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THE final was in the balance with four overs to play, with Pakistan marginally ahead of England on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score. The threat of rain, though, did not materialise. Had the skies opened up, Pakistan would be the Twenty20 World Cup champions.
Instead, that over changed everything for Babar Azam’s men in a low-scoring title clash at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground — the scene of Pakistan’s sole 50-over World Cup triumph three decades ago. Two wickets in two balls from Wasim Akram had turned the game in Pakistan’s favour then.
This time, Pakistan saw their pace spearhead succumb to injury. Shaheen Shah Afridi twisted his knee while taking a catch to dismiss Harry Brook and leave England at 84-4 in the 13th over while chasing 138.
Having been assessed by the team doctors, Shaheen returned to the field but came unstuck after the first delivery of the 16th over. Part-timer Iftikhar Ahmed, tasked to complete the over, was belted away for a four and a six by Ben Stokes, and England won with an over to spare to join the West Indies as the only other side to have won the T20 World Cup twice. They also became the undisputed kings of limited-overs cricket, adding this to the ODI World Cup they won in 2019.
Comment: England triumph as final turns on Shaheen’s injury
Pakistan were left contemplating what could have been. They had seemed destined for the title, and could have done well had their batting fared better. Put into bat, openers Babar and Mohammad Rizwan weren’t able to provide the foundation that had led Pakistan to their victory over New Zealand in the semi-final. Their struggle throughout the tournament resurfaced in the final.
The middle order, which had been key for Pakistan during their run in Australia, failed to fire. However, Pakistan can take heart from the way their bowlers kept them in the hunt, especially against a side that had torn apart India in the semi-final.
They can draw inspiration from the way they bounced back after suffering last-ball defeats to India and Zimbabwe in their opening two matches. In reaching the final, they showed that Pakistan remain a force to be reckoned with in world cricket. In fact, this should spur them on to greater success. This should be a springboard to improve in other formats of the game — in particular, the 50-over format with the ODI World Cup set to be held in almost a year’s time.
Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2022
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Comments (73) Closed
Nov 14, 2022 08:55am
some rain here and there and some bad performance by some teams against others is being termed as pakistan still a force-it the joke of the century while the reality was there for everyone to see in the first innings throughout the 20 overs.
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Nov 14, 2022 08:55am
In hindsight the foremost reason of Pakistan loss in T20 World Cup lied in batting methods in the last 3 - 4 overs . In a big cricket ground like MCG it is difficult to hit big shots unless the shot is properly timed . Instead of going for big hits & getting out the batsmen should have gone for ones& twos . That would have earned them another 7/8 runs which could have been decisive in the team’s favor. If the team had learned that lesson it would benefit them in future.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:14am
Well done Pakistan
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Nov 14, 2022 09:16am
No doubt pakistan's bowling is a force to be reckoned with, but not the team pakistan, as every team will then be a force to reckon with. Pakistan had a huge slice of luck going their way with only 2 wins in league stage still making it to semis. Remember same scenario in 2021 world cup had not helped india. So let's stay humble and acknowledge the average team performance.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:18am
Cricket is NOT a collection of freakish events happening to come to Pakistan's aid always. We never deserved to be in the SFs . Eventually, the law of averages , caught up with us!!
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Nov 14, 2022 09:24am
Well played Pakistan. It wasn’t your day judging by the number of times you beat the outside of English bats with no reward. Naseem, Shaheen, Shadab, Rauf and Wasim bowled their hearts out. You will surely have your day in the not too distant future.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:32am
Well done team!
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Nov 14, 2022 09:35am
Forced to be reconed with? The team that lost to Zimbabwe & was only in the semi final because South Africa lost to Netherlands and had another game washed out? Now that’s stretching it a bit too far.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:39am
It was one sided match, this article is too much hype on Pak cricket. It was fluke semi finals first and then final deserved to be dumped.England lost wickets by keeping rain in mind and nothing to do with Pak effort.
End of the day it was one sided match and SA would have given better fight in the final while compared to other teams in group B.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:46am
In reaching the final, they showed that Pakistan remain a force to be reckoned with in world cricket.
