ICC T-20 World Cup – Day 5

Pakistan extinguish the orange revolution

In the first match of the fifth day, Pakistan batted and bowled sufficiently well to put an end to the Orange revolution that many Dutch fans and Indian fans had hoped for. Their performance was scratchy despite the win, particularly their fielding. It still remains a throwback to pre-Jonty Rhodes era.

Batting first, Pakistan scored 175 for 5 in 20 overs against a bowling, which was industrious, but not threatening enough. Kamran Akmal, the man of the match, top-scored with 41 (of 30 balls). He was well-supported by Shoaib Malik (30 of 28 balls), Younis Khan (36 of 20 balls), and Misbah-ul-Haq (31 of 20 balls).

The Dutch needed to score 151 runs to get through the super eight by virtue of a better net run rate. However, they catapulted in front of a do or die situations, much like their more famous and illustrious football teams in recent decades. They were all out for 93 runs in 17.3 overs. Shahid Afridi was the star of the Pakistan bowling by taking four wickets for just 11 runs.
The Dutch batsmen gave the impression that it was the first time they see a leg spinner bowling googlies and top spinners and appeared flummoxed by that fact.

Pakistan fielding was similar to what we see in beneficial veterans' tournaments. Pakistan fans knew that luck was on their side when they saw Salman Butt actually holding on to a simple catch, after dropping some similar and easier ones in this match and the previous one.

Score: Pakistan (175 for 5) in 20 overs beat the Netherlands (93 all out) by 82 runs.

South Africa prevails in a photo finish

It's really embarrassing that South Africa hasn’t yet won any form of the world cup, whether it is the traditional 50-50 or the recent 20-20. It’s a team with immense manpower lead by a young and dynamic captain. The Proteas has made their intentions clear with their second consecutive win in the tournament, albeit a narrow one against New Zealand. It was yet another nail-biting last ball finish with South Africa emerging victorious with the slimmest margin possible.

South Africa set a total of 128 in 20 overs with the help of some cautious batting from Graeme Smith (33 of 35 balls), Jack Kallis (34 of 23 balls), and JP Duminy (29 of 23 balls).

In reply, Brendon McCulum (57 of 54 balls) and Ross Taylor (22 of 31 balls) seemed set to take the Kiwis past the target. But some great bowling from Van der Merve sealed the fate of the match in favor of the Proteas. Jacob Oram (24 of 18 balls) made a valiant effort. But South Africa, for once, held their nerve. Van der Merve was adjudged man of the match.

Score: South Africa (128 for 7) beat New Zealand (127 for 5) by one run.