CRICKET
ICC T20: Aussies storm into final, beat Pakistan
Australia has yet again beaten Pakistan in the knockout stage and they have qualified for the finals where they will face the New Zealand side.
Australia won the toss and once again the toss proved to be very crucial.
16 times in the last 17 T20s in Dubai, the team batting second has won the match.
Pakistan scored very good runs on the board but still, they lost the match.
Pakistan batted brilliantly and their openers Babar and Rizwan again provided them with a very good start.
Babar was dismissed on the last ball of the 10th over after scoring 39 runs off 34 balls.
Pakistan scored 71 runs in the first 10 overs with the loss of just 1 wicket
Rizwan: The Mr. Consistent
Rizwan and Fakhar were the two top scorers of the Pakistan innings.
Rizwan once again showed his class and he proved why he is the leading scorer this year.
This was Rizwan’s 3rd fifty in this tournament and he has scored 281 runs in this world cup.
He is 2nd leading runs scorer in this tournament after his Captain and teammate Babar Azam (303 runs).
Rizwan scored a brilliant 67 runs off 52 balls hitting 4 sixes and 3 fours.
Fakhar smashed the bowlers
Fakhar Zaman came into form at the right time.
He was struggling in the start and at one stage he was on 17 off 17 balls but after that, he started to accelerate and smashed a brilliant 31 ball half-century.
Fakhar remained not out on 55 runs off 32 balls including 4 sixes and 3 fours.
He smashed two huge sixes in this last over of the innings to put the total over 175 runs.
Boom Boom Shaheen Afridi
Shaheen started brilliantly and he bowled a very magnificent first over.
He dismissed the dangerous Aaron Finch on the 3rd ball of the first over.
He once again got a wicket in his very first over.
Warner Shines again
Warner played a superb inning and he played attacking cricket.
Warner was scoring runs freely while wickets were falling from the other end.
Warner was dismissed 1 run short off a well-deserved fifty.
He scored 49 runs off just 30 balls.
But after his dismissal, the Australian was under huge pressure.
Things were under the control of Pakistan as they got the big wicket of Maxwell and the Australian side was almost out of the match when they were 5 down for just 96 runs.
Shadab’s dream spell
Shadab khan delivered one of the best spells of his carrier as he picked up the huge wickets of Marsh, Smith, Warner, and Maxwell.
He got the wickets of almost all the big guns of the Australian side and most importantly he picked up these wickets at crucial times.
He ended his spell with brilliant bowling figures of 4-26 in his 4 overs.
He was the star with the ball and if Pakistan would have won this match, then he was definitely The Player of the match for me.
Wade and Stoinis steals the victory
Australia was struggling at 5-96 and everyone was thinking that it’s over for Australia and Pakistan will qualify for the Final.
But these two just broke the hearts of the Pakistani fans and snatched the victory from the hands of Pakistan.
They started calmly but when they became set, they smashed the bowlers in the last 4 overs.
Australia needed 62 runs in the last 5 overs and they have chased it down with an over to spare.
Hasan Ali dropped an easy catch if Wade on Shaheen’s delivery in the 19th over.
Wade made them pay for that drop catch as he smashed the next 3 deliveries for 3 amazing sixes and chased down the total with still an over left in the innings.
Two Semi-finals and two most favorite teams of the tournament are out and now New Zealand and Australia will play the Final of this world cup on 14th November.
SCORECARD
| Pakistan 20 overs 176-4 | Australia 19 overs 177-5 |
| Rizwan 67 (52) | Warner 49 (30) |
| Fakhar 55 (32) | Wade 41*(17) |
| Babar 39 (34) | Stoinis 40*(31) |
| Starc 2-38 | Shadab 4-26 |
| Zampa 1-22 | Shaheen 1-35 |
| Cummins 1-30 |