What a Match!

By: K. Gautam

The Indian and Pakistan cricket teams scripted what even the most innovative of Hollywood scriptwriters find hard – create a sequel almost as engrossing as the first part. The final may not have ended in a bowl out as on the earlier occasion - but what a match, what a finish!

Misbah-ul-haq almost did a Javed Miandad as he almost single handedly won the match for Pakistan from a hopeless position. Hope he is a man of impregnable mind and heart to get over the agony of coming close to beating India not once, but twice in the competition. They say, “sometimes even when you lose, you are a winner,” – but try telling that to Misbah-ul-haq. He might say “Nothing succeds like success,” especially in an India-Pakistan final.

Dhoni and his men pulled off yet another memorable victory. MS Dhoni has led his team in an impeccable manner in this competition, never letting the occasion get to him and his team, and ever intrepid to make unconventional moves. Today, his bowling change at the end turned out to be masterstroke. He yet again placed his faith in Joginder Sharma to bowl the final over, when everyone thought the experienced Harbhajan might get to bowl it, him having one last over to bowl. With Misbah-ul-haq having hit 3 sixes of the previous Harbhajan over and the bowler seemingly short on confidence, he threw the ball to Joginder who held his nerve and delivered – yet again.

Indian Innings

India started without Virender Sehwag (nursing a groin injury), debutant Yusuf Pathan (brother of Irfan) replacing him. Yusuf showed no signs of nerves as he hoisted Mohammad Asif for a six over long on in the very first over. He scored a short but brisk knock of 15 of just 8 deliveries giving his team a good start (25/1 in 2.4). Uthappa didn’t last long and his dismissal brought the in-form Yuvraj at 40 for 2 in the 6th over. Skipper Shoaib Malik wisely brought on Afridi and Hafeez, not giving the pace that Yuvraj loves, and he never got going. His mistimed pull of Umar Gul ended his innings (103/3 in 13.3).

Gautam Gambhir (75 of 54 deliveries, 4X8, 2X6) at the other end played a splendid knock with fearless strokes, always keeping India in the hunt for the 180 they would have had in mind. Umar Gul’s accurate spell of 3/28 made sure none of the batsmen other than Gambhir got an eye in. He was ably supported by the other bowlers, keeping the Indian batsmen including Dhoni at bay. After Dhoni’s and Gambhir’s dismissals, Rohit Sharma scored a quick fire 30 of 16 deliveries (2X4, 1X6) towards the end, propelling India to a respectable 157/5.

Pakistan Innings

RP Singh provided the breakthrough in the very first over, removing Mohammad Hafiz, who only managed to present a catch to Uthappa at second slip, trying to steer the ball to third man. Imran Nazir started off in a frenzy, taking on the wayward Sreesanth in the second over, which cost 21 runs. With India again desperate for wickets, RP Singh produced a peach of a delivery, which swung in late to castle Kamran Akmal, who came in one down. Imran Nazir still continued with his brave hoists over the field, taking full advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first six overs.

Robin Uthappa, in a moment of brilliance, made a direct hit at the keeper’s end to send back Imran Nazir (33 of 14, 4X4, 2X6), Pakistan 53/3 after 5.4. With Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik at the crease and with a required rate of an achievable 8 an over, Pakistan looked to be on course.

Bad Shot

Younis Khan would rue the bad shot he played to let India right back into the match. His heave of Joginder Sharma failed to clear mid-on, presenting an easy catch to Yusuf Pathan. This error in judgment probably cost Pakistan the match.

More pressure was created by Irfan Pathan at the other end, who was cleverly mixing his deliveries. With the asking rate touching 10 an over, Shoaib Malik pulled a short one off Irfan Pathan straight into the hands of Rohit Sharma at short mid-wicket. Pakistan was banking on Shahid Afridi to play a match winning innings. He however chanced his arms too soon, holing out to Sreesanth at mid-off. Yasir Arafat hit some useful boundaries before being cleaned up by Irfan. At 116/7 at the end of the 16th over, Pakistan looked dead and buried.

Fightback

With 54 runs required of 24 deliveries at this stage, Misbah-ul-haq decided to take things by the scruff of the neck, smashing 3 sixes of Harbhajan. With 19 runs of that over and 35 runs required of 18, Pakistan was right back into the match. Sohail Tanvir (12 of 4 balls) joined in to hit Sreesanth for 2 sixes, with the bowler making the mistake of bowling length deliveries. Sreesanth however had the last laugh, yorking Tanvir of the last ball of the 18th over. 20 runs were now required of 12 balls, with 2 wickets in hand.

RP Singh bowled an excellent 19th over as he did in the semis against Australia. He castled no. 10 Umar Gul, Pakistan requiring 17 runs of 7, with Misbah having only Mohammed Asif for company. Asif edged one to third man for a crucial boundary of the last ball of the 19th over – 13 runs required of the last 6 balls.

The Last Over

Misbah-ul-haq had been dropped by Robin Uthappa in the 15th over. Was he going to make India pay?

Joginder Sharma starts the final delivery with a wide, a delivery that swings too much beyond the off stump and is gathered by Dhoni – 12 runs required of 6 balls. The next ball is a dot ball, worth a million carats in gold - 12 runs of 5. The third ball is a full toss and Misbah takes full advantage of it heaving it over long off for a six – 6 of 4 balls.

At this moment, Pakistan is just one hit away from victory. Having been unsuccessful at a yorker the previous delivery, Joginder goes for a short of length delivery, and Misbah prefers the scoop over fine leg. The ball goes high over fine leg, and everyone’s hearts is in their mouths. Was it going well over fine leg for a boundary or was it going to fall just beyond the fine leg fielder? As luck would have it, Joginder’s lack of pace probably didn’t help carry the ball much further and Sreesanth held onto the catch, as he would to dear life, and India had won.

Irfan Pathan won the man of the match for his tight spell of 3/16. Shahid Afridi won the player of the tournament award.

The first 20/20 World Cup is India’s and this hopefully would erase some of the bad memories of the early exit in the World Cup earlier in the year.