by Vinay Anand
Umar Akmal played yet another sparkling innings which helped resurrect the Pakistani innings as they set an imposing total of 167 on a greenish Edgbaston wicket in the first match of the series. Akmal blazed away the Australian bowlers to all parts of the ground en route his innings of 64 which came of just 31 balls.
umar akmal 12
Earlier in the day, Pakistan had won the toss and elected to bat. Pakistan lost their opener shahzaib Hasan very early on in the piece as he holed out to David Hussey at mid on. Butt and Kamran Akmal tried to kick start the innings but things never really started to get going as the duo couldn’t string much together as they succumbed to some brilliant Aussie fielding. Pakistan lost 3 wickets for 2 runs which reduced them to 47 for 4.
The much talked about Shahid Afridi failed with the bat as he attempted an ambitious sweep shot and was trapped L.B.W by Smith. Newly wedded Shoaib Malik along with man of the match Umar Akmal steadied the ship as the duo put on 51 of 27 balls which gave the Pakistani’s much needed momentum. Umar Akmal along with carting 3 huge sixes showed his finesse and class with some deft touches of the Australian seamers. Shaun Tait continued in the same vain as he did against England and returned brilliant figures of 2 for 25 of his 4 Overs.
The Australians with their long batting line up would have thought they were in with a fair chance on a good pitch and a fast outfield. Watson was trapped L.B.W in the first over which left Warner with a lot to do. Warner played in typical fashion as he drilled Shoaib Akhtar for 5 boundaries of his first over. Warner after having got off to a flier got stuck in and failed to kick on and was bowled by Saeed Ajmal. He tried playing two shots of one delivery and ended up playing none as he heard the rattling of the stumps behind him. Michael Clarke’s Twenty 20 woes continued as he fell to a brilliant catch by Shahid Afridi. The Australian’s were looking good when D Hussey and Warner were at the crease but eventually the versatility of the Pakistani bowling got to them and they were bundled out 23 runs short of the target.
White and M Hussey joined forces once again as they attempted another surge reminiscent to the one 6 weeks back at St. Lucia. However, Shahid Afridi was brilliant with the ball and more so on the field as he flew in the air two handed and caught white. Michael Hussey attempted another revival with young Steven Smith but the effort was all in vain as Gul, Aamer and Ajmal trounced the Australians.
The pitch ended up a little sluggish as both Clarke and White were dismissed driving with the ball sticking in the wicket. Umar Gul has been a massive addition to this side as his reliable death bowling takes a lot of pressure of the other bowlers. In the end it was Umar Akmal who won the Pakistani’s the match as he seized the initiative and didn’t let the game drift away.
Looking forward the Australian’s would want to curtail the number of extras they give and would have to find a way to score more productively in the death Overs. With Gul around, rest assured the Australians aren’t going to get too many length balls. Keeping that in my mind only M Hussey and Steven Smith (to an extent) are able to play the lap shot which is the only way to tackle the Yorker. Pakistan finally beat Australia after a long wait of 13 matches. Australia will look to win the match tomorrow night so as to share the trophy. Indeed, lightning never strikes twice…
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