Pakistan Versus Australia-Let the battle for glory begin
Defending champions Pakistan would need to deliver something magical to thwart their rivals in the second semi final of the T20 World Cup 2010. Cricket fans are eagerly waiting for a close match at the Beausejour Stadium on Friday. Australia has exhibited a clinical display of performance so far whereas the T20 Champions have almost won nothing. Even then, Pakistan’s record in such scenarios will make them a dangerous opposition. The Pakistani team has been the luckiest one so far as they were pushed to the brink when they qualified for the semi-finals with a stroke of luck. Pakistan has an uphill task of halting the Australian juggernaut in order to make the semi-final all the more exciting. A win will take them to their third successive final in the tournament.
Undoubtedly, the defending T20 Champions with their charismatic Pathan skipper Shahid Afridi is capable of delivering match winning performances when it matters the most. Pakistan would heavily rely on their openers who so far are the top run scorers in the tournament. Umer Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Misbah ul Haq will need to provide the late impetus. The batting of Akmal brothers against South Africa have warmed the Pakistani hearts and kept the hope alive. The slower track of St. Lucia favors Pakistani spin bowlers. In particular Abdur Rahman will be an important bowler, who has made it difficult for the opponents to collar him. It would also be interesting to see how the Aussie batsmen would tackle Saeed Ajmal’s off breaks. However, the Pakistani pace attack has been largely erratic with the exception of Mohammad Aamer. Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sami are not performing at their best.
Australian fast bowlers on the other hand have knocked the stuffing out of the opposition batsman. Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and Dirk Nannes have inflicted major damage to the opposition in the T20 World Cup, irrespective of the surface. One thing that can rattle the defending champions is genuine pace. If the Aussies manage to provide pace in abundance early on in the innings, Pakistani batsmen would surely be on the back foot. Their middle order has also supported them well throughout the tournament. A desperate hope would be a good partnership between the openers. Clarke has yet to find his batting form however his captaincy has been tremendous. Irrespective of his form, the batting line up looks well settled.
The Aussies are the biggest challenge while the Pakistani’s are known for being unpredictability. Michael Clark is in a confident mood, having already beaten the defending Champions earlier in the tournament. Being ranked very low in the T20 World cup, the boys have really worked hard and performed out stunningly from the very first match of the Tournament. What is even more exciting in their performance is their consistency in completely different conditions. The only way Australia can bomb out of the competition is if they play poorly. However, Pakistan is a strong team and they have shown their strength by making up for the semi finals once again. The boys are confident after the last game and hopefully Afridi’s squad would click at just the right time.
It will not be easy of course, as everything Clark’s men have touched so far has turned to gold. The earlier victory has surely provided a psychological edge to the Aussies. They will go into the game as favorites beyond any doubt while the only element that favors’ the Pakistani team is the pitch. Both teams have played four T20 international matches against each other so far and won two matches each. Over all, Pakistan has a winning average of 70% out of 35 T20 international matches where as Australia has a record of 62.12% wins from 34 games.
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