicket to revive England who had lost their top order to some unthinking bowing. The fact that Andrew Strauss’ side were allowed claw their way back into the game also underlined the indifferent quality of the Australian bowling.
 The Aussies were guilty of bowling short, over-pitched after the top order had virtually gifted their wickets away. The fielding too was uncharacteristically sloppy, a black spot in the Australia’s otherwise solid victory.  
The end came swiftly. Going with established “wisdom” Strauss implemented the batting powerplay from the 46th over – and 16 balls later, it was all over. Shane Watson’s first and third overs produced a wicket and a runout, and in between Brett Lee took top-scorer Bresnan (80, 76b, 11×4, 1×6) out middle-stump.
 
England opened in terrible fashion. Strauss and Owais Shah were gone in the first three overs of the innings. The captain looked in aggressive mode, hooking a six off Siddle but tried it again in the same over to top edge a lob. Shah feathered the second ball he faced from Lee into wicketkeeper Tim Paine’s gloves. A mini-recovery between Joe Denley and Paul Collingwood followed with the latter blazing his way to 34 from 30 balls (5×4, 1×6) before he edged the wayward Johnson to Paine.
 
Denley, Steve Davies and Eoin Morgan followed soon after, setting the stage for Bresnan and Wright (80, 68b, 2×4, 2×6) to launch their recovery act with the former brutalising the ball around the Wright keeping his end going with smart running and punctuated by two massive sixes off Nathan Hauritz’s off-spin.

But the loss will not hurt England as much as their 1-6 drubbing at the hands of the Aussies in the recently concluded ODI series in England. Well done Aussies!

Take Australia, India, Sri Lanka, West Indies (not the current side but the earlier ones!) for example, they have all won the World Cup and there has to be a clause wherein weightage is given to performances in BIG tournaments. The chokers tag hang on the South Africans head before every big tournament and it only gets reiterated when the Proteas lose tourney after tourney.
However, having said it must be understood that the answer to this problem is more mental than their attitude on the field.
Not long ago, Indians were guilty of losing in the finals and they have tried to rework their way out to remove this glitch.

Whenever great teams such as the West Indian side of the 70s or the Australian side of 90s are spoken about, they have capitalised on the talent they had to win the big tournaments and not surprisingly, Aussies have won the World Cup four times and the next comes the West Indies side that has won it twice.
But the South Africans have none to their credit much like England. Agreed that South Africa have won the Champions Trophy but a World Cup in any format has its own charm, unlike the mini- micro formats of the same.
Also, an important point to be noted is that the best teams elevate their performances and win crunch games and teams such as Australia and now India have consistently augmented their field performances to help them surge ahead in the rankings.

With minnows such as England, New Zealand, forever an unpredictable side Pakistan and Australia walking into the semis stage, the Champions Trophy 2009 has shown once again that ODI cricket is here to stay — no matter the amount of permutations and combinations that pundits keep putting forth.
The event has also shown that teams who have the ability to hold their nerves ultimately emerge the winner in this format of the game.

The Men in Blue will be disappointed after a wonderful series win against Sri Lanka just a couple of weeks back. They still depend on their batting to fire in order to compensate for the other ‘mishaps’ committed on the field.
Dhoni’s men will be disappointed that one bad performance literally evicted them from the tournament.

Earlier, Overcast conditions greeted the two teams and with weather hovering around the 20 degree mark, it was a chilly day at the office for England and New Zealand.  The Kiwis won the toss and chose to field. This was the same pitch where England reduced Sri Lanka to 17 for 4 in their first match. For the Poms, Sidebottom came in for Graham Onions while Kiwis brought in Ian Butler and Hopkins in for Tuffey and Jesse Ryder.

The Kiwis struck early removing skipper Strauss in the very first over when Kylie Mills got him caught by McCullum for a duck.

