By Jawad Hussain
KARACHI, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) September 28, 2012: Amid sheer criticism, Umar Akmal and Umar Gul exhibited their class and strong nerves on Friday to help Pakistan stun high-flying South Africa by two wickets in their first Group 2 match of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Needing 134 runs for victory, Pakistan were reduced to seven for 76 at one stage and looked down and out completely but Umar Akmal developed a 49-run match-winning partnership with fast bowler Umar Gul to steer Pakistan home in a thrilling fashion.South African skipper AB de Villiers won the toss and decided to bat first in a bid to avoid Pakistani spinners in the second innings when the ball was due to offer more purchase and bite to the finger and wrist spinners.
However, Pakistani bowlers proved the decision wrong with some intriguing line and length during the initial stage of the South African innings as Richard Levi (8 from 9 – 1 four), Hashim Amla (6 from 6 – 1 four), and Jacques Kallis (12 from 18 – 1 six) all went back into the pavilion without doing much for their team.
JP Duminy (48 frp, 38 – 2 fours, 2 sixes) stepped up his game and rose to the occasion and along with Farhaan Behardien (18 from 21 – 2 fours) added crucial 38 runs for the fourth wicket before adding another 44 runs for the fifth wicket in company of skipper AB de Villiers (25 from 18- 2 fours, 1 six).
Albie Morkel (9 not out from 6 – 1 four) and Rob Peterson (3 from 4) then steered Proteas to a fighting total of 133 for six from their 20 overs.
Mohammad Hafeez looked under pressure as his captaincy failed to provide goods for Pakistan against South Africa. He failed to utilize full quota of the bowlers who were bowling well. Raza Hasan was used for only three overs despite of bowling a maiden over and going for only 12 runs from his three. Yasir Arafat should have been given another over as he had already taken two wickets for 25 runs from three overs. Umar Gul has simply lost his sheen in this WT20 as he once again was belted for 19 runs from his two overs, for a wicket though.
Pakistan’s spin trio was once again the star performers as Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez, and Shahid Afridi collectively bowled 12 overs and went for only 75 runs for three wickets and if we add three overs bowled by Raza Hasan then the 15 overs between spinners cost Pakistan only 87 runs for three wickets.
Saeed Ajmal also bowled a maiden over during his spell as he took a wicket for 26 runs, Mohammad Hafeez captured two wickets for 23 runs from his four overs, while Shahid Afridi bowled miserly for 26 runs from his four.
At halfway stage, most of the cricketing pundits were favoring Pakistan over South Africans for their highly explosive batting talent but it went the other way as Pakistan soon found themselves into a ditch they dug for them.
Mohammad Hafeez (15 from 9 – 2 fours, 1 six), Imran Nazir (14 from 11 – 3 fours), Nasir Jamshed (Duck), and Kamran Akmal (1 from 6) have been the stars with the bat for Pakistan in the tournament but they all went back in the hut in the blink of an eye as Pakistan were languishing at 4/37 in the 7th over of their innings.
However, such low-scoring matches need only one partnership that proves enough to seal the deal and when Shoaib Malik (12 from 26 – 1 fours) and Umar Akmal (43 not out from 41 – 4 fours, 1 six) joined hands for the fifth wicket, it looked Pakistan have found the momentum back in their favor.
It wasn’t to be! Jacques Kallis struck with the ball and got rid of cool Shoaib Malik before JP Duminy got Shahid Afridi stumped for a first-ball duck and all-rounder Yasir Arafat (3 from 5) was soon undone by Dale Steyn and it all looked gloomy for Pakistan who were reduced to seven down for only 76 runs on the board in the 15th over, still 58 runs away from victory and having only 33 balls to do it.
Pakistan received the goods from someone nobody had even dreamt of. Umar Gul (32 from 17 – 2 fours, 3 sixes) decided to use long handle and he did it with good effect as he belted South African bowlers freely at will over different boundaries of the RPS as Pakistan clawed their way back into contention.The pair of Umar Gul and Umar Akmal blasted 49 crucial runs for Pakistan from just 27 balls and when Dale Steyn finally managed to undo Umar Gul Pakistan was just 9 runs away from the victory and had an over to do it.
Umar Akmal blasted a massive six off the second ball of the final over by Morne Morkel who provided a gift to the explosive batsman in shape of a friendly full-toss which sailed over the boundary for the maximum. The rest was very much assured as Saeed Ajmal edged one down to third-man boundary for four off the fourth delivery of the over to seal victory for Pakistan in a tense encounter.
Dale Steyn was the most successful bowler for South Africa as he captured three wickets for 22 runs from his four overs. Morne Morkel proved the most expensive choice for AB de Villiers as the fast bowler went for 33 from his 3.4 overs. Rob Peterson has been a revelation for the South Africans as he once again bowled miserly for a couple of wickets as he gave away only 15 runs from his four overs which also included a maiden over. Surprisingly enough, Johan Botha was used for only two overs and he gave away only 10 runs for a wicket while JP Duminy took one wicket for five runs from his two overs.
Talking at the presentation ceremony, South African skipper AB de Villiers said, "I'm proud of the way we fought back. We lost it in the last five overs. Captaincy wise one or two errors there."
Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez said, "We played couple of bad shots but great team effort. I knew that Gul could hit it hard. This is good sign that everybody is contributing. We did well to restrict them, in the end Pakistan was lucky to get this."
Umar Gul was named Man of the Match for his heroics with the bat, for a change though. He told the presentation party, "I must thank to my coach. I told Akmal that we should stay at the crease, the flick is my favourite shot."
