Michael Hussey, an absolute freak
On a day that seemed to belong to Pakistan, Michael Hussey played the innings of his life to single-handedly grab the match away from them through a combination of will and skill.
It was a victory that never seemed possible after Australia had slumped to 4-62 at one stage. However, Hussey's 60 from 24 balls saved their skin by a whisker. He made a mockery of the 22 runs in the final over by hitting three gigantic sixes and a four off spinner Saeed Ajmal. Australia’s victory against the green shirts, which came with a stroke of luck, allowed them to sneak into the semi-finals. Hussey played an innings, which is being dubbed as one of the defining innings of the entire tournament.
The morning’s drizzle had delayed the start by more than half an hour. Clarke won the toss in gloomy conditions and decided to bowl first. He was probably solid in his belief that the Duckworth-Lewis Method would favour the chasing team in semi-final. It was a decision that initially proved costly. Pakistan's openers allowed themselves two overs to take a look at Australia's attack. It was the best policy against such a powerful bowling attack. However, after the first two overs went for nothing, the senior Akmal went lose by smashing the first boundary for Pakistan. Both the openers tore into Australia's vaunted pace attack, which comprised of Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson.
For the first time in the tournament, Australia’s formidable pace attack failed to strike in their opening bursts. Pakistan enjoyed a brilliant start from Kamran Butt who lofted the short ball, cut the wider ones and smashed the slower deliveries to the long on boundaries.
Clarke was forced to bring a change in the bowling. Leg-spinner Steve Smith was introduced at the two dashing openers. In an eventful over, Kamran Akmal smashed him all over the park to add 15 more runs to the total. Kamran smashed six fours and two sixes in a brilliant half-century off 34 balls. At 82 for no loss in nine overs, Pakistan was on its way for a huge total. Kamran fell shortly after raising his fifty, ending a fantastic opening partnership for Pakistan.
Umar Akmal then came to the fore; clouting 56 rapid runs. He smashed three sixes off one over from Johnson, to put Pakistan firmly in the driving seat. Pakistan ended with a massive total of 191 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Australia started the reply in disastrous style. Wickets tumbled right through their innings. Aamer dismissed Warner who strolled back to the pavilion without troubling the scoreboard. Watson on the other hand started rattling Mohammad Aamer and Abdul Razzaq for boundaries, but could add only 16 runs to the teams score. Australia was staring down the barrel of defeat at 2-26.
They slipped further into the mire with the stumping of Clarke and Brad Haddin in consecutive overs of Afridi and Abdul Rehman. Pakistan made further inroads when left-arm spinner Abdul Redman cleaned up David Hussy for13. Michael Hussey walked into the situation when all hope was lost for Australia. He either could hit sixes or go home. For Hussey, going home was not a choice at all. The match twisted and turned from Pakistan to Australia to Michael Hussey himself with every flowing six! He played a tremendous innings of 60 from 24 balls.
Michael Clarke was not wrong when he called him "an absolute freak" in the post-match presentation. He said, "I can't believe we've won that game. It's probably one of the best wins of my career." Said Mike hussy
Pakistan could have won the match. 191 were a target that should have been respected and defended. Experts have given some scathing comments on the captaincy of Shahid Afridi, which could be blamed for the defeat. Afridi did make some blunders in the bowling plan. The biggest blunder was to come into the big match with just one fast bowler. He replaced Mohammad Aamer, who was bowling in form after taking two crucial wickets of Australia in his first two overs.
Poor tactics on the field and allowing the Australian’s to score singles and doubles at random in the final few overs cost Pakistan heavily. Saeed Ajmal has been quite successful throughout the tournament but giving him the last over was not a sensible decision in hindsight.
"I have played a lot with Saeed and he is a sort of bowler who struggles against the left handers and in pressure situations, it was not a good idea to give him the final over when they were two left handers at the crease," all-rounder Sohail Tanvir said.
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