Pakistan – the new Ustads of T20
July 5 2009
Pakistan beat all odds to win the T20 World championship to crown themselves as the T20 champs. In a low scoring final they beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets and with an over to spare. The wonderboy, Shahid Afridi, was once again the Man of the Match with an all-round performance (54 not out and 1/20). Sri Lanka who put on a score of 138 on the board, thanks largely to a brilliant knock of 64 by the captain Sangakkara, supported by Matthews (35 not out) for the sixth wicket.
For once Dilshan failed to click and Abdul Razzak, bowled a tight line and took 3 wickets to send the top order of Sri Lanka back in the pavilion early. From there on, it was damage control by captain Sangakkara. They managed to score 138 was largely due to some hard hitting at the end by Matthews and intelligent rotation by Sangakkara. But that was not enough for them to defend in the end.
Sri Lanka needed some quick breakthroughs to make a match out of it, however, Akmal was on fire and he scored 38 in double quick time before falling to the old war horse Jayasuriya. The foxy Muralitharan got rid of the other opener Shahbaz Hasan very soon. That was the last success the Lankans could taste as some fiery batting by Shahid Afridi and calm thinking by Shoaib Mallik ensured that Pakistan had no more hiccups as they reached the target with an over to spare.
The route to finals was an exciting affair for both the teams. In the 1st round where only 2 teams from each group would qualify, Ireland sprang a surprise in their group by eliminating the higher ranked Bangladesh. Similarly in a tight group, Australians lost out to West Indies and Sri Lanka. Australians for once did not even make it to the 2nd stage and the yellow and gold brigade once again failed in their quest to win the only trophy that is missing from their cabinet.
Pakistan though made it into the 2nd stage with comfortable win over Netherland and achieving a higher run rate than the Dutch. New Zealand lost their match against South Africa by a solitary run, but had already qualified for the super eights.
India, South Africa, West Indies, England formed one group in the Super eights while Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland and New Zealand formed the other group. India, the inaugural title holders and unbeaten in the group one stage failed miserably in the super eights and a lost all their 3 games in the group to get knocked out of the tournament without reaching the semi finals.
South Africa, playing some aggressive cricket remained unbeaten in the Super eights and qualified for the Semi Finals as the top team from group E. They were joined by West Indies, who were the surprise package as they outplayed England to reach the semis. In the other group, Sri Lanka remained unbeaten as they snuffled out challenge from Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan to top the group F. Pakistan literally swept aside Ireland and New Zealand thanks to some accurate bowling by Umar Gul.
New Zealand, who could have qualified had they beaten Pakistan were mesmerised by Umar Gul and they crashed out of the tournament. The under dogs, Pakistan, managed to qualify behind Sri Lanka for the semis.
The Semi final lineup was an interesting affair, the pre-tournament favourite South Africa playing the unfancied Pakistan while the unbeaten Sri Lankans playing their 1st round group team West Indies in the other Semi final. South Africa, who had been in tremendous form and were favourite to brush aside Pakistan, were in for a rude shock as Pakistan turned the form table upside down thanks to Shahid Afridi who scored 51 with the bat and supported by Shoaib Malik and captain Younis Khan.
Though the South African bowlers had restricted Pakistan to a manageable 149 in 20 overs, South Africa could only score 142 courtesy 64 of J H Kallis and 44 not out J P Duminy. But they had no answer to Afridi’s bowling who took 2 wickets for 16 runs in his 4 overs and winning the Man of the Match award. Once again the South African team choked at the final hurdle of a major tournament.
Sri Lanka who had been unbeaten in the tournament so far, as the South Africans, were favourites against West Indies. Dilshan who had been promoted to the opening slot for this tournament and was enjoying his role as an opener, nearly completed his century, but fell 4 short at 96, the tournaments highest individual score to help Sri Lanka reach 158. However, the Sri Lankan bowlers were in no mood to be charitable and Matthews reduced West Indies to 1 for 3 wickets in his very first over.
