Saeed Ajmal was unstoppable at Grace Road Leicester as he spun a web and completely routed Australia. Saeed Ajmal who did not play much part in the tournament earlier, stood up and showed his class as his 6/16 bowled Australia out for 74 in 11.5 overs. The match was a mere formality after this innings.
Coming to chase 75, Pakistan started cautiously through Sharjeel Khan and Impact Player Sohaib Maqsood. But they accelerated at the right time and were helped by a horror over from John Hastings where he delivered 13 wides and finished the match in 7.5 overs winning by 10 wickets as Pakistan finished on top of the points table while Australia with back-to-back losses finished 3rd.
Saeed Ajmal’s 6-wicket haul crushes Australia
Put into bat first by Pakistan, Australian openers Shaun Marsh and Chris Lynn came out to bat. Sohail Tanvir gave away 4 byes to start the proceedings. Sohail Khan shared the new ball from the other end and was hit for a boundary by Shaun Marsh. But Sohail had his redemption getting rid of Shaun Marsh for 7 off 10 balls with a boundary to his name.
Sohail bowled a back of a length delivery outside off, Marsh stayed deep in his crease and went for the pull shot but got it right off the toe end of the bat. He completely miscued it as Ajmal took the catch at mid-on. D’Arcy Short came out to bat next. Lynn hit Sohail Tanvir for the maximum but Tanvir hit back getting rid of Lynn for 6 off 6 balls with a six to his name.
Tanvir bowled a back of a length delivery outside off, Lynn advanced and swung at it looking to go downtown but managed to get a flat top edge on the blade to the off-side. Aamer Yamin from cover point back pedalled to take the catch just outside the circle. Ben Dunk walked out to bat next. Ben Dunk showed some positive intent as he hit Sohail Khan for consecutive boundaries and ended with a maximum down the ground. Shoaib Malik came onto bowl and he bowled a no ball to which the free hit was dealt with by Dunk for a boundary.
He hit another maximum in the over as Australia were decently placed at 47/2 in 5 overs. But then came the introduction of Saeed Ajmal to close out the powerplay and he created havoc. He immediately dismissed Ben Dunk for 26 off 14 balls which had 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name. Ajmal tossed it up outside off, Dunk went down on one knee and went for a slog downtown but ended up slicing it high in the air. Fawad Alam stationed at long-off settled underneath it and took a good catch using reverse cup. Daniel Christian walked out to bat next.
After facing two wides, Christian fell to Ajmal for a golden duck. Ajmal bowled a flighted off-break on off, Christian planted his front leg and pushed at it but got beaten on the inside edge. The ball hit his front pad right in front of the stumps. The umpire raised his finger in a flash. Callum Ferguson came out to bat next and got off the mark. Ajmal then dismissed D’Arcy Short for 2 off 4 balls.
Ajmal bowled from around the wicket and delivered a flighted delivery a shade outside off. Short pushed at it but got beaten on the outside edge. The ball was not far away from the off-stump when Kamran Akmal behind the stumps failed to collect it cleanly. The ball bounced off the gloves and onto the stumps it went and he went to appeal for stumping. Short’s back foot was in the air and so OUT loaded on the screen. Ben Cutting comes out to bat at 7. At the end of the powerplay, Australia were reeling at 53/5 with Ajmal getting 3 in his opening over.
Imad Wasim came into the attack after the powerplay and was hit for a rare boundary by Callum Ferguson. Cutting hit Ajmal for a boundary as well before Ajmal got his revenge by getting rid of Cutting for 5 off 7 balls with a boundary to his name. Ajmal bowled an off-break on a length outside off and got it to turn in sharply after pitching, Cutting hung back and looked to defend it but got beaten by the turn. The ball cut him in half and sneaked through to hit the top of the middle stump. Nathan Coulter-Nile came out to bat next.
Nathan was dropped by Imad off his own bowling, but Imad got his man next ball as Nathan departed for a silver duck. Wasim bowled it short on the stumps, Coulter-Nile rocked back and went for the pull. He hit it high in the air in front of square in the leg side. Asif Ali from deep midwicket moved to his left and took a good catch. Peter Siddle came out to bat next. Ajmal bowled a tight over as Australia Champions were reeling at 70/7 in 10 overs.
