Plays of the day from the Group B match between Ireland and Pakistan in Adelaide
George Dobell and Daniel Brettig in Adelaide15-Mar-2015The milestoneWilliam Porterfield came within an inch of being the latest batsman to fall agonisingly short of a century. Porterfield, the Ireland captain and opening batsman, was the only man in his team to reach 30, but enjoyed a moment of fortune just short of his seventh ODI century. On 99, he drove uppishly at a delivery from Rahat Ali which went straight back at the bowler at relatively comfortable catching height and pace. But Rahat, in his follow through, misjudged the opportunity and, after the ball brushed past his fingers, Porterfield was able to run two and celebrate his fine century.The orchestrationWhen Sarfraz Ahmed passed 50, Pakistan still needed another 127 runs to beat Ireland. But as he pushed closer to his hundred, the available tally of runs from which to compile it began to shrink. This was partly due to a few clean blows struck by Misbah-ul-Haq, but also a noticeable tightening by Sarfraz as he neared a first ODI century. Pakistan’s win had long become a formality when Sarfraz began refusing singles and farming the strike in an attempt to ensure he did not miss out on his century, eliciting a few boos from an Adelaide Oval crowd not used to such excesses of individual pursuit. In the end the gulf between the teams allowed Sarfraz his moment, a boundary bringing up his century and tying the scores. In that moment the earlier boos faded from memory.The throat ballJohn Mooney has recently started wearing a specially adapted helmet with a view to preventing the same sort of injury suffered by Philip Hughes to the back or side of the head or neck. But it was his throat that needed protecting as his attempted ramp stroke went wrong. Attempting to use the pace of Sohail Khan to ramp the ball over the keeper – an ambitious shot for a lower-order batsman – Moody instead ramped the ball straight into his throat. While he brushed away the immediate offers of help, Mooney was clearly in some discomfort and, perhaps unsettled, fell two deliveries later to a smart catch by Umar Akmal at short midwicket.The chanceIf Ireland were to have any chance of defending their modest total, they needed to take every chance Pakistan offered. But Gary Wilson, standing up to the stumps, was unable to cling on to a chance offered by Sarfraz, attempting to run the ball down to third man, when the batsman had 37 and the Pakistan score was 90 without loss. No chance standing so close is simple, but Wilson seemed to have the ball in his gloves for a moment and looked bitterly disappointed when he was unable to hold on.The wasted reviewHad Pakistan not squandered their review on an appeal for a caught behind against Ed Joyce – Rahat was convinced he had Joyce caught behind, but replays were inconclusive and the review was lost – they would surely have seen the not-out decision against Mooney for lbw on 6 overturned. The Sohail yorker struck Mooney on the back foot and seemed destined to hit the bottom of middle stump but umpire Marais Erasmus thought there was some bat on the ball and Mooney was credited with a run.The colourSouth Australia has been dry of late – pretty much forever – but while the Adelaide hills may be parched and brown, the inside of the the Oval looked verdant on the pitch and in the stands. With the supporters of both sides wearing green replica kits or waving green flags, it looked from a distance as if the entire crowd was supporting one side. But with a decent contingent of Ireland supporters among the Pakistan-dominated crowd, there was a fine atmosphere despite the relatively one-sided match.The errorErasmus didn’t enjoy the best of days. He also saw his decision to adjudge Wilson leg-before off the bowling of Sohail overturned. The inswinging yorker was a fine delivery, but Wilson reviewed immediately when Erasmus raised his finger with replays showing the thickest of edges on the ball. It made little difference – Wilson was out later in the same over without adding to his score – but at least there was no doubt about his dismissal to a catch at third man.