From then on it was an uphill battle even for the maverick captain Chris Gayle who scored an unbeaten 63, when none of the other West Indian batsmen could even get into double figures. Murlitharan and Mendis never let the batsmen settle as they took 5 wickets between them. West Indies could only manage 101 in 17.4 overs and were all out and thus ending their dream run in the tournament.
This set up and exciting all Asian final between the unbeaten Sri Lankans and the unfancied Pakistanis. Sri Lankans had been playing some unbelievable and exiting cricket. Dilshan had introduced the loft shot over the Wicket keeper and Jayawardene introduced the back of the blade sweep, innovations that had helped them to reach the finals. It was looking like 1997 world cup when Sri Lankans introduced the first 15 over slog hitting with the openers.
Pakistan meanwhile had a subdued tournament and had managed to get through some tight situations before reaching the Semi Finals. It was only against South Africa that they had shown signs of being champions. They had already lost to Sri Lanka in the super eights and had a score to settle.
Pakistan not only avenged their loss in the super eights against Sri Lanka but they also buried the ghosts of losing the inaugural T20 to final to India. They didnot choke at the last minute as they did against India. Shahid Afridi was on fire ensured that the cup went into the hands of the Pakistan team. The first edition of T20 had seen India as the winner, who never even wanted to participate in that tournament in the first place.
Pakistan entered into this tournament, on the back of huge disturbances back home and had not played meaningful cricket for a while. Their players even missed out on the IPL tournament this year. However, in diversity, they emerged from the shadows as champions. Hopefully this will spur some support back home for them and create an environment for the return of cricket to Pakistan. Great show champs!
While the T20 for Men was in progress there was a side show of T20 world cup for women and as a curtain raiser for the finals of men’s championship the finals of women’s championship was played prior. It was a repeat of the one day world cup played in Sydney in March between England and New Zealand.
England had come out on top in Sydney and repeated that feat against New Zealand in the T20 finals. The kiwi eves had to settle for the second spot in second tournament running. Indian women managed to do better than their men and reached the semi finals before falling to New Zealand. It was a great showcase for women’s cricket at the Mecca of cricket, Lords.
Watch out for the ASHES now!
For once Dilshan failed to click and Abdul Razzak, bowled a tight line and took 3 wickets to send the top order of Sri Lanka back in the pavilion early. From there on, it was damage control by captain Sangakkara. They managed to score 138 was largely due to some hard hitting at the end by Matthews and intelligent rotation by Sangakkara. But that was not enough for them to defend in the end.
Sri Lanka needed some quick breakthroughs to make a match out of it, however, Akmal was on fire and he scored 38 in double quick time before falling to the old war horse Jayasuriya. The foxy Muralitharan got rid of the other opener Shahbaz Hasan very soon. That was the last success the Lankans could taste as some fiery batting by Shahid Afridi and calm thinking by Shoaib Mallik ensured that Pakistan had no more hiccups as they reached the target with an over to spare.
The route to finals was an exciting affair for both the teams. In the 1st round where only 2 teams from each group would qualify, Ireland sprang a surprise in their group by eliminating the higher ranked Bangladesh. Similarly in a tight group, Australians lost out to West Indies and Sri Lanka. Australians for once did not even make it to the 2nd stage and the yellow and gold brigade once again failed in their quest to win the only trophy that is missing from their cabinet.
Pakistan though made it into the 2nd stage with comfortable win over Netherland and achieving a higher run rate than the Dutch. New Zealand lost their match against South Africa by a solitary run, but had already qualified for the super eights.
India, South Africa, West Indies, England formed one group in the Super eights while Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland and New Zealand formed the other group. India, the inaugural title holders and unbeaten in the group one stage failed miserably in the super eights and a lost all their 3 games in the group to get knocked out of the tournament without reaching the semi finals.
