MELBOURNE: England's Alet Su-warl (R) walks out for seven runs, as Aaquib Javed reacts while teammates

congratulate him during the final of the World Cup in Melbourne.Reuter wirephoto

MELBOURNE: Pakistan's captain Imran Khan raises his arms in jubilation while team-mate Mushtaq Ahmad (1) kisses the ground after Pakistan beat England in the final of World Cup in Melbourne. Richard Illingworth of England (r) walks from the pitch. England beat Pakistan by 22 runs. Reuter wirephoto

MELBOURNE: A the limited overs game was vintriumph for Imran and his dicated. Pakistan team. As Imran This is based upon clinging on to wicket no matter how slow the raised the trophy into the your run rate. In Melbourne at one stage night sky of Melbourne he Javed and Imran were restricted to could in his mind's eye see just four runs from 60 balls yet still the walls of his cancer hospi- the Pakistan batsmen were able to tal rising from the ground. amass a formidable score of 249 For this reason alone no one with a superb late onslaught. can begrudge Pakistan their His other crucial strategy was to encourage his key bowlers to victory.
However as Graham Gooch readily admitted afterwards, Pakistan thoroughly deserved to win the mach. Timing their run like a thoroughbred steaming up on the rails, Pakistan saved their best cricket for the last two weeks of the tournament and Imran's philosophy of
attack rather than seek mere containment. Wasim Akram ignored the problem < trolling the white ball and suugnt to bowl with pace to devastating effect. Mushtaq Ahmed confused those English batsmen unacquainted with wrist spin, fooling Graeme Hick with a beautifully disguised googly and Aaqib Javed controlled his away swingers with a maturity

A triumph for Imran Khan and his team

From Special Representative VIC MARKS
beyond his years. England were unable to combat three quality bowlers operating somewhere near their peak so that the final lacked the nailbiting climax of the semifinals. Indeed the games in Auckland and Sydney lurched from the sublime to the ridiculous. In Auckland, New Zealand clashed with Pakistan with a classic one day encounter fluctuating throughout and decorated by batting of the highest calibre. For Martin Crowe it was a devastating experience. He had been planning New Zealand's world cup campaign for 18 months yet he was left in helpless isolation as the limitations of his powder puff attack were brilliantly exposed by Inzamam. Throughout the day Crowe had endured enough highs and lows to last him a decade. In the morning he was presented with a sleek sportscar his reward for being the player of the tournament and when New Zealand batted he confirmed the wisdom of the choice. He overcame the wiles of Mushtaq with an authority that none of his colleagues could match. Yet the coveted century was stolen from his grasp when he tore a hamstring; soon after he suffered the additional agony of watching himself being run out after a mix up between Ian Smith and Crowe's runner, Mark Greatbatch. Crowe led a brilliant world cup campaign scoring 456 runs as well as disguising the frailties of New Zealand's team by his innovative captaincy. After the defeat he hobbled around Eden Park with his squad, many of whom were close to tears, to thank the fans for their support. For a fairytale month his New Zealand side had captured the hearts of the entire nation. Different emotions were evident after the second semifinal in Sydney. There were hoots of derision signifying disbelief and outrage that another enthralling game of cricket had been sabotaged by the idiocy of the rulemakers. South Africa's target of 22 from 30 balls was transformed to a preposterous 21 from one ball after a 10 minute downpour. The South Africans accepted this injustice with remarkably good grace while the Englishmen though victorious left the field grim faced. After this debacle Imran described this world cup as the most shambolic of the five he had experienced and it was impossible to disagree with him. How the world cup committee and the Australian cricket board had failed to realise the disastrous implications of the rules regarding rain-affected matches is beyond me. Maybe they have been too preoccupied ensuring that the books balance and that the televi-

sion moguls are satisfied with their product. Imran suggested that new rules be formulated before the final but his pleas fell on deaf ears. However by Wednesday night those ridiculous regulations were far from his thoughts. This he said was the most fulfilling experience of his long career. He admitted that this would be the ideal time to retire but the trustees of his hospital would not entertain such thoughts. In England we will now await the arrival of Imran and his team in May with increased anticipation.