Cricket Tournaments

21st June, the historic day in Cricket history, especially for Pakistan it’s the unforgettable day. Pakistani Fan’s prayers accepted, and Pakistan won over by high spirits and delight. Afridi swung willow wand and leaded the Pakistan to become ICC World T20 Champions. Pakistan determination, spirit and brilliancy in the game were apparent and each player gave his every bit of effort for the fancied victory. Expectations were high from Pakistan; to be pressurized instead it uplifted the spirits and motivated Pakistan to believe in itself. Consequently, we have Pakistan as ICC World T20 Champions beating considerably Sri Lanka off 8 wickets.

London Lord’s stadium, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first, though decision was sensible but it wasn’t fateful for the Sri Lanka. Lankans came to bat but blunder started from very first over; Aamer taking essential wicket of Tilakaratne Dilshan (0), then in second over Jehan Mubarak (0) was ducked by Razzaq. Then Sanath Jayasuriya(17), Mahela Jayawardena (1), Chamara Silva (14)and Isuru Udana (1); batting line up collapsed in a nick of time. But Kumar Sangakkar (64) on the other end was still holding the pitch and hopes, with vital support of Angelo Mathews (35); Sri Lankan total reached 138 runs off 6 wickets.

Pakistan bowling was spectacular, we could see the Pakistan bowling magic thrilling to fans and threatening to Sri Lanka. Pakistani bowlers Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Aamer, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi were outstanding and line and length was just near to perfect. Every Pakistani bowler bowl seemed tough to play, and every fielder clenching for the one’s and two’s equally bitter the batsman and made every effort of batsman worthless. Senior player Abdul Razzaq had been lucky for the Pakistan, with his return Pakistan spirits uplifted and in the final we saw he him out performing Sri Lanka by taking 3 wickets.

Lankans put forth 139 runs target, Pakistan was confident to achieve it and win the championship. This kind of optimism was radiant on every Pakistani player, and something like hunger we felt in them to win this world cup. As expected each player entertained spectators, Kamran Akmal (37) and Shahzaib Hasan (19) from the first over made Lankans restless and power play also proved to be fruitless. After Akmal, Afridi came to bat, and fans roared as he walked out of pavilion. Expectations, and prayers were being chanted and every bit of it got fulfilled. Shahid Afridi knocked unbeaten 54 runs of 40 balls and Shoaib Malik (24) also contributed well enough. Pakistan won the match by 8 wickets sparing 8 balls.

Afridi and Razzaq terrific performance just made the day only for Pakistan. After Sri Lanka qualifying for the finals Afridi growled to them to beware. In the same manner Afridi executed and terrified Lankans with his terrific performance eventually leading the Pakistan to the T20 World Cup win. Whole stadium was loaded with Pakistani supporters they cheered outrageously for the Pakistan in the End.

Pakistan, loosing finalists of last year’s T20 WC competition came closer to booking a Semi Finals spot with a convincing 39 runs victory over Ireland. With the Kiwis having injury worries ahead of their crucial encounter against SriLanka, the only way for Pakistan to be knocked out of the competition is through a comprehensive New Zealand victory over Sri Lanka. This looks highly unlikely as the Lankans have been the in form team in the competition thus far.

The Pakistanis decided to bat after winning the toss and looked comfortable while piling up 159 runs by just loosing five wickets against the Irish bowlers. Kamran Akmal took the experienced Irish bowler Trent Johnson, to the cleaners by smashing 20 runs of his second over of the match. The only Irish bowler to have troubled the Pakistani batsman was Boyd Rankin. His steepling bounce caused a lot of anxiety for the Pakistani openers and kept them under leash. The Pakistani batsman looked in control thereafter with notable contributions from Kamran Akmal (57 runs), Shahzaib Hasan (23 runs), Sahid Afridi (quick fire 24 runs), and Misbah-ul-Haq (20 runs) to take the score past 150 and set a challenging total for the Irishmen.

The target 0f 160 seemed to be a long distance away for Ireland with a lethal Pakistani bowling attack going full throttle against them. Saeed Ajmal spun a web around the Irish batsman with his 4-wicket haul thereby spinning Ireland out of the match. Umer Gul joined the party with a 2-wicket haul to leave Ireland 39 runs short of the target. The Ireland batsman never looked in control during the run chase as wickets tumbled on a regular interval throughout the match.

Pakistan thus ended the Super 8 stage of the competition with two consecutive victories to come close to a Semi Final spot from group F. A win for Sri Lanka against New Zealand would ensure that both the Sub continental teams reach the Semi finals from this group. Things could change with a win for New Zealand, which would force the Semi Finalists selection based on run rate, thereby leaving the Semi Final door open for all the three teams in this group.