South Africa, playing some aggressive cricket remained unbeaten in the Super eights and qualified for the Semi Finals as the top team from group E. They were joined by West Indies, who were the surprise package as they outplayed England to reach the semis. In the other group, Sri Lanka remained unbeaten as they snuffled out challenge from Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan to top the group F. Pakistan literally swept aside Ireland and New Zealand thanks to some accurate bowling by Umar Gul.
New Zealand, who could have qualified had they beaten Pakistan were mesmerised by Umar Gul and they crashed out of the tournament. The under dogs, Pakistan, managed to qualify behind Sri Lanka for the semis.
The Semi final lineup was an interesting affair, the pre-tournament favourite South Africa playing the unfancied Pakistan while the unbeaten Sri Lankans playing their 1st round group team West Indies in the other Semi final. South Africa, who had been in tremendous form and were favourite to brush aside Pakistan, were in for a rude shock as Pakistan turned the form table upside down thanks to Shahid Afridi who scored 51 with the bat and supported by Shoaib Malik and captain Younis Khan.
Though the South African bowlers had restricted Pakistan to a manageable 149 in 20 overs, South Africa could only score 142 courtesy 64 of J H Kallis and 44 not out J P Duminy. But they had no answer to Afridi’s bowling who took 2 wickets for 16 runs in his 4 overs and winning the Man of the Match award. Once again the South African team choked at the final hurdle of a major tournament.
Sri Lanka who had been unbeaten in the tournament so far, as the South Africans, were favourites against West Indies. Dilshan who had been promoted to the opening slot for this tournament and was enjoying his role as an opener, nearly completed his century, but fell 4 short at 96, the tournaments highest individual score to help Sri Lanka reach 158. However, the Sri Lankan bowlers were in no mood to be charitable and Matthews reduced West Indies to 1 for 3 wickets in his very first over.
From then on it was an uphill battle even for the maverick captain Chris Gayle who scored an unbeaten 63, when none of the other West Indian batsmen could even get into double figures. Murlitharan and Mendis never let the batsmen settle as they took 5 wickets between them. West Indies could only manage 101 in 17.4 overs and were all out and thus ending their dream run in the tournament.
This set up and exciting all Asian final between the unbeaten Sri Lankans and the unfancied Pakistanis. Sri Lankans had been playing some unbelievable and exiting cricket. Dilshan had introduced the loft shot over the Wicket keeper and Jayawardene introduced the back of the blade sweep, innovations that had helped them to reach the finals. It was looking like 1997 world cup when Sri Lankans introduced the first 15 over slog hitting with the openers.
Pakistan meanwhile had a subdued tournament and had managed to get through some tight situations before reaching the Semi Finals. It was only against South Africa that they had shown signs of being champions. They had already lost to Sri Lanka in the super eights and had a score to settle.
Pakistan not only avenged their loss in the super eights against Sri Lanka but they also buried the ghosts of losing the inaugural T20 to final to India. They didnot choke at the last minute as they did against India. Shahid Afridi was on fire ensured that the cup went into the hands of the Pakistan team. The first edition of T20 had seen India as the winner, who never even wanted to participate in that tournament in the first place.
Pakistan entered into this tournament, on the back of huge disturbances back home and had not played meaningful cricket for a while. Their players even missed out on the IPL tournament this year. However, in diversity, they emerged from the shadows as champions. Hopefully this will spur some support back home for them and create an environment for the return of cricket to Pakistan. Great show champs!
While the T20 for Men was in progress there was a side show of T20 world cup for women and as a curtain raiser for the finals of men’s championship the finals of women’s championship was played prior. It was a repeat of the one day world cup played in Sydney in March between England and New Zealand.
England had come out on top in Sydney and repeated that feat against New Zealand in the T20 finals. The kiwi eves had to settle for the second spot in second tournament running. Indian women managed to do better than their men and reached the semi finals before falling to New Zealand. It was a great showcase for women’s cricket at the Mecca of cricket, Lords.
Watch out for the ASHES now!
