It's Only
Cricket
|
|
|
England punish Pakistan by 48 runs, stay in hunt for Super 8s.Filed under
Eng v Pak - WC T20 - 7 June 09
Coming into this Group B match, the last for England and first for Pakistan, home team were under pressure to stay in the competition. Last ball loss to Netherlands had meant England must win this game to stay alive in 2009 Twenty20 World cup, but neither weather forecast nor the aura of Pakistan team were ready for allow any freebees.Thankfully, toss happened at scheduled time and Pakistan skipper Younus Khan inserted England in to bat first. Ravi Bopara was caught acrobatically at Jonty's corner by Shoaib Mallik. Kevin Pietersen, who didn't play in last game, joined in form Luke Wright and together they put on 53 handsome runs at quite a runrate. Exit of Luke Wright brought Owais Shah onto the crease who was under double pressure to stay in England side after string of low scores recently. Just over run a ball, Shah proved perfect partner for Kevin Pietersen, feeding Hampshire batsman enough strike. Pietersen played an innings against his nature, scoring freely and trying to hit down the ground rather than slogging to mid-wicket. Obvisously, he connected bat to ball better and hence, brought up the half century that England desperately needed in the middle order batting. Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi bowled well within themselves but failed to pick wickets which top class spinners are supposed to do. Dimitri Mascarenhas' 12 ball 16 runs and James Foster's 14 off just 8 balls with a six notched up respectable 185 for home team, which they now had to defend to stay in the tournament. 17 year old Ahmad Shahzad fell trying an over ambitious shot against Mascarenhas with new ball and then Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt departed back to back to Stuart Broad, digging a hole Pakistani side had few chances to come out of. An agressive 46 runs between captain Younus Khan and Shoaib Mallik raised bit of home for Pakistani supporters but it too faded away quickly. England secured a 48 run victory, which now gives them a high run rate in Points table for T20 world cup 2009, virtually confirming them a place in Super eight stage. Photo Quiz : Identify Cricketers | Pictures : Cricketers Wife & Girlfriends Related ArticlesEng v Pak - WC T20 - 7 June 09
|
|
Coming into this Group B match, the last for England and first for Pakistan, home team were under pressure to stay in the competition. Last ball loss to Netherlands had meant England must win this game to stay alive in 2009 Twenty20 World cup, but neither weather forecast nor the aura of Pakistan team were ready for allow any freebees.