England triumph encapsulates Ashes
It was the 2nd occasion in the world T20 when Pakistan fans were dancing with joy after an England win, no there is no confusion as to who they support, but it’s a matter of vested interests and then vengeance. The first time it happened was when England needed to beat New Zealand in order to take Pakistan into the semi finals along with them from group A, and in the final England once again had the whole of Pakistan behind them, purely because of the bad aftertaste Australia had left after beating Pakistan in the semi final, which Pakistan had all but won for at least 90 % of the match.
The final was I believe fitting, in terms if the two teams which competed for the ultimate prize, England and Australia had been by far the best two sides in the tournament, Australia had been unbeaten leading up to the final, while England had lost just one match which was with the intrusion of Duckworth and Lewis, in their first match of the event against West Indies.
Final though turned out to be somewhat of an anti climax, as it was believed to be a match to be fought tooth and nail till the last ball, and especially after the Aussie performance in the semi finals, there was a strong feeling that it will be a walk in the park for Australia, but none had imagined what actually transpired on the big day.
Australia coming in to the match as favourites probably had already outplayed their best form, normally one would not tag the term peeking too soon with Australia, as they have won two 50 over world cups without losing a single match. However, when Pakistan came hard at them in the semi final, Aussies looked short of a contingency plan and suffered heavily at the hands of Akmal Brothers in particular, it was their bating that came to the rescue in the second half, but this time, it was the batting which let them down. England who look to have finally got it right after decades in international cricket, had no weak links in their attack, the pacers up front did their job, leaving Australia 8 for 3, and the spinners later continued to squeeze the middle and lower order, not letting go of the strangle hold at any point, as Australia ended at only 147 in their 20 overs.
England openers who have rejuvenated the English side were once again going to be the key, and even though Lumb left early Kieswetter alongside Pietersen took the attack to the opposition, and once again just like in the semi final, the mighty Australian attack looked helpless, and short of ideas, as both South African born players guided England to the brink of a historic win, and it was only fitting that the inspirational captain Paul Collingwood hit the winning runs to send the whole of England and to some degree Pakistan in a frenzy, Australia who had looked invincible were cut down to being mere mortals.
England were finally able to win their first ever world title, despite making it to 3 ICC finals, and what better way then to win it by rolling over the old enemy.
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