Finally, a realistic and positive comment otherwise its usually negative, even when team is doing well.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:48am
@fshah, some rain here and there and some bad performance by some teams against others is being termed as pakistan still a force-it the joke of the century while the reality was there for everyone to see in the first innings throughout the 20 overs.
India won by cheating against pakistan and in the end flew home, Pakistan were in final and only lost when attack bowler, Shaheen Afridi, was injured.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:09am
Bowlers fulfilled expectations; batters ditched the team as usual.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:15am
Don't forget this force to be reckoned with also lot to minnows Zimbabwe and got to the semi finals only because South Africa managed to lose to Netherlands !!
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Nov 14, 2022 10:18am
Too much favoritism in team selection by the brainless skipper!
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Nov 14, 2022 10:25am
No doubt that Pakistan played well. Pakistan remained unlucky. This was pretty achievable. But unfortunately, Shaheen Afridi's departure was the turning point of the match.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:32am
Pakistan no doubt, is the most talented team in the world of cricket.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:39am
Very surprising that there's a judge in Pakistan who have common sense to think logically, not emotionally. Hope he doesn't face the same consequences as Governor did?
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Nov 14, 2022 10:41am
Pakistan needs a brainy skipper!
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Nov 14, 2022 10:42am
Pakistan will always remain a bowling superpower. Unfortunately, luck did not favor them otherwise Pakistan could possibly win the final.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:52am
Well played green shirts. As always, keep it up and hang on tough.
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Nov 14, 2022 11:08am
Not really.it is a very good team but the state of cricket, which includes administration, funding and management are dismal. Using words like "force" is plain silly.
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Nov 14, 2022 11:25am
@Ijaz Durrani, Once an Indian always am Indian !!!
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Nov 14, 2022 11:33am
We did not surrender lik India and fought back hard and strong. Keep the same determination and soon all world cup will be ours
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Nov 14, 2022 11:43am
The fact is, Pakistan is not a disciplined outfit. For decades it has relied on random heroics. Sometimes it is Javed Miandad's last ball 6, sometimes it is Waseem Akram getting 2 wickets in a single over. If people are honest with themselves, they'll realize that the talk of 1992 was only because of the same freakish way in which Pakistan entered the semi-finals. This time SA unfairly lost a point on its washed out match against Zimbabwe. That's not destiny. That is spectacular luck.
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Nov 14, 2022 11:48am
Pakistan always relies on fluke, rain, over-hyped average bowlers for title unlike other fancied teams. Eng better team by some distance here. Pak cries when they lose Shaheen for an over or two, whereas India never gave excuses for Jadeja/Bumrah absence, England never gave Malan/Wood/Bairstow absence. Injuries are part and parcel and pak has poor communication and understanding skills of cricket as usual
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Nov 14, 2022 11:49am
Inshallah Pak lost. Had it not been the case, poor english will be all over the world.
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Nov 14, 2022 12:21pm
Bad luck? What bad luck. Pakistan should thank their stars that they reach finals. Had it not been the upset victory of Netherland over SA, their performance in group matches could not qualify them to be in semis.
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Nov 14, 2022 12:32pm
We need to open our eyes to the realities of modern cricket. We were in the final and also fought because of a wonderful trio of fast bowlers (Harris, Naseem & afridi) along with Shahdab. Infact we are wasting this precocious talent by giving them barely defend-able totals. Need to sit down and look at our strategy for the next world cup, what sort of players we need in the first 06 overs? Should we continue with Rizwan and Babar? Should Iftikhar, Nawaz, Shan, Waseem, Haider Ali, Asif represent out future or our past? Need to provide opportunities to new players in the PSL to develop. Maybe ask Azam Khan to improve his fitness otherwise no need to wait for this to happen.
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Nov 14, 2022 12:50pm
Turning point was the injury of Shaheen Afridi at the most critical time and and sudden rhythmic upset of the bowlers in hie planned replacement.
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Nov 14, 2022 12:53pm
@Ijaz Durrani, A six ft. 5 man when falls, has a bigger inertia working on his limbs to harm. It is no cricket.
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Nov 14, 2022 12:54pm
@Uncle Sam, you are no any cricket playing nation!