Pakistan beat all odds to win the T20 World championship to crown themselves as the T20 champs. In a low scoring final they beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets and with an over to spare. The wonderboy, Shahid Afridi, was once again the Man of the Match with an all-round performance (54 not out and 1/20)....
Pakistan beat all odds to win the T20 World championship to crown themselves as the T20 champs. In a low scoring final they beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets and with an over to spare. The wonderboy, Shahid Afridi, was once again the Man of the Match with an all-round performance (54 not out and 1/20). Sri Lanka who put on a score of 138 on the board, thanks largely to a brilliant knock of 64 by the captain Sangakkara, supported by Matthews (35 not out) for the sixth wicket.
For once Dilshan failed to click and Abdul Razzak, bowled a tight line and took 3 wickets to send the top order of Sri Lanka back in the pavilion early. From there on, it was damage control by captain Sangakkara. They managed to score 138 was largely due to some hard hitting at the end by Matthews and intelligent rotation by Sangakkara. But that was not enough for them to defend in the end.
Sri Lanka needed some quick breakthroughs to make a match out of it, however, Akmal was on fire and he scored 38 in double quick time before falling to the old war horse Jayasuriya. The foxy Muralitharan got rid of the other opener Shahbaz Hasan very soon. That was the last success the Lankans could taste as some fiery batting by Shahid Afridi and calm thinking by Shoaib Mallik ensured that Pakistan had no more hiccups as they reached the target with an over to spare.
The route to finals was an exciting affair for both the teams. In the 1st round where only 2 teams from each group would qualify, Ireland sprang a surprise in their group by eliminating the higher ranked Bangladesh. Similarly in a tight group, Australians lost out to West Indies and Sri Lanka. Australians for once did not even make it to the 2nd stage and the yellow and gold brigade once again failed in their quest to win the only trophy that is missing from their cabinet.
Pakistan though made it into the 2nd stage with comfortable win over Netherland and achieving a higher run rate than the Dutch. New Zealand lost their match against South Africa by a solitary run, but had already qualified for the super eights.
India, South Africa, West Indies, England formed one group in the Super eights while Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland and New Zealand formed the other group. India, the inaugural title holders and unbeaten in the group one stage failed miserably in the super eights and a lost all their 3 games in the group to get knocked out of the tournament without reaching the semi finals.
South Africa, playing some aggressive cricket remained unbeaten in the Super eights and qualified for the Semi Finals as the top team from group E. They were joined by West Indies, who were the surprise package as they outplayed England to reach the semis. In the other group, Sri Lanka remained unbeaten as they snuffled out challenge from Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan to top the group F. Pakistan literally swept aside Ireland and New Zealand thanks to some accurate bowling by Umar Gul.
New Zealand, who could have qualified had they beaten Pakistan were mesmerised by Umar Gul and they crashed out of the tournament. The under dogs, Pakistan, managed to qualify behind Sri Lanka for the semis.
The Semi final lineup was an interesting affair, the pre-tournament favourite South Africa playing the unfancied Pakistan while the unbeaten Sri Lankans playing their 1st round group team West Indies in the other Semi final. South Africa, who had been in tremendous form and were favourite to brush aside Pakistan, were in for a rude shock as Pakistan turned the form table upside down thanks to Shahid Afridi who scored 51 with the bat and supported by Shoaib Malik and captain Younis Khan.
Though the South African bowlers had restricted Pakistan to a manageable 149 in 20 overs, South Africa could only score 142 courtesy 64 of J H Kallis and 44 not out J P Duminy. But they had no answer to Afridi’s bowling who took 2 wickets for 16 runs in his 4 overs and winning the Man of the Match award. Once again the South African team choked at the final hurdle of a major tournament.
Sri Lanka who had been unbeaten in the tournament so far, as the South Africans, were favourites against West Indies. Dilshan who had been promoted to the opening slot for this tournament and was enjoying his role as an opener, nearly completed his century, but fell 4 short at 96, the tournaments highest individual score to help Sri Lanka reach 158. However, the Sri Lankan bowlers were in no mood to be charitable and Matthews reduced West Indies to 1 for 3 wickets in his very first over.
