Two Umars make it three out of three for Pakistan

Having collected several Man of the Match awards for dream spells in his long career,he got one for his match-winning 32 from 17 balls cameo in Pakistan’s low-scoring Super Eights match.

Chasing 135 for a win on a tricky track,where the ball turned square,Pakistan were 76/7 when Gul joined the last recognised batsman,his namesake Umar Akmal at the crease.

Gul’s sweet timing and his clean swing saw him hit two fours and three sixes to turn the game on its head. Pakistan,from brink of defeat,was now on the brink of an unexpected victory. The former champions needed 9 from the final over when Gul’s dramatic day came to an end.

Subscriber Only Stories

View All

Premium

No victim-blaming, no fetishising of abuse: Darlings shows why we need mo...

Premium

How the Indian action spectacular RRR became a smash in America

Premium

5 ways in which Samsung could improve the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4

Premium

Explained: First flight of India’s newest rocket, what it means for...

Subscribe Now to get 66% OFF

A Morne Morkel’s full toss,that was dutifully dispatched over the fence by Umar,proved to be South Africa’s final and decisive folly as Pakistan lived to tell the tale about their thrilling two-wicket win. The Umar & Umar 8th wicket stand of 49 came in 4.3 overs.

Puzzling calls

Earlier,South Africa paid dearly for a couple of puzzling decisions that skipper AB de Villiers made. After opting to bat first,the hard-hitter dropped himself way down the order. Coming in at no.6 he got to the crease when just six overs left.

And while defending the modest target on a spin-friendly pitch he didn’t use his best slow bowler Johan Botha’s full quota of overs.

This after Botha,like Saeed Ajmal,had started with a wicket maiden. Botha bowled just two overs for ten runs while part-time offie JP Duminy was discontinued after he conceded just five runs from two overs.

The R Premadasa pitch,that promised ‘good carry’ in the pacer in past games in this tournament,changed track. It was a day when spinners called the shots for most parts of the game. In terms of quantity,Pakistan were way better than the South Africa and that proved to be difference between the two teams.