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Nov 14, 2022 12:57pm
@Muneer, very correct analysis. It was observed that, almost every attempt to hit the ball out of ground, resulted in a catch. It appeared some sort of a charm that extracted the strength out of all our hard hitting players!
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Nov 14, 2022 01:45pm
Self dabba..
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Nov 14, 2022 01:55pm
No doubt pak put best effort for which they get $800,000 but to say they got unlucky is crying wolf .. batting line needs to strengthen.. more games coming
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Nov 14, 2022 02:22pm
@TK, A two match each pair of teams should be planned of the semi-finalists, insted of a knock-out semi-final, to be more fair and give netter consistency of team's real strength.
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Nov 14, 2022 02:23pm
England won by pure luck. The batsman were swinging wildly with many top edges. A clean lbw was given not out. The best bowler in the world got injured and it might be the end of his career. For a team that was dead and buried, Pakistan deserve a lot of credit.
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Nov 14, 2022 02:34pm
Thanks Pakistan brothers giving brave fight to win the T20 world cup. Best wishes for future and hopefully Shaheed Afridi fully recovers, Madan J Singh Bange, NZ, Also Nawanshahar, Punjab, India
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Nov 14, 2022 02:51pm
In T20 cricket only and only if another team helps us, yes we are a force to be reckoned with! mashallah!
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Nov 14, 2022 03:13pm
Over confidence without fixing the needs and deficiencies of the team cause the problem.
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Nov 14, 2022 03:26pm
@Muneer, exactly. At 10 runs per over just through 2s, 1s and an occasional boundary we would have 160 on the board. Mindless batting once Babar got out. Similarly, somewhat mindless bowling once Shaheen was injured (should've gone for the attack rather than giving to Iftikhar). But perhaps, Pakistan had already given it away during their innings between 17th and 20th over.
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Nov 14, 2022 03:54pm
1992 vs 2022? People seem to have forgotten that Pakistan won a T20 WC in-between in 2009!
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Nov 14, 2022 04:02pm
Just loosing a final doesn't mean that Pakistan is no more a cricket playing country to be reckoned with it will always be a cricket heavyweight to be reckoned with including all other countries that lost,(There is more cricket in India then in any other country) its main problem presently is its inconsistent batting, new middle order batters are to be found and groomed.
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Nov 14, 2022 04:05pm
Pakistan relies on luck and individual brilliance to win, this can win you matches but is difficult to win a tournament with that.
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Nov 14, 2022 04:35pm
@Ghaznavi - You lost, period.
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Nov 14, 2022 05:17pm
Three decades ago good many cricketing higher ups assembled at the Oval Cricket ground with bottles of Champagne at the ready to watch the match with full confidence of winning that match of World Cup final against Pakistan. They really got a very rude shock when Pakistan defeated the England cricket team then.
However this time Pakistan did play well in the same ground but as the saying goes "Cricket is by chance". So this time it was not Pakistan who some how did not win.
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Nov 14, 2022 05:36pm
@ rangamaru. Bumran may be a loss for you but jadeja is an overhyped, overrated player
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Nov 14, 2022 06:51pm
Pakistan is and has been an unpredictable team at best. On any given day they will lose to Zimbabwe or beat England due to someone’s unexpectedly outrageous performance. All that does NOT make Pakistan team a force to reckon with!
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Nov 14, 2022 07:10pm
The problem lies in the batting again and again. Babar and Rizwan need to look at themselves are they really T20 Players with their poor strike Rates I think Baba should drop down to number 4 and be used to hold the batting from one end. Let Sharjeel/Harris OPEN and play for the team and not himself.
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Nov 14, 2022 07:23pm
Hahaaa fluke of the century..after Zimbabwe defeat
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Nov 14, 2022 07:39pm
Even if Shaheen Afridi had been 100% we didn’t have enough runs the batting lost us the match not the bowling.
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Nov 14, 2022 07:58pm
"Pakistan were left contemplating what could have been. They had seemed destined for the title, "
Who "destined" it? This is the problem - Such behavior puts unnecessary pressure on those poor players.
