- Pakistan beats Australia to reach final against New Zealand.
- The Over60s World Cup is being played in Brisbane.
- Last wicket thriller to advance to the championship game.
The Over60s World Cup is being played in Brisbane, Australia, where Pakistan defeated hot favorites Australia in a last over, last wicket thriller to advance to the championship game.
Pakistan was at one point cruising to victory when chasing a difficult total of 216, sitting at 89/1 in the 18th over and then 161-3 in the 33rd over. But with 18 runs left to score and fewer than 5 overs remaining, Pakistan fell to a 9-run deficit due to a combination of terrible luck and accurate Australian bowling.
However, last man Yaqoob not only provided Tahir Rasheed with strong assistance as he struggled but persisted, he also scored the winning boundary with just two balls remaining to send the Pakistanis into rapture as they all ran onto the field to celebrate and chant, “Pakistan Zindabad”
Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and decided to field, reasoning that they could better pursue their target. Captain Fawad made this decision. After Australia lost their first wicket for 30 runs, Peter Jensen and Eric Higgins put on an enormous 134-run second-wicket stand.
Peter Jensen’s 91 runs were a significant contribution. Eric Higgins’ 71-inning performance was excellent. Australia’s innings ended with a score of 216–6. With three wickets, Muhammad Ashraf Pakhali continued to be Pakistan’s best bowler.
As the opener Muhammad Aslam played a spectacular innings of 63 runs off just 68 balls, Pakistan’s chase got off to a strong start. The Men in Green continued to march smoothly until they had only 55 runs left thanks to cameos from Muhammad Ashraf (28) and Syed Ghaffar (30).
The Pakistani innings was subsequently downsized from 161-3 to 198-9 by a rapid succession of wickets. With two wickets each, Mark Trafford-Walker and Peter Judd are the leaders of the Australian comeback. However, Tahir Rashid, the wicketkeeper batter, continued to battle Muhammad Yaqoob, who scored a crucial four when Pakistan needed four runs off the final three balls. Tahir Rasheed had 41 off 62 balls and was still unbeaten.
The candidate for “Player of the Match” was Muhammad Aslam. On September 14, Pakistan’s Over60s squad will face New Zealand in the championship game. In the second Semi-final, the Kiwis defeated Canada by three wickets.
Wales defeated USA by 8 wickets in the other positional matches today. South Africa defeated Zimbabwe by a margin of seven wickets. India defeated the Rest of the World squad by a single wicket.
[embedpost slug=”cricket-australia-appeals-for-donations-to-help-flood-hit-families-across-pakistan/”]
