25/11Result
Only T20I (N), Sri Lanka tour of United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi, Nov 25 2011
Pakistan won by 5 wkts (3b rem)
Player of the Match
Aizaz CheemaPakistan
25/11Result
Only T20I (N), Sri Lanka tour of United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi, Nov 25 2011
Pakistan won by 5 wkts (3b rem)
Player of the Match
Aizaz CheemaPakistan

Here's the presentation:

Aizaz Cheema is the Man of the Match: "I thank my coach, captain and family. In the first over I wanted to bowl line and length and thankfully I got wickets. It was a very good effort on our part to keep them under 150."

Dilshan: "We were short by 20 runs today. We are not finishing well and we're repeating this mistake again and again. Bowlers did a great job."

Misbah: "It's all to do with the teamwork, including the management. We were under pressure when we started bowling and the spinners did really well. We thought they were going to score 200. We (me and Afridi) discussed that if we both stayed till the end we would pull it off. I'd like to thank the crowd, it looks like we're playing back at home."

So congrats if you're a Pakistan fan. You have plenty to cheer for. Sri Lanka have a lot to sort out before they head to South Africa. Pakistan meanwhile will head to Bangladesh. Join us for that, starting November 29. Good night and cheers!

******

Just when we thought 141 wouldn't be enough. Well another 10 runs and Sri Lanka would have taken a consolation win. Nevertheless, full credit to Sri Lanka for making a fight out of this, though they weren't exactly good enough. Well, just. Hats off to Misbah for steering his team through. The safety net he provided was the ideal foil for Afridi to come out and play his fearless shots.

Time for me to catch my breath! This was yet another absorbing contest.

Ozzy: "They ran the third run just because of excitement! Can't stop laughing to this!"

Nani: "Where were the toe crushers from Malinga??" Well, he just didn't bowl enough of those. Simple.

19.3
2
Malinga to Shoaib Malik, 2 runs, Pakistan have done it! Bit of drama there as Malik squirted out a yorker and got a thick outside edge down to third man, Malinga went up in appeal thinking it struck his boot in front of off stump, Malinga was pretty upset his appeal was turned down but by then they had completed two runs, in fact they ran three, just in case!

2 needed off 4. Malik has a packed infield

19.2
1
Malinga to Misbah-ul-Haq, 1 run, well bowled, yorker outside off, he turns the bat and just manages to beat Malinga

Dreadful luck here for Sri Lanka

19.1
6
Malinga to Misbah-ul-Haq, 6 runs, 6 runs and overthrows! Misbah makes room and squirts it down to the off side, they take two and Angelo's throw was to the batsman's end, Sangakkara over ran the ball and he failed to gather it, no back up and to raced away to fine leg

Shoaib Malik walks in. He has a chance to justify his selection

END OF OVER:
19 | 14 Runs 1 Wkt | PAK: 133/5 (9 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 7.00, RRR: 9.00)

  • Misbah-ul-Haq41 (36b)
  • Dilhara Fernando4-0-36-1
  • Lasith Malinga3-0-23-1
18.6
W
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, OUT, is there a twist here? Fernando pitches it up and Afridi makes room and goes for the slog again, gets a thin outside edge and Sangakkara laps it up. It's amazing how the sound of that edge overshadowed the din here at the stadium

Shahid Afridi c †Sangakkara b Fernando 22 (15b 0x4 2x6) SR: 146.66

In fact that shot has broken the toe of is bat!

18.5
2
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, 2 runs, makes room and carves a full ball over extra cover, not enough power to take it down to the rope
18.4
0
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, no run, good comeback, Fernando fires a fuller ball and beats Afridi for pace, well bowled
18.3
6
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, SIX, this was going going, don't know where it is! Slower ball and fuller this time, Afridi uses all his muscle behind this slog and biffs it over deep midwicket, talk about power. And they've lost the ball, thought so. It landed on the crowd, not a bad souvenir to keep!

One wicket here will make things realy interesting

18.2
0
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, no run, Afridi attempts another hoick but he swishes at thin air, this was further away from the off stump
18.1
6
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, SIX, if only you could listen to the crowd roar! Fernando makes the mistake of dropping a slower ball on a good length, he swings it from the off stump and clubs it over wide long-on

23 needed off two overs! This is tense

END OF OVER:
18 | 6 Runs | PAK: 119/4 (23 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.61, RRR: 11.50)

  • Misbah-ul-Haq41 (36b)
  • Shahid Afridi8 (9b)
  • Lasith Malinga3-0-23-1
  • Dilhara Fernando3-0-22-0
17.6
0
Malinga to Misbah-ul-Haq, no run, super comeback by Malinga, full and outside off, too quick for Misbah to even squirt it out
17.5
1
Malinga to Shahid Afridi, 1 run, keeps it on the stumps on a good length and Afridi hoicks him across the line behind square
17.4
1
Malinga to Misbah-ul-Haq, 1 run, another yorker outside off and squeezed to the off side, SL won't mind that single
17.3
0
Malinga to Misbah-ul-Haq, no run, that's more like it from Malinga, yorker outside off and awkwardly squirted away byvMisbah
17.2
2
Malinga to Misbah-ul-Haq, 2 runs, swings it away and Misbah reaches out and just beats the fielder on the off side, long-off runs across to pick it up

Malinga badly needs to slip in that unplayable yorker

17.1
1
Malinga to Shahid Afridi, 1 run, slower ball and patted down to point for a quick single
17.1
1w
Malinga to Shahid Afridi, 1 wide, and Malinga sprays it so wide outside off that you needed two bats to chase that

29 needed off 18! This over has made the difference for Pakistan

END OF OVER:
17 | 14 Runs | PAK: 113/4 (29 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.64, RRR: 9.66)

  • Misbah-ul-Haq38 (32b)
  • Shahid Afridi6 (7b)
  • Dilhara Fernando3-0-22-0
  • Thisara Perera4-0-26-1
16.6
4
Fernando to Misbah-ul-Haq, FOUR, and Misbah relieves the pressure at the end of the over! Low full toss and Misbah moves across the stumps and helps it on its way down to the vacant spaces at deep square leg
16.5
1
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, 1 run, well bowled again, he taps it to the off side and he decides against the single, Afridi's a bit slow in dragging his bat back in and there's a direct hit, they take an overthrow, it's touch and go and Afridi gets a breather, he gets the benefit of the doubt
16.4
0
Fernando to Shahid Afridi, no run, taps it to the off side to Dilshan and they don't risk a run

Fine leg comes up for Afridi

16.3
1
Fernando to Misbah-ul-Haq, 1 run, slower ball this time and he tapped it to the off side for a single
16.2
4
Fernando to Misbah-ul-Haq, FOUR, another Misbah special! He makes room and plays an elegant square drive past extra cover, looked so stylish, he put in a lot of power on that shot and the fielder in the deep dived in vain

Pakistan 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st31Imran FarhatMohammad Hafeez
2nd5Imran FarhatAsad Shafiq
3rd8Asad ShafiqUmar Akmal
4th46Misbah-ul-HaqAsad Shafiq
5th43Shahid AfridiMisbah-ul-Haq
6th9Shoaib MalikMisbah-ul-Haq