SA Surrenders..Pak in Finals…[icc wt20,1st semi final]

You lose one game and you are out… This had happened to many teams in the past.But when it comes to big tournaments…big day…and big match…in a must win situation…one team had all the bad luck in the world…always…that is South Africa.This time it was no exemption.After doing all the hard work and being in the semis with a track record of not losing any match till then,South Africans were expected to cruise through to the finals against all odds and against any team on a given day.But destiny had written a different story for them…So near yet so far.. Another major championship went begging for the perfect team.South Africa lost to Pakistan in a match which they shouldnt have…the semis…and decieved themselves from the possibility of being the world champions.Pakistan in general and Afridi in particular came better holding their nerves to pull a win to enter the finals on thursday.

Nottingham…18th june 2009.Pakistan won the toss and had no hesitation in taking to bat.Things didnt start well as their opener Shahzaib departed for naught in the second over when the score was 8.But at the other end Akmal was playing fearless and fired all cylinders with a 12 ball 23 including 4 fours and a six.Steyn sent him back when he looked dangerous.Akmal fell in the 3rd over when the score was 28.Later Afridi and Malik put on 77 for the 3rd wicket in quick time aswell.Afridi made a 34 ball 51 with 8 hits to the boundary.He hammered 4 consecutive fours in the 11th over bowled by Botha.His heroics came to an end when he landed one into the hands of DeVilliers off Duminy in the 13th over when the score was 95.Later things slowed on for the Pakistanis.Malik departed in the 16th over after struggling to make 34 in 39 deliveries.Younis and Razzak tried to press the accelerator but the speed didnt pick up much for the desire of Pakistan.Pakistan could only make 149 at the end inspite of having 6 wickets in hand.This looked to be an easy piece of cake for the inform Proteas.But the threat was always there…the one of the chasing pressure and the other fact that the ball was not coming to the ball that easy which was indicated by the struggle of the Pakistani batsmen.In this context much planned and desired chase was desired from the South African batsmen.

South Africa chasing 150 to win had a decent start from their openers.They put on 40 for the 1st wicket.Smith struggled to connect the ball whereas his partner in form Kallis was batting with grit and pace at the other end.Smith made 10 in 14 balls and departed in the 6th over with the score reading 40.Then came the dangerous Afridi into the attack.After the bat show in the first session it was not over for him in the 2nd session as well.He struck twice in the 7th and 9th overs to dismiss Gibbs and DeVilliers cheaply.South Africa were left struggling at 50 for 3 in the midway of the 9th over.The required runrate was creeping,balls not coming to the bat and Proteas never recovered from this Afridi assault.On the other end much for the hope of the Africans Mr.Reliable…Kallis was carrying on with discipline as if he was all alone interested in seeing his team win…and with him at the crease anything can happen and the hope was always on for the Africans.Pakistan too knew that Kallis was a thorn in their fish.He is a match winner and they cant breath easy until he is holding crease at the other end.In the 18th over the pressure got better of Kallis.When Ajmal had him caught by Malik..he had made 64 in 53 deliveries including 7 fours and a six.Pakistan sighed relief as they felt they had got rid of more than half the team as Kallis meant that.With 39 required from 17 deliveries it almost looked an uphill task for the Proteas to accomplish.They needed a supermans innings from somebody.Duminy was giving a fight at the other end.The African bench looked desperate as the loss and quit was clearly visible in their eyes.He made 44 in 41 balls but couldnt take his team to victory.South Africa could only manage only 142 losing 5 wickets in the proceedings.South Africa lost the match by just 7 runs.Bad luck continued its alliance with this superb team.But the credit should not be taken from the gritty Pakistanis.They played superb aggressive cricket and more over as a unit.Afridi was adjudged the Man of the match for his masering efforts with the bat and the ball and for taking his team into the dream finals.It was the end of the road for the South Africans and they have to wait and see if their turn to win a great event comes atleast after 2 years in the 3rd version of the wt20 format.Good Bye and good luck Africans…You people have played a wonderful game of cricket…professionally.But Pakistan on the other hand entered the Finals of the t20 world cup for the 2nd consecutive time.It looked that they are determined not to repeat their mistakes what they had done in their lost finals against India two years ago.They were looking hungry to win the world cup.Can they establish history by writing their name on the world cup or whether the history is going to repeat against Pakistan again….We will watch and see.But for now ….Good Luck Pakistan…..Keep Going…..

