They Came Close

Good Match. The problem for Pakistan remained with the batting. The first three or four wickets were the usual but this time the middle did not hold. Usually it had been Misbah and Malik to rescue. Misbah certainly showed he can play Twenty20 but one thing that will be questioned about him is the nerves. Twice (both against India) he took Pakistan to the brink and just when things were a possible one shot away with plenty of deliveries left he gave it away. Of course his choices were somewhat limited because he probably did not want to give the strike away. It was a baseball situation where a batter must carefully take account of the few pitches he will see and choose the right one. The ICL may be getting in touch with him if they are going to be around. The delay does not look good.

Pakistan even until the final remained uncertain of their line up. Should Afridi come at the top or Akmal or Butt. Interestingly, and tellingly, the two most consistent performers with the bat for Pakistan knew their positions. In the end probably Yousuf was missed though certainly not clearly evident. It would have been nice had the board (selectors) sat down with Yousuf and Malik and tried to see how best to fit him in. May be they did but somehow I doubt it.

Afridi's duck, Nazir's run out, in the end the mistakes just piled on enough for India to squeak through. They have appeared the most intense team. Joginder must be a relieved man; that over was not proceeding well. Pakistan's batting woes were somewhat apparent considering that the Pathans, and Joginder bowled at under five an over cumulatively; A pattern that Pakistan has repeated yet again against middling bowling. They could not produce that one fifty plus partnership that they needed. India's bowling was their huge success. In an understated way their batting was too: They kept the wickets.

India deserved their win twice holding off the Pakistani challenge. A team that had otherwise remained undefeated.