Pakistan have done it! Bit of drama there as Malik squirted out a yorker and got a thick outside edge down to third man, Malinga went up in appeal thinking it struck his boot in front of off stump, Malinga was pretty upset his appeal was turned down but by then they had completed two runs, in fact they ran three, just in case!
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan, Only T20I at Abu Dhabi, Nov 25 2011 - Match Result
Here's the presentation:
Aizaz Cheema is the Man of the Match: "I thank my coach, captain and family. In the first over I wanted to bowl line and length and thankfully I got wickets. It was a very good effort on our part to keep them under 150."
Dilshan: "We were short by 20 runs today. We are not finishing well and we're repeating this mistake again and again. Bowlers did a great job."
Misbah: "It's all to do with the teamwork, including the management. We were under pressure when we started bowling and the spinners did really well. We thought they were going to score 200. We (me and Afridi) discussed that if we both stayed till the end we would pull it off. I'd like to thank the crowd, it looks like we're playing back at home."
So congrats if you're a Pakistan fan. You have plenty to cheer for. Sri Lanka have a lot to sort out before they head to South Africa. Pakistan meanwhile will head to Bangladesh. Join us for that, starting November 29. Good night and cheers!
******
Just when we thought 141 wouldn't be enough. Well another 10 runs and Sri Lanka would have taken a consolation win. Nevertheless, full credit to Sri Lanka for making a fight out of this, though they weren't exactly good enough. Well, just. Hats off to Misbah for steering his team through. The safety net he provided was the ideal foil for Afridi to come out and play his fearless shots.
Time for me to catch my breath! This was yet another absorbing contest.
Ozzy: "They ran the third run just because of excitement! Can't stop laughing to this!"
Nani: "Where were the toe crushers from Malinga??" Well, he just didn't bowl enough of those. Simple.
2 needed off 4. Malik has a packed infield
well bowled, yorker outside off, he turns the bat and just manages to beat Malinga
Dreadful luck here for Sri Lanka
6 runs and overthrows! Misbah makes room and squirts it down to the off side, they take two and Angelo's throw was to the batsman's end, Sangakkara over ran the ball and he failed to gather it, no back up and to raced away to fine leg
Shoaib Malik walks in. He has a chance to justify his selection
is there a twist here? Fernando pitches it up and Afridi makes room and goes for the slog again, gets a thin outside edge and Sangakkara laps it up. It's amazing how the sound of that edge overshadowed the din here at the stadium
In fact that shot has broken the toe of is bat!
makes room and carves a full ball over extra cover, not enough power to take it down to the rope
good comeback, Fernando fires a fuller ball and beats Afridi for pace, well bowled
this was going going, don't know where it is! Slower ball and fuller this time, Afridi uses all his muscle behind this slog and biffs it over deep midwicket, talk about power. And they've lost the ball, thought so. It landed on the crowd, not a bad souvenir to keep!
One wicket here will make things realy interesting
Afridi attempts another hoick but he swishes at thin air, this was further away from the off stump
if only you could listen to the crowd roar! Fernando makes the mistake of dropping a slower ball on a good length, he swings it from the off stump and clubs it over wide long-on
23 needed off two overs! This is tense
super comeback by Malinga, full and outside off, too quick for Misbah to even squirt it out
keeps it on the stumps on a good length and Afridi hoicks him across the line behind square
another yorker outside off and squeezed to the off side, SL won't mind that single
that's more like it from Malinga, yorker outside off and awkwardly squirted away byvMisbah
swings it away and Misbah reaches out and just beats the fielder on the off side, long-off runs across to pick it up
Malinga badly needs to slip in that unplayable yorker
slower ball and patted down to point for a quick single
and Malinga sprays it so wide outside off that you needed two bats to chase that
29 needed off 18! This over has made the difference for Pakistan
and Misbah relieves the pressure at the end of the over! Low full toss and Misbah moves across the stumps and helps it on its way down to the vacant spaces at deep square leg
well bowled again, he taps it to the off side and he decides against the single, Afridi's a bit slow in dragging his bat back in and there's a direct hit, they take an overthrow, it's touch and go and Afridi gets a breather, he gets the benefit of the doubt
taps it to the off side to Dilshan and they don't risk a run
Fine leg comes up for Afridi
slower ball this time and he tapped it to the off side for a single
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi | |
Toss | Sri Lanka, elected to bat first |
Series | |
Season | 2011/12 |
Player Of The Match | |
Match number | T20I no. 215 |
Hours of play (local time) | 20.00 start, First Session 20.00-21.20, Interval 21.20-21.40, Second Session 21.40-23.00 |
Match days | 25 November 2011 - night (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |