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#report

Butter-finger osmosis, courtesy the Akmals

Tweet report for the World T20 game between Australia and Pakistan

Nitin Sundar
Nitin Sundar
23-Mar-2014
Good old commentators, they sure love to over-analyse everything. What about the players?
Not quite.
Australia have cocked a snook at all the talk about Twenty20 being a young man's game. They've sent out the dads' army to this World T20. They've also done away with the green-and-golds. 'Down with convention' seems to be their credo.
Pakistan got off to an edgy start for the second time in two games.
Rameez Raja livened up proceedings by talking about the tips he'd given Ahmed Shehzad before the game.
Almost on cue, Shehzad got out.
Considering he's not played a T20I since February 2012, he's probably catching a snooze at home. Pakistan were two-down for not much, bringing the Akmal brothers together.
Umar Akmal looked ominous from the time he walked out. His urgency put the pressure back on Australia, whose old boys struggled on the field. The bowling was ragged too.
There were several theories to explain Australia's shoddiness.
It took a smart running catch from David Warner to end the Akmal partnership.
Shoaib Maqsood didn't last long, but Umar kept playing rousing strokes.
The delirious hitting had it's impact on the commentary box as well.
Umar fell short of a 100, but it was arguably the best T20I innings played by a Pakistan batsman. Australia needed 192.
Australia's chase got off to a horror start, with left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar trumping Warner and Shane Watson in his opening over.
Physco batting is always a problem, Shane.
Who likes it the most when Australia are in strife?
Glenn Maxwell changed all that in the matter of 20 minutes with a spell of sustained, audacious big-hitting.
Bilawal Bhatti came on for the eighth over. It disappeared for 30 runs, including a beamer that missed everyone and ran away to the boundary.
For a while, it looked like Maxwell could do no wrong. His batting was so distracting that it allowed a bad science joke slip into this report.
It was Pakistan's turn to start stuffing it in the field. First Kamran Akmal dropped one behind the stumps, and then Saeed Ajmal let one go in the deep.
Pakistan found the break just in time. Maxwell holed out, with Australia still 66 runs away.
Bailey walked out with a smile, struggled to get the ball away, and then had his stumps scattered by Afridi.
Pakistan were right back in it. And just like that, they somehow managed to lift their fielding standards. Ajmal held a screamer at cover to send Brad Hodge back.
You have to say commentators have had better games than this one.
Ajmal, who'd been hammered by Maxwell in his first couple of overs, bowled a nerveless final over - the 18th of the innings. It included the wicket of Aaron Finch.
Just when you thought you'd seen everything in the first 39 overs of the day ...
Bhatti held his nerve. Haddin couldn't pull it off - after all, it wasn't an Ashes Test. Aubrey Faulkner might have made a difference, mind.
Pakistan vs AustraliaWorld T20

Nitin Sundar is social media manager at ESPNcricinfo

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