Hussey knock shocks Pak

“I heard loud cheers and I knew it was a six. I heard another one and I was like ‘God,what’s going on there?’. But I was too nervous; I couldn’t watch.” For the rest of the world,though,it was a final few minutes worth watching as Michael Hussey played arguably the best Twenty20 innings ever to lead Australia to a three-wicket victory over Pakistan.

Coming in at number seven,Hussey scored an unbeaten 60 off 24 balls with six sixes and three boundaries,and while he was looking to find his timing Cameron White played a blinder of 43 with five sixes. The duo overran the Akmal brothers — Kamran and Umar — who scored half-centuries as Australian bowlers struggled to generate pace on a slow Beausejour wicket. Saeed Ajmal bowled the final over with Australia requiring 18 in a chase of 191.

Blinder of an innings

“I don’t know what I was saying to myself,” Hussey said. “I was too blurred. I was trying to hit the ball into the wind towards the shorter side,looking to slog every ball for six. I knew he (Ajmal) would try and bowl a few faster yorkers (but) there was nothing much you could have done.

“Thankfully,he got it slightly wrong and missed his length a bit.”

Hussey said scoring the winning runs in the Ashes Test at Adelaide was the “best feeling” he would have as a cricketer. “But this is right up there,if not better. It’s is the best feeling to hit the winning runs,particularly in a peak game like the semis.”

While Australia have come back from twice from the brink of defeat in this edition — first against Sri Lanka and then against Pakistan — they did not allow the opposition to even squeak in the other games.

“You just can’t write us off this time,” said Clarke. “We’ve got talent and a lot of class in this team. Our mindset has been exactly what Huss (Hussey) showed — we are never beaten until the last ball is bowled.

“Today,it was a freakish performance from an unbelievable cricketer. He (Hussey) showed his attitude,he never gave up.”

The final frontier

While the England-Australia final is being billed as a preview to the Ashes,Clarke would have none of it. “I love playing against England; it is always competitive. They are very good T20 team (but) I don’t want to compare it to the Ashes — eight players from here probably would not be in the Test side but it’s a great build-up for what is going to be an amazing summer in Australia.

“It’s going to be tough and we have to be at our best.

England,he said,are in great form going into the final and “Kevin Pietersen has been great to watch”.

Australia flew to Barbados on Friday night,and the atmosphere and conditions there would make them comfortable. The pitch at the Kensington Oval,rested after a string of games in the Super Eight stages,has been watered a bit and is expected to be hard and assist bounce.

England have not really been tested so far,and their lower middle-order has not had a good hit in the middle as openers Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb,and one-drop Pietersen have done most of the scoring so far. England bowlers,meanwhile,watched the Pakistan game with keen interest ahead of the final.