Story Sharjah Cup FINAL - India VS Pakistan

[ashu2411]

Now I would like to invite Australian Captain Ricky Ponting to the stage.

Welcome Ponting. Congratulations on your win and it was a great match.

Yeah it certainly was close but Lee pulled out a win for us. Our bowlers today gave so many runs which let India build up a target around 300 and then despite of a good start we were struggling at four down for less ten 100. But hussey played really well to kkep his cool and brought us close to win.

What were you thinking when we got into last over with Australia needing 13 runs to win with Lee on strike?

That was a very tense situation and a loss would have finished our chances of reaching to finals, but I had full faith in Lee and he also did not disappointed us all.

Now you have your last league match against Pakistan.

Pakistan is a very dangerous side and in Sharjah particularly they are always deadly. Although we beat them in last match but they can bounce back anytime. We will go fully prepared in that match and will hopefully win to get into final of Sharjah Cup.

 

[ashu2411]

Man of the Match - Michael Hussey​

Now its time for Man of the Match award and without any doubt the award goes to Michael Hussey for his brilliant inning of 88 from 84 balls which included 11 boundaries.

 

[sachinisgod2]

Great match and Great series so far.

 

[ashu2411]

Here is the latest standings.

 

[ashu2411]

Next match is Australia vs Pakistan which will be the last league match.

I will be autoplaying most of this match because I now want to finish this series quickly but will play each and every ball of the final match.

 

[Cricketman]

good job aus.

 

[amitbansal]

Australia clearly showing there why they are the world champs by handling the pressure in great style.

 

[ashu2411]

Welcome to the sixth and last league match of Sharjah Cup between Pakistan and Australia. A terrific atmosphere here with great support for both team and everyone will be expecting a great match like the second league match.

Both teams arrived here early in the morning and practised up to get warm up for the crucial match. The coaches and captains are busy in reading the pitch. The weather here is warm and dry, no signs of rain. It will be a hard work in the field and dew can play a major role in the second inning. Now lets go to Sanjay Majeraker for the pitch report.

Hello and welcome everyone to the Sixth League Match of Sharjah Cup. This is a very important match for both teams and the pitch will play a major factor in this match. So, lets analyze it first. The pitch is dusty and is heavily rolled. No sign of grass at all and I would expect the pitch to break a bit after few overs. Overall this is a very good batting pitch and any captain winning toss will go to bat first and take full use of good batting conditions although we should not be surprised if any captain decides to exploit these seaming conditions first. The pitch will definitely give some spin as the match progresses on. Thats all in the pitch report and now back to our commentary box.

Now lets join the match refree M J Procter to the middle of ground where two captains are waiting for the toss. Ponting has the coin and Inzamam makes the call - Heads and it is Heads. So inzamam has won the toss.

Inzamam:

This is a good batting pitch and we will want to use it first and build a good total on board. We will be happy with the score of 280 run and our bowlers will do the rest.

Ponting:

It was a disappointment to loose the toss in this very crucial match. Now our bowlers need to bowl tight and good to restrict Pakistan to a low total which I am sure our bowling is fully capable of.

 

[ashu2411]

So the players are making their way to the ground. Salman Butt and Afridi will open for Pakistan while Mcgrath will bowl the first over of the match. Now lets join the action as umpires signal for the start of match.

Here are the twolineups:

 

[ashu2411]

Pakistan openers started of well with confidence and handled Mcgrath and Bracken with new ball very well. Afridi looked in great form and played some beautiful shots against Mcgrath and Bracken while Butt just seemed to play quietly by dealing only in singles. Mcgrath bowled a superb line with great control but failed to provide a breakthrough. Lee was a bit expensive but bowled with good pace.

 

[SaiSrini]

Thats slow start for Pakistan!

They need to accelerate more now!

 

[Cricketman]

cmoon Aus! Bracko can keep it tight!

 

[ramesh1986]

Comon Afridi, you can playy much faster then this.

 

[ashu2411]

sorry guys, I will post the update tomorrow.

 

[ashu2411]

Ponting decided to continue wit Mcgrath at one end and brought Bracken from the other. Bracken soon got rid of Afridi when Afridi tried to smash bal all over covers but ended up giving a simple catch to Hodge at third man. Pakistan captain inzamam now replaces Afridi. Salman Butt now after a slow start open his hands little bit and played some beautiful shots all over the ground. Mcgrath finished his tight spell of 10 overs by giving only 31 runs but failed to pick any wicket.

Lee then replaced Mcgrath and immediately he got the wicket of dangerous looking Salman Butt on 40 by getting him caught to Symonds at mid-wicket. Mohammad Yousuf then arrives at crease and started blasting off right from the start. In Hogg's first over, Yousuf smashed him all over long-on for a big six and took the pakistani score to 143/2 in 30 overs. The run rate is now nearing 5 run per over which was once around 3.