Pak beat Ireland,Enter Semis…[icc wt20,Sup8,match9]

Day 11 of the t20 world cup.The championship was reaching a point of finish.The final 4 top teams making it to the semis had to be decided.In group F,Sri Lanka were through to the semis and Pakistan too had almost made it.But they had to beat Ireland for an official entry and they accomplished it in style on monday.Ireland was always a easy piece of bread for them if there were no untoward surprises.Batting first Pakistan had a good start provided by their prolific scoring openers Akmal and Shahzaib.Shahzaib made the bulk of the scoring in the partnership and scored a 19 ball 23 before he departed with the score board reading 38.Afridi continued the momentum and made a quickfire 24 in 13 balls with 3 boundaries.Pakistan were cruising along at one stage when Ireland put brakes on the run machine.Younis,Misbah and Razzaq made useful but minor contributions.But the bulk of the scoring for Pakistan was done by a brilliant knock of 57 runs made in 51 deliveries by Kamran Akmal,who was a part of many tiny partnerships.He set the platform for the Pakistanis holding the ground at the other end and playing sensibly to build up a total.His efforts saw Pakistan ending up at 159 runs in their 20 overs losing 5 wickets in the proceedings.He hit 5 fours and a six in his well drafted innings.For Ireland,McCallan picked up two wickets giving away 26 runs and in the context was their successful bowler.Rankin bowled tight and gave away only 11 runs in his 4 overs,not to speak about the other bowlers,who were punished by the Pakistanis batsmen.

For Ireland,Porterfield top scored with a 36 ball 40 including 2 hits to the fence.But that really didnt solve the purpose for the Irish team.While Porterfield showed charecter,the others didnt.It was a parade thereafter wherein the batsmen kept coming and going untill nobody were left to do anything.Stirling and K.O’Brien tried to keep things going and showed some resistence.But it was never enough.None of the Irish batsmen tried to hang in and put on a decent partnership which could take them somewhere near the desired target.They played kids cricket.Their inexperience never got the better of the Pakistani skills.The Pak bowlers never allowed the pressure on the Irelanders to ease out and constantly kept attacking at them,picking the wickets in the proceedings at will.Ireland was shattered out for 120 runs in their 20 overs,losing 9 wickets.All the Pakistani bowlers delivered goods and bowled a tidy line and length,testing the nerves of the Irish batsmen.Ajmal picked 4 wickets giving away only 19 runs.Gul chipped in with an impressive 2 for 19.Aamer,Afridi and Razzaq bowled tightly at the other end and chocked the batsmen.The Akmal-Ajmal show made sure that the Pakistani team entered the semi finals ending the world cup campaign of the Ireland team.

Lankans deny win to Pak… [icc wt20,Sup8,match-3]

Sri Lankans continuing their winning streak went on to beat the Pakistani team by 19 runs in a tight tug on friday in the 3rd match of the super8 stage at London.Infact it could be said that the Pakistanis threw away the match when things were going their way.It was a dismal performance by them after their disciplined restricting act that they did in the first session of the game when Lankans had a flier of a start.Lack of winning strategy and unnecessary heroics made Pakistan to bite the dust.Earlier Sri Lanka batting first fired great guns right from the word go. Openers Jayasurya and Dilshan accumulated 18 runs in the 1st over itself,courtesy Sohail Tanvir who bowled a 11 ball over which looked never ending.After 6 overs Lankans were cruising along at 10 runs per over and yet to lose a wicket.They looked like putting a mammoth total.Jayasurya made a 24 ball 26 with 2 fours and a six and fellow opener,the man in form-Dilshan made a 39 ball 46 which was the highest individual score for the Lankans.They put on 81 runs for the 1st wicket.Introduction of Afridi into attack came in handy for the Pakistanis when he claimed the wickets of both the openers who were living dangerously.This put a platform for easy operation for the bowlers to come and tighten the things up,especially for Ajmal and  Malik.After this flier the Lankan kite started moving in undesired directions following the Pak wind.Sangakkara and Jayawardane chipped in with few runs,but none of the other batsmen could contribute much to the ailing innings.Pakistan was right on the top and put brakes on the run machine.The run rate detoriarated and wickets started falling at regular intervals.Sri Lanka could somehow manage 150 losing 7 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.For Pakistan,Gul,Ajmal and Afridi picked 2 wickets each.The runs never seemed to be enough in the 20-20 format until Lankans proved it false.

