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!
The middle order let us down badly after some excellent bowling. Its a shame.
Please read an even more pressing issue that of how Pakistan’s day of reckoning is arising at http://www.otherpakistan.org/today2.html
It was a nerve wrecking game with a heart stopping finish!!! Full paisa vasool!!! Both the teams, which had young and inexprienced players made it to the finals after demolishing the Goliaths of the game (Australia/South Africa). Pakistan did not lose, India did not win, infact both fo them WON!!
Pakistan has never won against India in a World Cup match and India has mainatined that record for last 30 years. I do not see it going so early also
Super game; great finish. Don’t take it too hard, my Pak friends (psych couch and all that usual vituperative, recriminatory rubbish). The Pakistani team played great. It all boiled down to one ball, one shot, and it could have gone either way. If you consider yourself a 6000-year old country, it’ll just be another blip. If you think you are just 60, go ahead, enjoy the trauma.
Even though Pakistan lost, in my book the real looser was Younis Khan. He played a maiden when all he had to do was take a single and give strike to Imran Nazir who was playing fearlessly. And with a groin injury, he was more interested in hitting boundaries and was doing it very well. On top of that, he later made him run a very difficult single and got him run out. That totally changed the game.
And even though Misbah almost won us this game, his lack of experience got him again. Needing 6 runs off 4 balls, he went for a risky shot when all he had to do was wait for another half volley from this part time bowler.
BTW, Afridi and Malik were also disappointing and their method of getting out of pressure by hitting showed how nervous they really were. But that’s how Afridi has always played, but Malik surprised me a bit for throwing his wicket the way he did.
Of course, it will not be fair if I missed on Hafeez for dropping a catch on the boundary in the last over and palming it over the ropes for a six. That turned out to be a the eventual difference between a win and loss.