Misbah, Arafat lift Pakistan to 158 – T20 India v Pak
By newsadmin at 3 June, 2009, 11:14 am
The old flame discovered a new wick at The Oval. Having not met in any form of cricket since last year’s Asia Cup in Karachi, Pakistan and India, old sparring partners, wasted little time in going for punches and counter-punches during a frenetically-paced first innings.
A wicket in the first over didn’t deter Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal from counterattacking spectacularly with a 25-ball 43-run stand. They stumbled just as sensationally, losing the next three wickets on the same score before the two coolest heads in the team, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq rebuilt and took Pakistan to a fighting total.
In front of a sell-out crowd that even the final of this event will be proud of, Praveen Kumar and Shehzad set the agenda early. Praveen followed two bouncers with an outswinger to clean up Shahzaib Hasan. But holding back this game was not meant for.
The first ball after the wicket Akmal crashed through the covers for four. In the next over Shehzad hit RP Singh for three boundaries, an over during which he was dropped by Harbhajan Singh at short midwicket.
The next two overs were almost a blur, with Akmal and Shehzad cashing in on short-pitched bowling from Indian medium-pacers. RP Singh was removed, but Irfan Pathan proved to be too full, and was driven by Akmal for back-to-back boundaries either side of the pitch.
India went to out-and-out pace in the fifth over, and they could ask for the services of Ishant Sharma, fourth pacer, because this was a warm-up match and a 13-a-side game. Immediately India came back, at first through superb work at cover from Suresh Raina, running Akmal out. Shehzad top-edged a pull in the same over, and a promoted Shahid Afridi went boom on the first ball he faced, and managed just an edge. Forty-five for 1 had become 45 for 4.
But staying true to the spirit of the game, Shoaib Malik counterattacked, hitting Irfan for two boundaries in the same over. MS Dhoni brought on both the spinners in response, and Pragyan Ojha’s arm-ball accounted for Malik. Finally there was time to draw breath as Misbah and Younis started the reconstruction.
Either side of Malik’s dismissal, no boundary was hit for 42 balls until Misbah made room and lofted Ojha to wide long-on in the 13th over. Younis followed suit and slog-swept Yuvraj Singh and reverse-swept Harbhajan for boundaries. When he reverse-swept once too often and was stumped, the two had been added 50 in 45 balls.
Time had come again for a fitting finish, and Yasir Arafat and Misbah didn’t disappoint. Arafat hit the 19th over, from RP, for three boundaries, and Misbah, who was 20 off 21 when Younis got out, too corrected the strike-rate getting 17 in the next nine balls he faced. The two added 45 in 21 balls, 29 coming in the last two overs.
Misbah by hitting the last ball, from Praveen, for four took Pakistan one clear of what India defended in the World Twenty20 final two years ago in South Africa. A total of 158 might look a bit on the lower side, but Pakistan, like India, will have more bowlers to choose from.
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