Adil Najam
UPDATE:
India won the TwentyTwenty final in a thriller, after setting Pakistan 158 to win and then bowling Pakistan out (with three balls to spare) for 152. IK Pathan from India was names Man of the Match for very tidy bowling (3/16 from 4 overs) while Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi was named Man of the Series.
ORIGINAL POST:
I have resisted writing about the Twenty20 Cricket Tournament in South Africa till now. But now I can resist no more. All is set for a thriller final game against India.
What more could one ask for… well, actually, one could ask for Pakistan’s TwentyTwenty winning streak to continue into the Final game against India in Johannesburg on Monday!
Pakistan is on a roll. And this is no fluke. The victories against Australia and Sri Lanka were brilliant and breezing past New Zealand in the semi-final today proved that this is not just a lucky streak.
The young team under a young captain and a new coach seems to have finally found its stride. And it is about time…
Much of our cricket coverage this last year has been depressing. Umpire controversies, a disastrous World Cup Exit, death of a coach, players misbehaving, and more. So, this good news is very welcome. It is all the more welcome because other news these days is much less than welcome.
India, too, has had a spectacular T20 tournament. In fact, the most memorable moments of the tournament till now were the 6 sixes in an over by Yuvraj against England.
That the game between India and Pakistan in the T20 tournament had ended in a tie will make the anticipation about the final even more nail-biting.
Neither team goes in as favorites. Both go in on a roll. Its should be one great game!
Well done Pakistan cricket team…!!!
I think they gave their 100% and when the margin is this much narrow, it doesn’t really matter if they lost.
As far as Shoaib Malik’s closing comments are concerned I also noted it with caution but I think he would have better expressed his point in Urdu.
I know our Christian and Hindu friends from Pakistan were also praying for Pak team with the rest of the nation.
After a long time Pak team brought so much of an excitement to a cricket loving nation to give us a break.
At the same time, lets not forget to congratulate India for an outstanding all round performance.
christianpak:
i didnt watch the ending ceremony but if thats what he said he should have put that in better words.someone on this blog should write about non muslim pakistanis and how our undelibrate actions might be offending them to increase awareness about this.
ps: congrats to india.
Congratulations to Indian Cricket team on this well-earned win.
ChristianPak:
Brother you are right that Shoaib Malik ignored you and Pakistani minorities. I am sorry for that, but Pakistanis have not learned to respect minorities uptill now. I am a Shia and even I have to deal with nonsense from time to time.
Hope you still enjoyed the Pakistani matches.
An excellent match and full credit to both teams.
One thing about Pakistan though. We really need to find a consistent pair of openers. The middle order has been bailing us out after a terrible start for quite some time but we can’t expect this to happen every time.