Pakistan Wins T20 again under Captain Afridi

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Afridi proved it once again that his batting and bowling successes in T20 World Cup were not a fluke.

Completing his third consecutive 50 in the T20 Internationals, he proved again that he's the king in this format of the game. Though this innings was not as impressive as the previous two, but Afridi is a treat to watch no matter what kind of form is he in.

This shortest form of the game seems to come natural to Pakistan team as all the excitment that makes them unpredictable in other formats of the game comes together to create an atmosphere where Pakistan thrives.

Though Afridi was the most successful in terms of accumulated runs, the other Pakistani batsmen made valuable contributions. Imran Nazir was the main spearhead in the first few overs after Kamran Akmal departed on the first ball of the innings. He showed no restraint or pressure as the situation might have seemed to ask for, and went on with his natural stroke making.

Umar Akmal was also a good partner to have for Afridi in the middle of the innings, they had a partnership of 66 together. Umar scored at more than a run a ball rate and scored 30 Runs.

Abd-ur-Razzaq showed his metal with quick scoring at the death, and reached 25 without getting out. Last over by Lasith Malinga was not an easy one to negotiate with for Razzaq who would have taken the score even higher had he been able to connect his bat to a couple of more balls.

Today's match against Sri Lanka was also the first match as a captain for Shahid Afridi and his team did him proud. Every one chipped in their share as Afridi lead from the front and finished the series on a high note even though their performance in Test and first three one dayers was nothing short of dismal

Related articles

• Shahid Afridi's Biography (News Ki Duniya)
• Cricket: Pakistan Tries Its Luck With an Unlikely Captain (nytimes.com)

... And Pakistan does it again... T20 Cricket Champions

ENGLAND: Pakistan did once again what they do best... They kept everyone in doubt from the start to lower everyone's expectations, lost a few matches they should have easily won, then notched it up many gears when it mattered the most. They grew from strength to strength but saved their best performance for last... It all summed up what smith said after their semi final defeat, "Pakistan can beat any team on their day". On that note we can easily say that every day of the last week was Pakistan's day.

Pakistan was at their utmost best in all departments of the game, be it batting bwoling or fielding. First it was the bowlers who ran havoc through Sri Lankan top order. Then all 4 batsmen who played showed their skills with the bat, without the haste and uncertainty that has normally been the feature of pakistan cricket, but utmost confidence, responsibility and positivity.

Almost all cricketing pundits had written pakistan off on the pretext of lack of International cricketing practice, bad selection, lack of team unity, you name it. Whatever wrong could be found with the team was brought into the limelight and swelled it manyfolds. But all that was proven wrong.

In the end Pakistan once again spoiled the party for all the big names, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the end.

Pakistan starts cautiously but avoids losing wickets (48/0 7 overs)

ENGLAND: Pakistan started slow, well below their asking rate, but the openers make sure not to lose any early wickets.
Kamran Akmal and Shahzeb Hassan build a strong opening partnership.

Sangakkara and Mathews restore sanity after early scare (138/6)

ENGLAND: Besides the early scare, Sangakkara and Angelo Matthews restored sanity after the top batting order failed miserably.
Sangakkara played anchor and did most of the running initially and then in teh final overs Angelo Mathews wrecked havoc amongst Pakistani bowling attack to give sri lanka more than a fighting total. Muhammad Aamir went for a few boundaries in his final over ...
The final score tally was 138/6.
Well done Sangakkara (64 off 42 balls) and Angelo Matthews (35 off 24 balls)
News Ki Duniya (This Blog :) )

Pakistan starts T20 Final on a high note.(Sri Lanka 4/32, 6 Overs )

ENGLAND: Pakistani bowlers dessimate Sri Lankan to batting order with Dilshan the tournament's Top scorer and another one of Sri Lanka's top Player, Jehan Mubarak - both out for a duck inside the first 6 Overs.

Pakistan, Sri Lanka set for emotional clash in T20 final: "Pakistan and Sri Lanka, two teams linked by tragedy, have begun what promises to be an epic ICC World Twenty20 final at Lord’s on Sunday."
DAWN.COM

T20 World Cup Final Underway

England: The T20 World Cup Final is Under way between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This would be a rematch of the very first match from their pool. Sri Lanka beat Pakistan soundly in all disciplines of the game then. Though the faces have not changed for Pakistan team, yet this is a totally different team in terms of positivity, temperament, confidence and their strong will to win.
Sri Lanka started the tournament as one of the favourites so it's only logical that they are in teh final.
Pakistan on the other hand started on a bad note losing to to Sri Lanka in their very first pool match. Many people had written then off even before the tournament started. Their rise to the Final is nothing less than a fairy tale. They've come from strength to strength throughout their matches and dissimated arguably the best team in the tournament - south Africa. Their confidence is sky high, and I would not be surprised if they snatch this T20 tournament.
Players to Watch: Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Razzaq, Aamir, Saeed Ajmal, Sangakkara, Dilshan, Jayasuriya, Muralitharan, Mubarak, Angelo Mathews, Malinga, Mendis.
News Ki Duniya (This Blog :) )

News Ki Duniya

Welcome to my blog where I will have reviews for all the news pertaining to the subcontinent(India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka). Look for updates soon.