Final 2 Match 33: India Vs Pakistan
India lead 3 match finals 1-0
Venue: Lords
Toss: Pakistan elect to bat
Pakistan 186 all out in 18.4 overs
India 188/5 in 19.2 overs
India won by 5 wickets
India wins tourney 2-0
This was a game that could seal it all and bring an end to a great tournament, one that had all the right ingrediants from the outset, it was a competiton that was in the open for a few teams, yet such is the nature of such tournaments that there can only ever be one team that can previal. Was it to be Pakistan or India? Well Pakistan had it all to do to keep the best of three finals alive. After winning the toss they elected to bat without any hesitation, and this came to no surprise after they failed to chase in the previous final.
As always they started with a flash, Kamran Akmal taking more than 20 from the first over, but there innings was following a similer script, again the first wicket was lost in 40's, and if it wasnt for the horrid time Dhoni was having behind the stumps owing to a lag it would have been alot worse. Pakistan played well against the pace bowlers bar Sharma who they played with total defence, but it was the introduction of Sehwag that turned the game around, his 4 overs got him 4 wickets, at just over a run a ball, and considering the manner in which Pakistan's batsman were struggling against him, one wondered why spin wasnt introduced from both ends to really put the shackles on Pakistan, in the end Shoaib Malik added some much needed injection to get Pakistan close to the 200 mark, but they lost all their wickets with 10 balls to spare, would these 10 balls come back to haunt Pakistan?
India came out with a plan, it was not all guns blazing like the Pakistan batsman it was much more articulated than that, they found the very few gaps that existed in the inner ring without lofting it over the in feild, and got the constant two's, India were easly getting ten an over without the boundries. The opning stand was worth 60, it was a marvelled run chase. Pakistan did not give up and so they should not have, the game was still very much alive, India always required more than 8 an over and with Shoaib Akhtar being saved for the latter stages of the innings, it was not going to be as straight forward as it seemed. In fact this game was heading in the direction of a thrilling final, one that would go right down to the wire, and with a great spell of bowling from Shoaib in his last 3 overs giving very little away bar a few edges which gave India some very valuble runs. He took the match into the final over with India needing 7 to win, but by this stage Akhtar had finished his spell, so the odds were on India, yet stranger things have happend in a game of cricket.
In the climax of the game, Pakistan selected Fisal Iqbal to bowl his gentle medium pacers for the last over, completley forgetting they still had to bowl one compulsry spin over, the game came to a halt, whilst discussions took place of what should be done, and amongst the discussions the bowler auto bowled a delivery which was smashed for four, in the end Pakistan conceeded the win to India, taking the penalty of selecting the wrong bowler, and knowing the probability that India would manage the 7 runs in the final over against a spinner with 5 wickets in hand.
Pakistan would feel they fell 10 or 20 runs short when they batted, had they made use of their full alloted overs, it may well have made the difference between losing the match and winning it, but these are the if's and but's that a game of Cricket so often includes, in the end India were the befitting victors for this competition, there unbeaten record is evidence of that. They had some close encounters, but in every encounter they had what it took to win, it's as though they have forgot how to lose a game.
Congratulations to India, and in fact Pakistan for putting up a great final, with the next tournament around the corner, these two teams again will be the ones to watch out for.