Pakistan vs West Indies

The first quarter-final clash of the 2011 World Cup has Pakistan with a strangely un-Pakistan feel and West Indies who are not the world-beating champs of yesteryears but not the dust-biting team of the recent past either.

With both sides capable of hitting superb highs as well as less-spectacular lows, the venue is strangely fitting for the teams involved: it has seen the high of a Virender Sehwag 175 in the first match of the World Cup and the low of a 58-all out by the Bangladesh team and the stone pelting incident.

Pakistan: Pakistan are supposed to play mercurial cricket - genius one minute, maddening the next. It is therefore of some surprise that they have put up some very consistent performances so far in the tournament. Their only glitch was against New Zealand with Kamran Akmal and Ross Taylor combining for a freakish final few overs that swung the match. Since then Kamran has improved his performance behind the stumps, although 'caught Kamran Akmal' still remains the unluckiest mode of dismissal for a batsman (in fact, some might say it ranks second after 'adjudged out by Asoka de Silva').

Aside from Kamran's fumblings though, Pakistan have looked a very dangerous and cohesive side. They had been rocked by the spot-fixing scandal, losing key players, and losing their status as host nations, but the controversies seem to have acted for the better for the current set of players, helping them bond and play together as a team. Their strength is their bowling with Umar Gul in particular being superb along with Shahid Afridi. To put Pakistan's bowling strength in perspective, imagine a bowling attack reading the following names: Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Saeed Ajmal. By any yardstick, it would be world class. And yet the first two are serving time, while the latter two have warmed the benches for Pakistan. Akhtar and Ajmal might yet make an appearance in this game - Akthar could replace Wahab Riaz, who is steadier but lacks Akthar's X-factor, while Ajmal could come in for the efficient Abdur Rehman. England and India both used off-spinners successfully against the West Indies, which makes Ajmal's inclusion more likely.

West Indies: They had a rather strange league phase, steam-rolling the minnow opposition but coming up short against the stronger teams. They squandered a good start against South Africa to lose by an eventually comfortable margin, and repeated the act against India. Against England, they looked likely winners just 20 minutes before the game ended. And yet, they have lost all three matches. Their inability to put in a 100 overs of good cricket has hurt them against the teams that have the resources to come back into a match, and Pakistan have those in plenty.

The good news for the West Indies is that Chris Gayle and Kemar Roach are fit again and will thus make the final eleven. That will pose an interesting problem for the selectors however, in deciding which pacer to leave out for Roach. The one to get the axe could well be Ravi Rampaul, who took 5/51 against India in their last match. However, Andre Russel's 4/49 and 49 off 46 balls against England will probably tilt the scales in his favour ahead of Rampaul. West Indies only hope to win the match and make their first semi-final since 1996 is to grab the advantage at the start of the innings with both bat and ball. With the bat, Chris Gayle has to set the tone and not allow Umar Gul to settle, while with the ball Kemar Roach and co will have to get into the Pakistan middle order quickly before a platform is set for them.

Trivia:

The last time the World Cup was held in the subcontinent was also the last time the Quarter-finals were played in the tournament. Then as now, West Indies finished fourth in their group and took on the well-oiled South African team who had topped the other group. Brian Lara then decided to unleash one of his masterpieces to knock South Africa out and West Indies went to the semi-finals to meet pre-tournament favourites Australia.

The situation is eerily similar now, with India replacing Australia as the pre-tournament favourites and Pakistan replacing South Africa as the top side from the other group.

The Gayle factor:

Given that Kieron Pollard has often been found wanting against high quality pace (exactly of the sort Pakistan have), Chris Gayle is by far the West Indies most important batsman. His ODI stats of an average of more than 39 and a strike rate of almost 84 look reassuring - since with that kind of average a player has to succeed more often than fail. However, his average against Pakistan is only 32.00 and his average against the top seven nations (Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka) is 34. Those averages fall in the realm of the 'inconsistent but devastating on his day' sort of players. West Indies will desperately need Gayle to have his day in the quarter-finals.