Scorecard:

Australia: 191 all out (20 overs)

(Watson 81 off 49 balls, D Hussey 53 off 29 balls, Warner 26 off 18 balls, Aamer 3 for 23, Ajmal 3 for 34)

Pakistan: 157 all out (20 overs)

(Misbah 41 off 31 balls, Afridi 33 off 24 balls, Tait 3 for 20, Nannes 3 for 41)

Australia were finally able to unravel the mystery of T20! They were all on the last ball, which is exactly what T20 is all about. It is not about your personal records, but it is about extracting every ounce of run out of your allotted overs. With IPL in form Watson shooting from hips leading the charge, Hussey and Warner gave him the cover to run through the Pakistani bowling. At one time they were sitting pretty at 162 for 2 off 16 overs. Planning to murder the bowlers in the bext 4 overs. But the mercurial Pakistan bowlers took 8 wickets in the next 4 overs resulting in a wastage of 8 crucial balls. This if nothing else became the sole reason of being stopped short of 200.

Pakistan facing a mammoth score, were put on the mat right away on the first ball. Kamran Akmal their stalwart of the first match was out first ball of Nannes. Shocked, Pakistan tried to bully their way out, but you can’t get better of a cat with it’s tail up so easily. Tait and Nannes kept the pressure, never letting any batsman stick around. Misbah and Afridi led a late charge, but were never seriously in the fray.

Tweet This Post