Pakistan stun Australia to reach Over-60s World Cup final

KARACHI: Pakistan on Monday stunned hot favourites Australia in a last over, last wicket thriller to enter the final of the Over-60s World Cup being played in Brisbane.

Chasing a challenging total of 216 Pakistan were at one stage cruising to victory at 89/1 in the 18th over and then at 161-3 in the 33rd over. But after a mixture of bad luck and accurate Australian bowling, Pakistan slumped to 9 down with 18 still to get and less than 5 overs left. But last man Yaqoob not just gave solid support to the limping but persevering Tahir Rasheed, he also hit the winning boundary with just two balls left to send the Pakistanis into rapture as they all invaded the field followed by celebrations and shouts of “Pakistan Zindabad” filling the air at the picturesque John Blanck Oval.

Earlier, Pakistan had won the toss and opted to field with captain Fawad strategising that they could chase better. Peter Jensen and Eric Higgins had a mammoth stand of 134 runs for the second wicket after Australia lost their first wicket on 30 runs. Peter Jensen made a valuable contribution of 91 runs. Eric Higgins was equally good with his innings of 71. Australia finished their innings on 216-6. Muhammad Ashraf Pakhali remained the standout bowler for Pakistan, taking three wickets.

Pakistan began with their chase solidly as the opener Muhammad Aslam played a special knock of 63 runs off only 68 balls. The Men in Green on the back of cameos from Muhammad Ashraf (28) and Syed Ghaffar (30) kept on marching smoothly until they were left with 55 runs. A quick flurry of wickets then reduced Pakistani innings from 161-3 to 198-9. Mark Trafford-Walker and Peter Judd lead the Australian resurgence with two wickets each. The wicketkeeper-batsman Tahir Rashid however kept fighting with Muhammad Yaqoob who hit a decisive 4 when Pakistan needed four runs of the last three balls. Tahir Rasheed remained unbeaten on 41 off 62 balls.

Muhammad Aslam was adjudged as 'player of the match'. Pakistan Over60s team will play the final against New Zealand on September 14. The Kiwis managed to beat Canada by three wickets in the second Semi-final.

In other position matches played today, Wales defeated USA by 8 wickets. South Africa won its encounter against Zimbabwe by 7 wickets. India remained victorious against Rest of the World team.