Liebe, Lust und Leben » ic, it was Murray who was the more pro-active. He

Before they took the field, Pakistan had decided this would be their day of zen.The cricket world has sometimes thought of Pakistan as the team that either thrives or perishes in volatility; they are either inside the flaming helicopter spinning toward the ground, or the hero walking away from the explosion in slow motion. They are a Michael Bay movie or an old-school Rajnikanth flick, no depth, no nuance, no steady substance, just a series of electricifying sessions in succession; some glorious, the rest gory.Perhaps there has never really been this Pakistan, and at least in Tests, they certainly havent looked much like this Pakistan lately. Now they play under a captain who has, over time, moulded them in his own image. When Misbah-ul-Haq slams a 56-ball hundred or crashes spin over the infield perhaps there is a sense of the chaos that roils within him, but no one would say it is chaos that defines him; what defines him is zen.Misbah is the man who will bat ascetically for hours and hours, and charge his partners to do the same. He is the guy who will settle into a meditative pursuit of ones and twos, and when he hits out and breaks the spell, make boundaries feel ritualistic. In the UAE, or in Sri Lanka, where Pakistan have played most under him, Misbah will ask his quicks to bowl so dry that if two spells were rubbed together a roaring fire would start.On day three, against New Zealand, Pakistan played like the team that has been shaped by this man for six years. They played with gritted teeth, were sane, and diligent. It just so happened that on this occasion they failed to make it pay off.Rather than deliver gladiatorial spells or swinging super-deliveries in the morning the three quicks merely set out to stick collectively to a plan. They bowled slightly shorter than they had the previous day, and had batsmen playing at more balls. Sohail Khan beat Henry Nicholls inside edge to hit his front pad, and Jeet Raval, BJ Watling and Todd Astle were all out fending to slip.These are not the kinds of performances that bring to mind soaring Qawwali or a verse from the Rubaiyat, but they do feature heavily in Pakistans Test-match days - they are the grain in the bags of the caravan Misbah has led to no. 2.With the bat, Pakistan were unwaveringly diligent. They knew they had played too many drives the previous day, so sought to cut them out. They hoped to bring Yasir Shah - their most consistent match winner - into the fray, and so tried to push the game into the final day.Occasionally, their optimistic application calcified into inertia. Azhar Ali batted like he wanted to be the glue that held Pakistans innings together, but found he had stuck himself to a corner instead. It took him 45 dot balls to move beyond 19. A further 24 balls were spent on 31. Sami Aslam, Babar Azam and Misbah himself all spent considerable time at the crease, but no one mustered a strike rate close to 50. The bad balls they had hoped New Zealand would eventually deliver, never showed up.When we sat down and assessed our batting, we spoke about how we got out and we felt we were too loose yesterday, coach Mickey Arthur said after play. On a wicket like this you need to be hitting the ball straight and you need to make the bowlers come to you, and that opens up the leg side. Hats off to Azhar, he fought extremely hard - he just didnt get anything to score off. Credit goes to New Zealand because they bowled exceptionally well. The plan was to survive, survive, survive and pick up some balls to eventually score off, but New Zealand were relentless. We never ground them down.Ground down instead was Pakistans nerve. Misbah attempted to wrest momentum and was caught, hooking, at fine leg. Azhar lost his long concentration, and was bowled, off his inside edge. Two more batsmen followed soon after, and what could have been a day of steady gains became a sorry one.But even these kinds of days have not been atypical for Pakistan. Unlike some other teams in contention for the top ranking, they arent merely lions at home and losers outside their continent: they can be lions and losers in the same series - whipping Sri Lanka in a Galle Test one week then falling apart against a rookie spinner the next, dispatching West Indies in Abu Dhabi, before being dispatched in return, at Sharjah.This match has almost slipped, but perhaps Pakistan will hit back in Hamilton. Maybe the hunt for the top ranking is still on. What seems clear, though, is that there will be more days like this in their southern summer. There will be more days when the defy stereotype, when they work to plans, embrace caution, and the only inspired bursts have been in backroom meetings. There will be more days of Misbah zen. John Riggins Jersey . