SHAHID AFRIDI struck an unbeaten 54 to propel Pakistan to an eight-wicket victory against Sri lanka in the final of the World Twenty20 at lord’s. afridi, the man at the heart of Pakistan’s revival after they lost their opening game to England, stood and saluted the thousands of elated Pakistani fans after he hit the winning run with eight balls to spare.
It was the second global one-day title for Pakistan after Imran Khan’s side rallied in similar fashion to win the 1992 50-over World Cup. They had also lost the inaugural World Twenty20 final in 2007 to India.
Pakistan captainYounus Khan, whose country is undergoing political turmoil and an uncertain cricketing future after the terror attacks on the Sri lankan team in lahore in March, said: ‘For a nation like us, it is the right time. ‘It’s fantastic. We were the underdogs and nobody picked us. That’s why there was less pressure and certainly we turned it on in the big games.’ afridi added: ‘The last two and a half, three years I have bowled really well but I was struggling with my batting.
‘Younus gave me good confidence. I told him I wanted to bat at no.3 in the side and he said okay, if you’re confident just go and play”.’ Sri lanka were up against it after Mohammad aamer, 17, removed the tournament’s top scorer Tillakaratne dilshan for a duck in the first over. abdul razzaq then claimed a wicket in each of his first three overs as Sri lanka limped to 70 for six. But captain Kumar Sangakkara (64 not out) helped post a total of 138 for six after a 68-run stand with angelo Mathews (35 not out). Sangakkara, looking to continue that momentum, switched his bowlers continually but Pakistan never looked in trouble and eased to their target.
1 comment:
the number of time i cry since the last run is unbelievable, i think this is incredible for Pakistan and Pakistanis, Afridi you owe me a lot of water, as i see your picture (an cry every time) every in internet and news paper here in UK. After very long i feel satisfaction for being a Pakistani
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