Thursday, August 13, 2009

Pakistan....once again


It was Pakistan who was once again victorious against Sri Lanka in a T20 game, when they defeated the Island country by a big margin of 52 runs. Pakistan, under the new T20 captain Shahid "Boom Boom" Afridi won the toss & elected to bat first. The wicket was a good one to bat on & they said that even 175-180 would be chaseable.

Pakistan started off disastrously when Nuwan Kulasekara bowled Kamran Akmal on the very first ball of the innings. Shoaib Malik joined Imran Nazir & the two added 35 in just 3.4 overs when Shoaib Malik was bowled by Malinga when he was on 14. Then came the Captain himself & mind you, he is now a completely changed batsman, as he plays those huge shots but with responsibility & patience. He scored 50 off just 37 balls with 4 fours & 2 big sixes. Imran Nazir also scored a brilliant 40 in just 28 balls with 5 fours & 1 six. The young Umar Akmal took the charge with Shahid Afridi, when Imran Nazir got out off the bowling of Thilan Thushara. Umar Akmal scored 31 off just 20 balls & Abdur Razzaq scored 25 off 17. There were useful contributions from almost all the batsmen & that really set up the pace for Pakistan.

Sri Lanka began their chase well. The openers Udawatte (11 off 8 balls, 2 fours) & Sanath Jayasuriya (23 off 17 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes) scored briskly & the team's total shot to 39 in just 3.5 overs. Jayasuriya seemed to be in a blazing form, but his innings didn't last long as he was dismissed by Mohammad Aamer. Former Captain Mahela Jayawardene joined hands with current captain Kumar Sangakkara & it seemed that Sri Lanka would sail easily to victory. However, Jayawardene top edged an Iftikhar Anjum delivery to Abdur Razzaq when the score was 71. The next wicket was probably the biggest blow when Captain Kumar Sangakkara was bowled beautifully by off spinner Saeed Ajmal. It was a major setback for Sri Lanka as they lost their captain. Sri Lanka then saw a sudden collapse of their innings & the last 5 wickets managed only 20 runs! It was off spinner Saeed Ajmal & returning pacer Rana Naved-ul-hasan who took 3 wickets each.

Pakistan Captain Shahid Afridi won the "Man of the Match" award for his all round performance. He was indeed blushing when he came to receive the winner's trophy.

Good Luck Captain!!!

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