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Nov 14, 2022 08:12pm
what does it matter if we are a force to reckon with. Does stats and records care?
all that matters is that we lost the final. champions dont think we are great and so atleast we made it. You didnt win and you got there through ifs and buts. Champions dont leave anything to chance. We need to do a lot better
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Nov 14, 2022 08:14pm
I don't think we are a force, as our approach is not dynamic. Baber and Rizwan continue to open and leave too much for the middle order to do. When we are chasing I am fine with them both opening, not while setting a target though.
England planned excessively for this game and Pak did not throw in one surprise to make them think again.
Saqlain, Yousuf need to go and Baber is not a good ODI or T20 captain and needs to be replaced by Shadab.
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Nov 14, 2022 08:24pm
@Zak, excuses won’t last pak is a week team lost from Zimbabwe they are far far away from India which is definitely a better team
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Nov 14, 2022 08:32pm
1. India beat Pakistan
2. India aces its league stage
3. India chokes in the knockout stage
4. Pakistan stumbles and bumbles in the league stage but still makes it to the semis through a stroke of luck
5. Pakistan beats the odds in the semis and storms into the finals
6. Pakistan is outplayed by a far superior side in the finals
It feels like the universe has regained its equilibrium after a few weeks of chaos.
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Nov 14, 2022 08:43pm
Pakistan as a country is showing sportsmanship. In spite losing, people are generally supporting the team for giving their best, unlike India. Pakistan also put up a better fight, compared with India, who were thrashed in the semi finals.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:17pm
I am not sure about the term used here "unlucky" in fact it should be the other way around. They are "lucky" to have gotten a chance to play in the playoffs given how badly SA lost to Netherlands which still is highly questionable! That said Pakistan is definitely a good team no doubt but lack a strong batting outfit and was their undoing in the tournament. England were the best team in the tournament by a mile and also the most balanced team as well.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:17pm
Ye a force who can max score 130s
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Nov 14, 2022 09:29pm
It was a game of cricket. Why make such a big deal out of it?
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Nov 14, 2022 09:35pm
Accepting defeat and welcoming back your national team takes courage, which Pakistan has, and India lacks.
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Nov 14, 2022 09:55pm
Can’t play the blame game we never ever had enough runs to make a game of it, why's M Wasim in the team? He’s expensive has no movement either off the pitch or in the air, once the batsmen realize it they just play through the line and he gets pounded.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:19pm
All this talk to distract everyone from the worst batting disaster.
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Nov 14, 2022 10:34pm
Pakistan bowlers (Haris Rauf, Naseem,.....)are capable of mauling the best batsmen around!
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Nov 15, 2022 12:25am
Pakistani pace bowling has always been a force to reckon with. But the author should have focused on the utterly dominating performance of England. They thrashed India in the SFs and of course outplayed Pakistan.
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Nov 15, 2022 01:52am
really a force to recon after losing to Zimbabwe and depending on Netherlands to enter semi finals.. what a joke
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Nov 15, 2022 01:55am
@Zak, how did India become cheater.. Kohli used his brain and called for a no ball which is within icc rules which pakistan fans cannot digest.. One pace bowler down and u admit defeat and claim you guys have best lbowling line up in the world really funny.. And please thank Netherlands who helped u enter semi despite losing to Zimbabwe
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Nov 15, 2022 01:55am
@Issac Dollar, yeah and pakistan accepted defeat upon one bowlers injury..
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Nov 15, 2022 01:57am
@Ghaznavi, keep dreaming.. between please thank Netherlands.. fluke like that does not happen regularly
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Nov 15, 2022 01:58am
We did not lose.
Unfortunately, Jjst few runs short.
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Nov 15, 2022 02:35am
We should accept the reality that neither Baber nor the middle order performed in this world cup.
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Nov 15, 2022 03:37am
Lady luck can't keep on pushing the team.. At some point, the team has to play like a deserved champion...
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Nov 15, 2022 06:28am
Pakistan were unlucky against India and unworthy against Zimbabwe - though both losses by the tiniest margins.
It takes something special to bounce back from that position to hammer the South Africans and the Kiwis to march into the finals.
Love this team and firmly behind my boys!
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Nov 15, 2022 07:18am
Pakistan should have won the world
definitely we need new captain Barber a great batsman but not good decision maker specially on the field as captain of the team .
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