Owais Shah walked in next. In company of Joe Denly, the duo began the repair work at the earnest. Joe Denly got a beauty to see his stumps rattled when Shane Bond got one that nipped back and was back to pavilion at 10 for 2 in 3.5 overs. Denly out for 5 from 10 balls. Shah was the next to go at 13 for 3 when he was caught by keeper McCullum off Bond for 3 off 10. Collingwood and Eoin Morgan began the repair work and the duo put together a stand of 37 runs and by the 19th over Morgan was back at the hut, caught by Ross Taylor off Ian Butler. England 50 for 4.

Ravi Bopara walked in next. 50 for 4 became 90 for 6 as England which had surprised themselves with their superlative performances in their first two games were losing their way. Stuart Broad was the seventh wicket to fall, caught and bowled by Graham Elliott for 1 with England 95 for 7 in the 28th over.

Bopara on the other end continued to wage a lone battle as Graeme Swann walked in next. With the pitch dual paced, batting wasnt all that easy. Swann swung some shots in an agricultural fashion, but did get some much-needed fours to augment the English total. Swann left with England on 110 in the 32nd over for 11, caught McCullum off Elliott. Sidebottom sauntered into the middle. It soon became 117 for 9 with Bopara departing to a ball that kept extremely low off Bond and umpire Daryl Harper took time to lift the dreaded finger.

Sidebottom played some crucial shots to soar the England past the 140-run mark. The tall left-hander grew in confidence with every four he hit and the English dressing room cheered every shot played. On a day when every English batsman failed miserably, Sidebottom played some shots that bordered on agriculturism and aggressiveness.

England finished at 146 with Sidebottom scoring a valuable 20. Elliott for the Kiwis took 4 wickets for 31 while took three for 21. Mills and Butler took a wicket each.

Strangely enough, Strauss made a tactical blunder by giving the SL side a breather with the induction of Stuart Broad. Broad — who later redeemed himself somewhat — was unable to find the lines to test the rest of the batting lineup and Sri Lanka were more than happy to make the most of England’s largesse, eventually totalling 212 in 47.3 overs. Anderson and Onions had early figures of 2/11 in seven overs and 2/25 from four respectively.

After Tillekaratne Dilshan (2), Sanath Jayasuriya (0), Kumar Sangakkara (1) and Mahela Jayawardena (9) had all gone by the sixth over, the two Thilans, Samaraweera and Kandamby, fought back with a 64-run association for the fifth wicket. Building on that was an 82-run stand between Kandamby (53, 82b, 5×4) and Angelo Mathews that was broken by an awful mixup.

With a modest 213 to chase, the Englishmen began cautiously but lost Denly early when the team score was just 9, trapped by Nuwan Kulasekara. At 2 for 19, Lankans lions were beginning to roar but Paul Collingwood in the company of Owais Shah steadied the ship to take the total to 82 before Colly wa dismissed by Lasith Malinga for a valiant 46. 

Eoin Morgan and Shah then added 74 for the fifth wicket before Shah departed for a well-made 44. With keeper Matt Prior for company, Morgan marched on to his second fifty for England in ODIs.

The heartening aspect of this win was the way England tamed Ajantha Mendis, repeatedly using the attacking mode to get desired results.

“I have no problems opening the innings. I have done it  before. But I don’t want to be tried in this position for just two or three matches. I want to be given a proper chance for 10 to 12 matches,” Malik said.
The Pakistani selectors have picked just one specialist opener, Imran Nazir, in their squad for the Champions Trophy and are preparing to try out wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and Malik in the makeshift role.
Malik insisted that opening the innings was a specialist’s job and anyone doing it should have a peace of mind that he would be given a proper run to prove himself.

“If I get to open in 10 to 12 matches then I can prove myself. I will feel comfortable in the role and I can carry on opening the innings in the future also,” the experienced campaigner said.

