Australia VS Pakistan
Australia 177/5 in 19 Overs (David Warner 49, Matthew Wade 41*, Marcus Stoinis 40*, Mitchell Marsh 41*, Shadab Khan 4/26, Shaheen Shah Afridi 1/35)
Pakistan 176/4 (Mohammad Rizwan 67, Fakhar Zaman 55, Babar Azam 39, Mitchell Starc 2/38)
Australia Won By 5 Wickets
Player of The Match: Matthew Wade
Mathew Wade striking three sixes on a row in the last three balls of the penultimate overs buried hopes of Pakistan reaching the final. From nowhere Australia scoring 177/5 overhauled the steep target that Pakistan set scoring 176/4.
The unbroken wicket match winning partnership between Wade and Stoinis produced 81 runs in 6.4 overs. In the same 19th over bowled by Shaheen Afridi Wade could be out. Hasan Ali dropped a sitter. An over earlier an out side edge off the bat of Stoinis of the ball of Harris Rauf dropped just short of Rizwan. Lady luck favored brave Aussies.
In another breath taking semi final another team Australia from down Australia stormed into the final of ICC T20 world cup. The inform team Pakistan conceding 22 runs in the penultimate over that too of premiere bowler Shaheen Afridi lost by 5 wickets in a high scoring derby. A day earlier New Zealand beat England reached the final.
New Zealand was among the top favorites but Australia was ranked outsider . The Tasman cousins reaching the final would produce a new champion. Some less informed Bangladeshi fans have started consoling saying Bangladesh beat both Australia and New Zealand (although not the same units) in bilateral T20 series weeks before the tournament at Dhaka .
In matches starting in the evening at UAE desert toss favors the team winning. Night dew favors the team defending. Australia winning the toss had the favor. But in a knock out match nerves also play a role and runs on board also count. Pakistan batting first after being inserted batted well scoring 176/4. Babar Azam was in his usual sparkling form racing to 39 in 34 balls. His partner Rizwan scored 67 in 52 deliveries. Fakhar Zaman coming at the fall of Babar’s wicket blasted unbeaten 55 off only 32 deliveries But given the nature of the flat wicket the score could be still 20 runs more if not Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik getting out Cheaply in the quest of quick runs. Pat Cummins bowled an excellent miserly 19 th over.
The match boiled up when Shaheen Afridi in his very first over trapped Flinch with a superb fast swing delivery. With a little bit of luck he could have removed Marsh in the same over. Babar made the first mistake of the tournament letting left arm spinner Imad bowling against inform left-handed Warner. He savaged Imad. Warner and Marsh took away the imitative. But Shadab Khan brought into attack struck blows repeatedly taking wicket in each of his four overs. Pakistan maintained grip till the 19th over, as Australia was requiring 22 for the win. In came Shaheen Shah for the last over of the spell. That dramatic over changed the course of the match. Warner mistimed a stroke and should have been comfortably caught by Hasan Ali. Getting reprieve Wade chanced his arm and struck three consecutive sixes of the last three balls of Shaheen’s 19th over. Australia won the match miraculously. Australia met Pakistan 5 times in the knock out stage of global tournament now and won every time. It happened at Lahore in 1987, Lords in 1999, St Lucia in 2010 and Adelaide in 2015.
For us Australians it will be mixed feelings playing against our Tasman cousins in the final at Dubai on Sunday, early Morning on Monday in our part of the world. Well done Australia, well done Pakistan. Cricket finally won.
BFST: 0835 HRS, NOV 12, 2021
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