From then on it was an uphill battle even for the maverick captain Chris Gayle who scored an unbeaten 63, when none of the other West Indian batsmen could even get into double figures. Murlitharan and Mendis never let the batsmen settle as they took 5 wickets between them. West Indies could only manage 101 in 17.4 overs and were all out and thus ending their dream run in the tournament.
This set up and exciting all Asian final between the unbeaten Sri Lankans and the unfancied Pakistanis. Sri Lankans had been playing some unbelievable and exiting cricket. Dilshan had introduced the loft shot over the Wicket keeper and Jayawardene introduced the back of the blade sweep, innovations that had helped them to reach the finals. It was looking like 1997 world cup when Sri Lankans introduced the first 15 over slog hitting with the openers.
Pakistan meanwhile had a subdued tournament and had managed to get through some tight situations before reaching the Semi Finals. It was only against South Africa that they had shown signs of being champions. They had already lost to Sri Lanka in the super eights and had a score to settle.
Pakistan not only avenged their loss in the super eights against Sri Lanka but they also buried the ghosts of losing the inaugural T20 to final to India. They didnot choke at the last minute as they did against India. Shahid Afridi was on fire ensured that the cup went into the hands of the Pakistan team. The first edition of T20 had seen India as the winner, who never even wanted to participate in that tournament in the first place.
Pakistan entered into this tournament, on the back of huge disturbances back home and had not played meaningful cricket for a while. Their players even missed out on the IPL tournament this year. However, in diversity, they emerged from the shadows as champions. Hopefully this will spur some support back home for them and create an environment for the return of cricket to Pakistan. Great show champs!
While the T20 for Men was in progress there was a side show of T20 world cup for women and as a curtain raiser for the finals of men’s championship the finals of women’s championship was played prior. It was a repeat of the one day world cup played in Sydney in March between England and New Zealand.
England had come out on top in Sydney and repeated that feat against New Zealand in the T20 finals. The kiwi eves had to settle for the second spot in second tournament running. Indian women managed to do better than their men and reached the semi finals before falling to New Zealand. It was a great showcase for women’s cricket at the Mecca of cricket, Lords.
Watch out for the ASHES now!
For once Dilshan failed to click and Abdul Razzak, bowled a tight line and took 3 wickets to send the top order of Sri Lanka back in the pavilion early. From there on, it was damage control by captain Sangakkara. They managed to score 138 was largely due to some hard hitting at the end by Matthews and intelligent rotation by Sangakkara. But that was not enough for them to defend in the end.
Sri Lanka needed some quick breakthroughs to make a match out of it, however, Akmal was on fire and he scored 38 in double quick time before falling to the old war horse Jayasuriya. The foxy Muralitharan got rid of the other opener Shahbaz Hasan very soon. That was the last success the Lankans could taste as some fiery batting by Shahid Afridi and calm thinking by Shoaib Mallik ensured that Pakistan had no more hiccups as they reached the target with an over to spare.
The route to finals was an exciting affair for both the teams. In the 1st round where only 2 teams from each group would qualify, Ireland sprang a surprise in their group by eliminating the higher ranked Bangladesh. Similarly in a tight group, Australians lost out to West Indies and Sri Lanka. Australians for once did not even make it to the 2nd stage and the yellow and gold brigade once again failed in their quest to win the only trophy that is missing from their cabinet.
Pakistan though made it into the 2nd stage with comfortable win over Netherland and achieving a higher run rate than the Dutch. New Zealand lost their match against South Africa by a solitary run, but had already qualified for the super eights.
India, South Africa, West Indies, England formed one group in the Super eights while Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ireland and New Zealand formed the other group. India, the inaugural title holders and unbeaten in the group one stage failed miserably in the super eights and a lost all their 3 games in the group to get knocked out of the tournament without reaching the semi finals.