Malik said people doubting his place in the team were mistaken as he was very much in form and would also prove himself as an opener if given the challenge. “I struggled a bit in Sri Lanka but I am not out of form and I am confident of doing well in the Champions Trophy. I am well accustomed to the conditions in South Africa,” he said.
Malik who was replaced as captain by Younis Khan earlier this year after a one-day home series loss to Sri Lanka said Pakistan’s batting has to click if they are to win the title.
“I know pace bowlers will have an important role to play in the tournament because of the conditions. But I know from experience that the batting is the most important thing while playing in South Africa. If our batting clicks we can win the competition,” he said. Malik said consistent batting would be the key to success in the eight-nation tournament starting from September 22.
“The team whose batsmen adjust well to the conditions in  South Africa will fare well. I don’t think they are any starting favorites in the tournament which is wide open as all teams are equally balanced,” he said.
Malik who led Pakistan to the Twenty20 World Cup final in  South Africa in 2007 said once the tournament got underway  favourites would emerge. He also disagreed that Pakistan’s lack of international exposure compared to other teams before the tournament would affect its performance.
“I don’t think so because we are professionals and we have been training hard. The Sri Lanka tour was a long and hard one and we are prepared for the Champions Trophy challenge,” he added.

However, his teammate Misbah-ul-haq has maintained that conditions in South Africa will be suiting Pakistan.

“I believe the conditions in South Africa will favor us  and I believe we have the combination to win the tournament,”  Misbah said on the backdrop of their practice session on Wednesday.

“Because the conditions in South Africa are good for us  we are confident of doing well in the tournament this time.  The fact that we have never won the Champions Trophy is also  at the back of the minds of the players who want to do well  and win the competition this time,” Misbah said.

“At this level you can only remain in the team if you  perform. They are no favors given or asked for. Whether you  are a senior player or junior player there is always pressure  on you to perform,” Misbah added.

Misbah also praised the contribution of former captain  and batting consultant Javed Miandad.  ”Miandad is a very experienced and sharp cricketer and  his tips have been very helpful to us in the camp. He has  given us tips on how to come out of a pressure situation and  how to handle pressure which is very important for any  batsman,” he stated.

One can only say that when Pakistan plays to its potential, the best in the business lose. Will they play to their potential? We will have to wait and watch.

The famous ‘Aussie grit’ will be on view again when they begin the defence of their title even without some of their key players who figured prominently in their the Champions Trophy win in 2006. Aussies will be without  Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds, but skipper Ricky Ponting appears quite confident. ”We’ve got great depth in Australian cricket and I think this is one of the things that has held us ahead of the game for the last seven or eight years,” Ponting told reporters before the start of the fifth ODI against England on Tuesday.

“We expect the young guys who come into the side to make an impact as well as those who have been in the side for some time,” he said. Australia are in Group A with unpredictable Pakistan, in-form India and the depleted West Indies. Easy matches are not expected in Group B, with South Africa, Sri Lanka, England and New Zealand all capable of raising their game.

The top two sides from each group advance to the semi-finals, with the final on October 5. Home team South Africa will look to break the jinx of not winning a major title at home. Australia are expected to cruise past the West Indies, who are without their first-choice team following a bitter contract row and the 2004 champions are not expected to perform that well in this edition. But then cricket has always been a funny game.

Defending champions Australia need to beat either India or Pakistan to make their chances of reaching the last four stage. A mouth-watering contest will await the cricket fans when India and Pakistan clash for the first time in more than a year. “No rivalry can match the India-Pakistan rivalry and I think the September 26 match will be something billions of people all over the world will be waiting for,” said Pakistani paceman Umar Gul to a news agency.

India are on a roll with five successive bilateral series wins under captain MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten boosted further by Monday’s success over Sri Lanka.

England’s ODI performance left a lot to be desired and have been brought back to ground realities in the ongoing ODI series by the Australians. 

New Zealand can never be underestimated as they have match-winners in skipper Daniel Vettori, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder. The return of paceman Shane Bond has also strengthened their attack.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara leads an exciting band of cricketers - Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene - but expects his team to be more consistent.