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. 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Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining.Andy Murray produced an extraordinary effort to see off long-time rival Novak Djokovic to win the ATP World Tour Finals and end the year as world No 1, felt Barry Cowan. Murray saved the best to last by outclassing Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-4 to claim his first ATP World Tour Finals title and secure the year-end top ranking on Sunday.Three-time Grand Slam champion Murray became the 17th man to hold the prestigious year-end No 1 berth since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973. He is the first player other than Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to earn the honour since Andy Roddick in 2003. Highlights of the final of the ATP World Tour Finals between Murray and Djokovic And ruining Djokovics bid to return to the top caps an incredible year for Murray, who has won Wimbledon for the second time, claimed a second Olympic gold medal and become a father for the first time.Well, it was an extraordinary effort, to do that in the manner that he was able to do it in and given everything thats happened not just this week, but everything thats happened since the Davis Cup, said Sky Sports Tennis analyst Cowan. Murray wins World Tour Finals Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic to win the ATP World Tour Finals for the first time Whats surprised me more than anything was that he won the physical battle. He was stronger physically than Novak which meant he was mentally stronger than Novak. I guess Andy was on a winning streak but I certainly thought that Novak would continue the sort of tennis he played last night.Andy was clinical, gutsy, it was an astonishing effort what hes achieved in 2016 and I thought we all felt coming into it, given his year, given what hes had to endure and whats hes contributed over the decade, I think its only right that in at least one year, he would end the year as number one which hes done in such an amazing manner. Andy Murray spoke to Marcus Buckland, Annabel Croft and Greg Rusedski after winning the ATP World Tour Finals Peter Fleming said the Scot made a mockery of what he went through this week with epic matches against Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori four days earlier.Three hours and 38 minutes on Saturday, and three hours and 20 minutes against Nishikori on Wednesday. He was brilliant, admitted Fleming. Murray: I still need to improve Andy Murray needs to improve to fend off Novak Djokovic in 2017 I think a lot of us thought it would be a real physical struggle for him, yet he came out and almost put it out of his mind.dddddddddddd He elevated his consciousness if you will and just said I have reserves, Im going to tap into them and thats whats exactly what he did - he was terrific.I think it then was telling on Djokovic because he might have thought he would win the physical battle but suddenly appeared as though it was still going to be a fight. The pressure affected him and in the end, it was a battle of two equals and Murray showed that much more resolve. Heres the moment Murray sealed victory on his third Championship point Commentator Barry Millns described Murrays victory as an awesome, awesome performance.Over this whole year, its an incredible conclusion. But hes got such steel in him and sometimes you have to go through that furnace, said the voice of Sky Sports Tennis. Murray milestones Andy Murrays greatest moments revisited after winning ATP World Tour Finals He was the stronger out there. It was an incredible display of mental fortitude through this week, but to bring it to bear against Djokovic, it was Murray who was the more pro-active. He was the one who was hurting Djokovic.All those Championship points reminded me of the Wimbledon final in 2013. The final game of this match was reminiscent of the final game there. The chances that came and went, we all thought is it going to happen again?But hes not a bottler. Hes a brilliant, brilliant tennis player. Hes the new world champion and quite rightly the year-end number one. Reaction from Murray and Djokovic after a dramatic conclusion to the ATP World Tour Finals Well be back in 2017, but in the meantime you can follow us at skysports.com/tennis, or our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just ￡6.99. No contract. By purchasing a Sky Sports Day Pass for £6.99 or Sky Sports Week Pass for £10.99, you can enjoy access to all seven Sky Sports channels and watch on a TV with a NOW TV Box or on a range of devices. Also See: Murray wins World Tour Finals Murray: I still need to improve Murrays climb to greatness Murray milestones ' ' '