South Africa, playing some aggressive cricket remained unbeaten in the Super eights and qualified for the Semi Finals as the top team from group E. They were joined by West Indies, who were the surprise package as they outplayed England to reach the semis. In the other group, Sri Lanka remained unbeaten as they snuffled out challenge from Ireland, New Zealand and Pakistan to top the group F. Pakistan literally swept aside Ireland and New Zealand thanks to some accurate bowling by Umar Gul.
New Zealand, who could have qualified had they beaten Pakistan were mesmerised by Umar Gul and they crashed out of the tournament. The under dogs, Pakistan, managed to qualify behind Sri Lanka for the semis.
The Semi final lineup was an interesting affair, the pre-tournament favourite South Africa playing the unfancied Pakistan while the unbeaten Sri Lankans playing their 1st round group team West Indies in the other Semi final. South Africa, who had been in tremendous form and were favourite to brush aside Pakistan, were in for a rude shock as Pakistan turned the form table upside down thanks to Shahid Afridi who scored 51 with the bat and supported by Shoaib Malik and captain Younis Khan.
Though the South African bowlers had restricted Pakistan to a manageable 149 in 20 overs, South Africa could only score 142 courtesy 64 of J H Kallis and 44 not out J P Duminy. But they had no answer to Afridi’s bowling who took 2 wickets for 16 runs in his 4 overs and winning the Man of the Match award. Once again the South African team choked at the final hurdle of a major tournament.
Sri Lanka who had been unbeaten in the tournament so far, as the South Africans, were favourites against West Indies. Dilshan who had been promoted to the opening slot for this tournament and was enjoying his role as an opener, nearly completed his century, but fell 4 short at 96, the tournaments highest individual score to help Sri Lanka reach 158. However, the Sri Lankan bowlers were in no mood to be charitable and Matthews reduced West Indies to 1 for 3 wickets in his very first over.
From then on it was an uphill battle even for the maverick captain Chris Gayle who scored an unbeaten 63, when none of the other West Indian batsmen could even get into double figures. Murlitharan and Mendis never let the batsmen settle as they took 5 wickets between them. West Indies could only manage 101 in 17.4 overs and were all out and thus ending their dream run in the tournament.
This set up and exciting all Asian final between the unbeaten Sri Lankans and the unfancied Pakistanis. Sri Lankans had been playing some unbelievable and exiting cricket. Dilshan had introduced the loft shot over the Wicket keeper and Jayawardene introduced the back of the blade sweep, innovations that had helped them to reach the finals. It was looking like 1997 world cup when Sri Lankans introduced the first 15 over slog hitting with the openers.
Pakistan meanwhile had a subdued tournament and had managed to get through some tight situations before reaching the Semi Finals. It was only against South Africa that they had shown signs of being champions. They had already lost to Sri Lanka in the super eights and had a score to settle.
Pakistan not only avenged their loss in the super eights against Sri Lanka but they also buried the ghosts of losing the inaugural T20 to final to India. They didnot choke at the last minute as they did against India. Shahid Afridi was on fire ensured that the cup went into the hands of the Pakistan team. The first edition of T20 had seen India as the winner, who never even wanted to participate in that tournament in the first place.
Pakistan entered into this tournament, on the back of huge disturbances back home and had not played meaningful cricket for a while. Their players even missed out on the IPL tournament this year. However, in diversity, they emerged from the shadows as champions. Hopefully this will spur some support back home for them and create an environment for the return of cricket to Pakistan. Great show champs!
While the T20 for Men was in progress there was a side show of T20 world cup for women and as a curtain raiser for the finals of men’s championship the finals of women’s championship was played prior. It was a repeat of the one day world cup played in Sydney in March between England and New Zealand.
England had come out on top in Sydney and repeated that feat against New Zealand in the T20 finals. The kiwi eves had to settle for the second spot in second tournament running. Indian women managed to do better than their men and reached the semi finals before falling to New Zealand. It was a great showcase for women’s cricket at the Mecca of cricket, Lords.
Watch out for the ASHES now!
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