Imad Wasim struck straight after the Drinks Break as Callum Ferguson fell for 10 off 15 balls with a boundary to his name. Wasim bowled it fuller in length outside off-stump. Ferguson bent his back knee and mistimed the slog sweep flat towards deep forward square leg. Asif in the deep moved across and got his hands on it but the ball popped out. He managed to grab the ball on the third attempt. Steve O’Keefe walked out to bat next. Soon, Saeed Ajmal completed his 5-wicket haul as he got rid of Peter Siddle for 5 off 8 balls.
Siddle bowled a touch fuller in length outside off-stump holding on the surface a bit. Siddle charged down and looked to whack it across the line and got the inner half of the blade on it. He dragged the ball straight down the throat of Malik at short midwicket. Captain Brett Lee came out to bat next for Australia at 11. Lee got off the mark but Ajmal got his 6th as he dismissed Steve O’Keefe for 1 off 3 balls.
Ajmal bowled a good length delivery pitching outside off-stump and turning in a tad. O’Keefe poked at it and got a thick outside edge where Kamran Akmal took a good catch as Australia were bundled out for 74 in 11.5 overs with Lee remaining unbeaten on 1. 11 extras off the 74 was contributed by Pakistan.
Saeed Ajmal was the pick of the bowlers for Pakistan with excellent figures of 6/16 in 3.5 overs. He was ably supported by Imad Wasim who chipped in with 2/11 in 3 overs. Sohail Tanvir bowled a good first spell in his 1/8 in 2 overs while Sohail Khan was expensive in his 2 overs for 23 runs but managed to pick up a wicket. Captain Shoaib Malik bowled an over for 11 runs. It meant Pakistan Champions needed 75 runs to go top of the points table.
Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood leads Pakistan to dominant winÂ
Chasing 75 for the win, Sharjeel Khan and Impact Player Sohaib Maqsood came out to bat for Pakistan. Maqsood replaced Saeed Ajmal while John Hastings came as an Impact Player for Chris Lynn. Pakistan started the chase cautiously as they had no pressure on them whatsoever of the asking rate. Impact Player Maqsood managed to hit the first boundary off the innings off Siddle.
Maqsood carried on and was the aggressor as he hit Brett Lee for another boundary. Nathan Coulter-Nile was introduced into the attack and was greeted by a boundary from Sharjeel Khan as he slowly got into the groove. He hit another boundary in the over. Daniel Christian was not spared either as he was hit for two boundaries in the over by Sharjeel who looked to be finding some form. Nathan Coulter-Nile was not spared either as he was hit for a boundary in the last over of powerplay.
At the end of the powerplay, Pakistan Champions had already reached 45/0 and were within touching distance of a win. Christian was hit for a boundary by Maqsood post the powerplay while Christian bowled a bouncer which was called no ball as a bouncer is not allowed in this tournament. Free Hit yielded just a single though. Then came the 7th over bowled by Impact Player John Hastings.
It was an over to forget for Hastings as he just got his line and length all wrong. A flurry of wides followed, and one legal delivery was hit for a boundary by Sharjeel. Changing the angle or anything just did not matter as Hastings continued to bowl wides. In the end, the game ended with flurry of wides as he bowled 13 wides in the over and gave away 20 runs off 5 balls as the target was achieved in 7.5 overs.
Sharjeel was unbeaten on 32 off 23 balls with 5 fours to his name while Maqsood was unbeaten on 28 off 26 balls with 4 fours to his name. 15 extras given by Australia, 13 off which came in one over as the chase was done and dusted in 7.5 overs.
Nothing much to talk about for Australian bowling when you are defending 74, Hastings had a horror day out there while everyone else remained wicketless. So, Pakistan Champions won by 10 wickets with 12.1 overs to spare. There was no surprise as Saeed Ajmal was awarded the Player of the Match award for his 6/16.
What Lies Ahead.Â
With this win, Pakistan Champions finish on top of the points table with 9 points from 5 games which includes 4 wins and a no result as they remained the only side unbeaten in the tournament. Australia Champions with back-to-back defeats finish on 3rd place with 5 points from 5 games having 2 wins, 2 losses and a no result. They are through to the semis as well.
After India’s dramatic win in the final game, the semi-final fixtures as of now are Pakistan vs India and South Africa vs Australia on 31st July at Edgbaston. Whether India wants to play Pakistan is another question and geopolitical things come into it. We shall wait and find out if there is any change in semi-final fixtures or anything as and when it happens. The WCL has entered the semi-final stage of the tournament.
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