Misfiring Pakistan crash out of World Twenty20

By our correspondents
March 26, 2016

Australia win comfortably to set up virtual quarter-final against hosts India in Mohali

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MOHALI, India: Pakistan proved their coach right again when they crashed to a third straight World Twenty20 defeat to bow out of the championship here on Friday.

Needing an authoritative win against Australia to stay alive in the tournament, the Pakistanis – labeled as “not good enough” by Waqar Younis – fell short again.

It was supposed to be a memorable finale for skipper Shahid Afridi with players like Shoaib Malik and Ahmed Shehzad announcing that they will go all out for Lala.

But that didn’t happen.

Shehzad fell cheaply while Malik’s whirlwind 40 fell way short of steering Pakistan home.

Afridi, who probably played his last international game for Pakistan, failed to impress much either.

Pakistan were all but out of contention once the Aussies, buoyed up by precious knocks from skipper Steve Smith and retiring all-rounder Shane Watson, amassed 193-4 after electing to bat on a deliciously batting strip.

Pakistan’s bowlers failed to contain the Aussies in the death overs and allowed their opponents to milk them for runs. The Australians hammered 58 runs off the last four overs bowled by Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Sami.

The floodgates opened in the 17th over bowled by Amir in which the duo of Smith and Watson took 17 runs. Sami conceded 15 in the next while Wahab gave 12 runs in the 19th before Amir was hit for a six and a four by Watson in a 15-run final over.

Having kicked Pakistan out of the tournament, the Australians have set up a virtual quarter-final against hosts India at Mohali on Sunday (tomorrow).

“It’s not an unexpected result,” former Pakistan captain told ‘The News’. “We failed in producing a quality team and should have been ready for such a setback. You can’t win a World Cup with a team like this,” he said candidly.

Agencies add: Smith struck an unbeaten 63 off 43 to steer Australia to 193-4, before James Faulkner took five wickets, including two off consecutive deliveries in the final over, to help his team seal the win.

Man-of-the-match Faulkner gave away just 27 runs and was helped by another impressive performance by young leg-spinner Adam Zampa, who took two for 32.

Australia, batting first on a green-tinged pitch, lost three wickets in quick succession, with fit-again paceman Wahab Riaz doing the initial damage by bowling in-form Usman Khawaja for 21 and castling David Warner on nine.

Aaron Finch went next, bowled by left-arm spinner Imad Wasim for 15 to leave Australia struggling on 57-3.

Smith, however, steadied the ship aided first by Glenn Maxwell (30 off 24 deliveries) and then by the big-hitting Shane Watson.

Watson struck four fours and three sixes to race to an unbeaten 44 off 21 deliveries as Australia took 66 runs off the last five overs.

Pakistan got off to a poor start, losing Ahmed Shehzad for one, and Faulkner picked up the key wicket of opener Sharjeel Khan who smashed six boundaries en route to a quick-fire 30.

Zampa got into the act by getting Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi stumped for 14 and bowled Umar Akmal, who was looking dangerous after racking up 32 in 20 balls.

But Faulkner took the plaudits with a match-winning performance, bowling the settled Khalid Latif (46 off 64 balls) before striking again next ball to get Wasim.

He was at it again at the death, dismissing Sarfraz Ahmed and Riaz with his first two deliveries as Pakistan, who needed 30 runs from the last six balls, ran out of steam.

The win took Australia to second place in the five-team group, behind New Zealand, who are already through to the semi-finals and ahead of India in third due to a superior net run rate.

Pakistan are fourth in the table ahead of Bangladesh, with one win and three defeats in four games.

Score Board

Australia won toss

Australia

U T Khawaja b Wahab 21

A J Finch b Imad 15

D A Warner b Wahab 9

*S P D Smith not out 61

G J Maxwell c Ahmed b Imad 30

S R Watson not out 44

Extras (lb 8, w 5) 13

Total (4 wickets; 20 overs) 193

Did not bat: J P Faulkner, †P M Nevill, A Zampa, N M Coulter-Nile, J R Hazlewood

Fall: 1-28, 2-42, 3-57, 4-119

Bowling: Amir 4-0-39-0 (1w); Sami 4-0-53-0 (3w); Wahab 4-0-35-2; Shahid 4-0-27-0; Imad 4-0-31-2

Pakistan

Sharjeel Khan b Faulkner 30

Ahmed Shehzad c Coulter-Nile b Hazlewood 1

Khalid Latif b Faulkner 46

Umar Akmal b Zampa 32

*Shahid Afridi st Nevill b Zampa 14

Shoaib Malik not out 40

Imad Wasim c Coulter-Nile b Faulkner 0

†Sarfraz Ahmed c Khawaja b Faulkner 2

Wahab Riaz c Hazlewood b Faulkner 0

M Sami not out 4

Extras (b 1, lb 1, w 1) 3

Total (8 wickets; 20 overs) 172

Did not bat: M Amir

Fall: 1-20, 2-40, 3-85, 4-110, 5-147, 6-147, 7-164, 8-164

Bowling: Hazlewood 4-0-26-1 (1w); Coulter-Nile 4-0-45-0; Faulkner 4-0-27-5; Watson 2-0-27-0; Zampa 4-0-32-2; Maxwell 2-0-13-0

Result: Australia won by 21 runs

Man of the Match: J P Faulkner (Australia)

Umpires: H D P K Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and M Erasmus (South Africa). TV umpire: R K Illingworth (England). Match referee: R S Madugalle (Sri Lanka)

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