Veteran spinner Rangana Herath grabbed three for 25 to lift hosts Sri Lanka into the World Twenty20 final with a 16-run victory over Pakistan in Colombo.
Sri Lanka, restricted to 139 for four after electing to bat, hit back to keep Pakistan down to 123 for seven in a thrilling semi-final before 35,000 screaming fans at the Premadasa stadium. Herath, the 34-year-old left-arm spinner playing only his sixth Twenty20 international, was supported by two wickets each from seamer Angelo Mathews and unorthodox spinner Ajantha Mendis.
It was Sri Lanka’s second appearance in the World Twenty20 final, having lost to Pakistan in the 2009 title clash at Lord’s.
Rival captains Mahela Jayawardene and Mohammad Hafeez top-scored for their teams with 42 each, but the other batsmen struggled to force the pace on a sluggish pitch that hampered stroke-making. Sri Lanka wasted a sound start to plod to 123 for four in 19 overs, before Thisara Perera smashed three boundaries in the final over of seamer Umar Gul, which yielded 16 runs.
Pakistan’s openers Hafeez and Imran Nazir began the reply on a confident note, putting on 31 for the first wicket in six overs despite playing on missing on various occasions.
Mendis, brought on to send down the sixth over, broke the stand with the last delivery by bowling Nazir for 20. Pakistan moved to 55 for one in the ninth over when Mathews grabbed two wickets in four balls to swing the match Sri Lanka’s way.
‘Middle-order collapse was a setback’
Hafeez was disappointed but focused on the positives.
“Every person gave his 100 per cent,” said Hafeez. “Jamshed and Raza have been among the positives for us in this tournament. We were in the game but the middle-order collapsed.
“I thank the fans who came here to support us. We really wanted to do something for them.”
Our mistakes did not cost us: Jayawardene
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka captain was a pleased man.
“It means a great deal,” said Jayawardene. “We knew that Pakistan were weak against left-arm spin and we weren’t sure how the wicket would behave. We felt we were 15 short and 140 was a par score. We made mistakes in the field but it didn’t cost us.”
The second semi-final will be played today between Australia and the West Indies.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2012.
COMMENTS (55)
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a fair result. For this Pakistan team to reach semi-final is a major achievement. When we’ve’ve got suicide missionaries like imran nazir (bad for weak heart and high blood pressure) and spent forces like kamran, afridi, shoaib malik in our top seven batting order, do you seriously expect to win the world cup? where are proper batsmen? you can not win matches with blind sloggers and those past their sell by date. Hafeez irritates when he carries on about afridi being a hero. self denial id there was ever one. Our record when chasing runs in pressure situations is awful, nothing new in that. In the current t20, Pakistan won just one much convincingly when chasing and that was against a 3rd class bangladesh team. The win against South Africa was a pure fluke. The best t20 fast bowler umar gul gave away the most runs in almost all matches and could not be relied on.
@Asif,
You didnt get it. We are not crying! We are happy that we made you cry ! It pains us a lot more to lose to Pakistan. I am sure many Pakistanis would have been happier if they had beaten India and come back.
Good that both Pakistan and India are back in the Pavilion. Their selection and game plan lacked teeth or they lacked capability to execute the plans. Pakistan back home after two losses, India of course lucky to be only one sent home due to home sickness after just one loss. Better Luck next time.
So much talk and s little follow up action. A win over Pakistan and a loss in the QFs is way more satisfying than a loss to Pakistan and a a passage to the SFs. To go all the way is quite different than to land up just one step ahead.
@Amitabh Bachan: You are right. Pak and Indian Fans keep fighting each other. So what to do about it? Any magical formula you have? We already congratulated Sri Lanka. They proved to be much better side and therefore they deserved to win and they did. We are happy for such a rival and we respect them . They are sober, not low-life like Indians.Pakistanis have no bad feelings against Sri Lankans where as there is no good feelings about India in Pakistan. That must tell you all. @Arjun: Pakistan Played the semi final.. And You went home.. Never forget that Choker!!! @jaipal dahiya: I agree with you.. It's Commercial Business... One Must not forget that aspect of it either. @Truth: India Deserved, but it did not Semifinal. So What's the point? @Super Star: Stop crying. You are already out. Go and cry in your own country. It was us who played the Semifinal while you went home. Do not forget that. Get a Life now.
