All-Rounder Hit Two Sixes in Last Over
At the other end Rohit Sharma looked in imperious form, pulling Umar Gul for six in the fourth over and going even better against Junaid three overs later, as he flicked a ball off his pads for a maximum and followed that up with a four off the next ball. Junaid suffered at the hands of Rohit in his next over too – pushing one over mid-off and one over the batsman’s head for two more boundaries. However Gul continued to bowl a tight line, keeping the ball up to the bat the batsmen and his persistence was rewarded with the wicket of Kohli (5) trying to guide the ball to third man but some extra bounce only resulted in an edge to the wicket-keeper. At the end of the first powerplay it was honours even, with Pakistan having claimed two big wickets but India going at six an over.
Rohit brought up his 50 with with a boundary off Afridi, his half-century coming off just 44 balls, with 7 fours and two sixes. Mohammad Talha was also introduced into the attack, and he continued to bowl the line which had allowed Umar Gul to keep the batsmen quiet, offering little width to the batsmen. Saeed Ajmal, who was introduced after the drinks break, in the 17th over along with Talha, dried up the boundaries.
A few quiet overs resulted in Rohit looking for a big shot, trying to pull a short delivery by Mohammad Talha, who claimed his first ODI wicket. Hafeez took the catch, but the collision with Sharjeel saw the opener limping off. Talha was rewarded for his extra pace and bounce and he nearly eked out another one in the over, Rahane’s straight drive dropping just short of the bowler. India were 92/3 in the 20th over, after being 60/2 in the 10th, showing the frugality of Ajmal and Talha after the opening bowlers were taken off.
Rahane and Rayudu tried to build a partnership, and Rahane looked in good touch, playing against the spin and drilling Ajmal for four through the covers. However Talha, into his sixth over, was maintaining his pace over 140kps and also finding bounce, picked up his second wicket as Rahane (23) tried to flick the ball over the infield but instead found Mohmmad Hafeez who leapt up to take a good catch at midwicket.
Rayudu and Karthik came together in the 24th over and put on 52 in the next 14 overs, before Karthik 23(46) swept the ball straight to short fine leg to Saeed Ajmal off the bowling of Mohammad Hafeez. Karthik would have been disappointed with the dismissal, given he had done much of the hard work and his attacking style would have been useful as the Indian innings entered the final 10 overs.
However, Jadeja joined Rayudu, who was looking comfortable at the crease. Hafeez had a big lbw shout against Jadeja in the 39th over. Umpire Long turned down the appeal but Hawkeye showed the ball to be cannoning into leg stump and Pakistan were not happy, in particular the bowler who was warned by the umpire and Dhawan watching on would be wondering why he was given out earlier in the day.
Rayudu planted an Afridi delivery into the stands in the stands over midwicket in the 42nd over and Jadeja also looked to accelerate but skied one, only for bowler Hafeez to drop the easiest of catches. Rayudu brought up his half-century off just 55 balls as India went into the final five overs on 201/5.
Talha picked up an injury in the field earlier and Gul was brought back into the attack. Gul had to take evasive action when Jadeja slammed a full delivery back over his head for four and the left-hander followed that up with another, pulling through midwicket. Ajmal returned to the attack and removed Rayudu (58) but Jadeja capitalised on being granted two reprieves, blasting an unbeaten 52 off 49 balls.
Ashwin was also given not out after appearing to edge Gul, subsequently collected consecutive boundaries. Ajmal picked up two wickets for just one run in the 49th over, outfoxing Ashwin with a doosra and Mohammad Shami was caught trying to hit the off-spinner out of the park.
India scored 44 runs off the final eight overs, Gul being the main culprit, conceding 12 off the 46th over and 16 off the 48th over as Indian ended on 245/8.
Pakistan started their innings brightly, with Ahmed Shehzad and Sharjeel Khan ensuring that Pakistan raced to 67/0 from the first 10 overs, as both openers found the boundary with regularity against the Indian new ball bowlers Mohammad Shami and Bhuvi Kumar, including a four and a six in the eighth over off Shami. Jadeja was introduced to try and stem the flow of runs and he looked to have done exactly that until Shehzad pushed two short delivers through the covers to collect consecutive boundries. The opening stand was broken on 71 by a Ravi Ashwin carom ball, which went through the gate after Sharjeel Khan (25) played a lazy drive, and the left-hander departed for 22 after yet another start.
Hafeez smashed the second delivery he faced for 6, slamming Jadeja over long-on as he looked to carry on the momentum but once Mishra was introduced into the attack, he immediately found some spin. He was rewarded with the wicket of Ahmed Shehzad (42), who had looked good until he pulled straight to Ashwin and Pakistan had lost both openers to leave them 93/2 after 15 overs.
Captain Misbah-ul-Haq came out to bat at number four but he was run out after Hafeez changed his mind with Misbah (1) half way down the pitch. Jadeja pounced and Mishra did well to collect the ball and whip off the bails. This was the second time the captain had been run out in two innings, after a similar dismissal against Afghanistan. Maqsood joined Hafeez and the pair set about repairing the damage, picking up singles regularly interspersed with the occasional boundary. They took the score past 200 in the 44th over before Ashwin struck, a top-edged sweep carrying to the fielder at square leg.
This brought Shahid Afridi to the crease with 44 needed off the last 6 overs. Disaster struck when a misunderstanding led to Maqsood being run out, tilting the game India’s way. With 43 needed off 30, Afridi took the attack to Jadeja, pulling him for six before a delicate sweep for four. Another four in the next over followed by a six from Umar Gul put Pakistan’s nose in front as they required 17 from the final three overs, which became 13 off 12 balls after a tight over from Mohammad Shami.
More drama was to follow though. Gul was caught by Rahane and Mohammad Talha fell first ball to leave 10 needed from the final over with 2 wickets left. When Ajmal was bowled first ball it looked like India may have sealed it, but Junaid Khan sensibly took a single to give the strike back to Afridi with 9 needed off 3. The temperamental Pakistan all-rounder first, gave himself room and smashed Ashwin over cover for six before a top edge off the very next ball sailed over the boundary rope to seal a brilliant one wicket win for Pakistan!
What a game! Pakistan finally managed to chase down a total against India but they certainly made hard work of it. The openers started well and Hafeez and Maqsood deserve credit for their partnership which got Pakistan back into the game. But the headlines will go to Shahid Afridi, whose final two sixes will be remembered for a very long time. His 34 off 18 balls proved crucial in the end and should set up a clash in the final with Sri Lanka.