In reply Pakistan had the worst possible start when Mathews bowled Butt for naught in the 3rd ball of the proceedings.Akmal was run out for 5 and Malik who was looking in good knick with a 20 ball 28 was sent back by Malinga.The board read 35 for 3 which was not a good news for the Pak camp.Enter mission recovery.Misbah joined captain Younis and both put on an important partnership of 66 runs which could have been a match winning effort…had the things gone in favour of Pakistanis.But that was not to be.Murali produced the vital breakthrough as he usually does when things were going in favour of Pak.He had Misbah caught by Silva for 21.In the very next ball Afridi tried unwanted heroics and skied one to Dilshan off Murali.Pakistan was now put on the back foot when conditions suddenly changed from 101 for 3 to 101 for 5 in the 16th over.To make things worse Malinga dismissed the only hope for the Pakistanis, captain Younis who was playing well with a 37 ball 50,when the total was 108.The tail really didnt wag long after this and Pakistan was bundled out for 131 losing 9 wickets aiding a 19 run win for the Lankans.For Lankans Malinga came up with the best figures of 3 for17 in 4 overs.Mathews and Kulashekara chipped in with a wicket each,but the wily veteran Murali picked up tso important wickets which turned the fate of the match in favour of his team.Not to forget the wonderful display of professional cricket by the Lankans withlots of guts character and nerves to upset their Asian counterparts.The story ahead looks to be easy for the Lankans as they have to play only one tough opponent i.e New Zealand.They would probably take the other match on Ireland for granted.Their way to the Semis seem to be almost clear unless something untoward takes place.Pakistan have to come up with all their best weapons,as they have to win both their next matches to stay in contention for the semis….

Pak enter SUPER 8′s…[icc wt20 day 5]

On tuesday,the 8th of june 2009, day 5  of icc wt20 at London the Pakistanis entered the field to give their very best against the dangerous looking Dutches,especially after their defeat at the hands of the English team. Pakistan were in a do or die situation and they had to win against Netherlands convincingly,with a better runrate to have any chances of entering the next stage.Pakistanis anyhow couldnt take the things for granted especially after they had seen what damage the Holland team had done to the hosts.Many calculations were being worked for Pakistan to enter the next stage and none looked so easy for them.Netherlands had nothing to lose…one more upset on the given day and they are through. Much was anticipated from the Dutch team.

Right from the word go the Pakistanis fired great guns clearly indicating their intentions.Batting first they were put in a commanding position after a brisk start provided by their openers Akmal and Butt,who made quickfire 41 and 18 respectively.Healthy partnerships continued for a good stage to be launched for Pak team. All the players chipped in with useful contributions in quick time aswell,making sure that they would never run below the ongoing run rate.Malik with a well made 30, Younis with a 20 ball 36 including 3 massive hits across the fence, Misbah with a 20 ball 31 and Afridi with a quick 13 fortified the score card.Pakistan ended with 175 on board losing 5 wickets. Half the assignment was accomplished.

Netherlands never looked to be a part of the game and didnt show character at any stage of the game.Their batting was even more pathetic. They started in a hurry with a brisk pace, but lost wickets at frequent intervals without troubling the scorers. Pakistani bowlers were right on the top along with disciplined fielding and never allowed the Dutch to turn the tables and moreover the Dutch looked like they had no intentions of doing anything like that.Troubles started for the Netherland team when Afridi was introduced into the attack. He made merry taking 4 of the opponents wickets,3 out of them in a space of 10 deliveries.Holland never recovered from this collapse.Afridi finished with 4 for 11 from 4 overs,well supported by Ajmal who took 3 for 20 in 3 overs.Gul, Malik and Aamer chipped in with 1 wicket each and Tanvir was consistent though he couldnt get any wicket.In the 18th over Netherlands was bundled out for 93 and walked out of the competition.Kervezee top scored for Netherlands with 21.Pakistan with a thorough display of professional cricket,when mattered,ended the fairy tale story of the Dutches.Akmal who scored 41 of 30 deliveries including 3 fours and 2 sixes and stumped 4 Dutches from behind was adjudged the man of the match.The verdict was that Pakistan entered the Super 8 stage along with England from their group…..

England’s “Do or Die” Mission…. [Icc T20 World cup - 09, Day 3]

Sunday…the 8th of june…the Oval is all set to witness an all important encounter between their home team England and team Pakistan. It was a do or die scenario for the English team having lost their first match to Netherlands. Day 3 of the icc T20 world cup also had another match in the going before the England – Pakistan one and that was to be played between South Africa and Scotland at the same venue.

South Africa vs Scotland: No prizes for guessing who would win the match.It was a total domination by the Proteas who never allowed the Scotts to show any of their talents if anything like that persisted at all.It was a professional display of disciplined cricket which should be a lesson for many a big teams so as to win convincingly,never ever allowing the weaker opposition to dominate,especially when the team is in the top ranks of the game.A solid start provided by a good support by the middle order was the secret of the success,not to forget the accurate bowling attack and a perfect field setup. Batting first South Africa put on a total of 211 for the loss of 5 wickets,the first 200 plus total in the ongoing series.Smith and Kallis put on 87 runs for the first wicket.Gibbs and Morkel chipped in with useful contributions. But it was the man in form AB de Villiers who stole the show and frustrated the Scotts. He made 79 runs off just 34 deliveries with 5 fours and 6 huge sixes.In reply the Scotland team played elementary cricket and had lost the match when they were crumbled to 13 for 4 within 3 overs.They lost the way and the match in the context.Except Coetzer none of the batsmen came to the party.He made an impressive 42 off 32 balls which was more than half of their teams total. The Scotts surendered cheaply and were all out for a meagre 81 in 15.4 overs, the 7 th lowest total in 20-20 internationals.Steyn, Botha,Merwe and Morkel shared the bowling honours for the Proteas with 2 scalps a piece.The verdict was – South Africa progress into the next stage and for Scotland…..it was the end of their dreams and journey…

England vs Pakistan: Having lost badly to the Netherlands team in their opening encounter,this match became a must win condition for the hosts England to remain in the race.It was an acid test which they had to pass through and more importantly they were playing against Pakistan.Batting first,England lost the wicket of Bopara very early.But after that nothing went wrong for the hosts.A consolidating 2nd wicket partnership of 53 runs between Wright and Pietersen kept the momento going and the runs were gathered at a quick pace. Wright made a breezy 34 off just 16 balls with 1 six and 6 fours out of which 5 were scored back to back.Shah, Collingwood, Masccarenhas and Foster chipped in with useful contributions which strengthened the scoreboard.But the person who stole the limelite of the match was Kevin Pietersen.England team would have thanked their stars,with this strong come back of Mr Reliable to the team.Welcome Kevin.He looked in perfect knick and it seemed that nothing could stop him when it is his day.He carried the assault into the Pakistani camp and smashed a 38 ball 58 with 5 boundaries and 3 handsome sixes. This innings became a match winning effort for England.The Englis attack led by Kevin saw a challenging total with the board showing 185 for 5.For Pakistan Gul and Ajmal took 2 wickets each.Ajmal looked impressive among the other lot.

A deadly reply was what one would have expected from Pakistan,but that was not to be so.It never looked that Pakistan were there to play a T20 world cup. They were playing ease at will and gave an impression that they were never interested to win. The match looked like a one sided affair wherein only one team is desperate to win.Never to take credit from the wounded English boys. They had done their home work well.Except Butt at the start and Younis in the middle of the proceedings,every one came in and went out just like that.Younis top scored for Pakistan with 46 runs. But that was never enough. A team effort and some one to carry on the innings till the end was required and that was what was lacking in the pathetic performance of Pakistan. They lost the match without even giving a fight. On the other side a disciplined performance all round guided England to march ahead towards the Super 8 stage. Bowling and fielding of England too were of high quality as required for a team who are on a ‘Do or Die’ mission.Broad was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 wickets for just 17 runs in his 3 overs. He should have been a relieved man and this performance would have helped him to forget his nightmare run,the other night against Netherlands. Any how past is past and good players learn with experiences immaterial they are good or bad.Pakistan managed 137 runs losing 7 wickets in 20 overs, enabling England to win convincingly with a margin of 48 runs.Now Pakistan stand in the same position as England were at the beginning of the match. They have to come up strongly and play a disciplined cricket against Netherlands on tuesday,if they have to stay in competition. They have to beat the Dutch team convincingly with a better run rate.Whether Pakistan can do it or will Netherlands are upto effecting another major upset is what we are going to wait and watch.But any how….Well done England…. Keep going Kevin…..