Sri Lanka played better than Our Team in the Semi-Final. Moreover, I think Pakistan team must be applauded because without playing any international or domestic cricket for years now, specially domestic, they still got til Semi finals, which is a great achievement. There is not doubt that level of Pakistani team was nowhere near other teams in the tournament due to the reason I just described, because regular domestic cricket all around the year is very important to cricket and team selection of a country. Sri Lanka was the superior side and they won. So congratulations to them. Just one piece of advice for Pakistani cricket board is that please get yourself unattached from the President of Pakistan. Because as Long as the Board will remain under the Presidency, It will look no different than the PIA, Steel Mill, and all other Institutions In which President personally intervened and got his People's Party Jiala(workers) recruited regardless of their education and merit. That alone is enough to destroy the structure of any organization. Restructure the PCB after it is uncoupled from the Corrupt Presidency of Pakistan. That's the only solution. Because If those who select the team are not selected on Merit then the team they will select will certainly will be substandard like the one we played in this Tournament. Only Merit will make Pakistan win. We Must learn from Australia , Sri Lanka and India in this department. Unless we do it, We should not expect Miracles in future from Pakistani team.
Despite of playing over 300 OCI and over 100 T20s Afridi always repeat his mistakes. His batting is zero and his bowling has rusted also. Its time to give him rest.
@LZ
We won the same number of matches as you did and additionally had the pleasure of seeing your green team beaten black and blue by us. So who got the better deal in the world cup. Not you, its us !! We would welcome our team as we got the real victory by beating Pakistan. We would also have performed better had luck favored us for the semi final berth. Luck was the only reason your team got to the semis.
Wrong field placement in the death overs, especially the last one coupled with chronic failure of people like Afridi led to Pakistan’s downfall. They remain an erratic and unreliable bunch of individuals not a cohesive well knit team.
I am Afridi. I am Imran. I am Wasim. I am Waqar. I am the Final at Melbourne. I am the Final at Lord's. I am Asian Champion. I am the Last Ball at Sharjah. I am the Inventor of the Doosra. I am inventor of the Reverse Swing. I am the Sultan of Swing. When they wouldn't let me play at home, I drifted wherever I could. I am the Cornered Tiger. I am the Fastest Ball. I am the Quickest Hundred. I am the Biggest Six. I am the Shattered Stumps. I am the Aggression. I am the Passion. I am the Nightmare between wickets. I am the 100 miles/hr Rawalpindi Express. I am the Boom Boom. I am the Bang Bang. I am the Professor. I am the Fauji. I am the Unpredictable. I am the 175 Million Hearts. I AM CRICKET PAKISTAN !
Kick out Time for Following: Afridi Malik Nazir Kamran Akmal Remove captaincy of Hafeez. . Now build New Team with Hammad Azam, Babar Azam get New Players from U19 World Cup Mr. Zaka.
@Truth: Sure they will be there in semi finals for sure, (of IPL)
@Arshad Silva: well said!
PAK played good cricket throughout the WC, we should learn from our mistakes.. Nazir, Afridi & Arfaat complete failures.....Tanvir, Kamran & Malik were below average....Gul, Hafeez & U.Akmal were OK....Ajmal was to the mark as always except the SEMI..... Nasir & R.Hasan are good positive output of this WC for PAK. Some changes are required in the line up... 1.Hafeez 2/3.Nasir 2/3. K. Akmal 4. A.Razzaq 5. A. Shafiq/ K.Latif (or any new face from domestic level) 6. S.Malik ((or any new face from domestic level who can bowl as well) 7.U. Akmal 8. S.Tanvir 9. U.Gul 10. R. Hasan 11. S. Ajmal
Home Team , Home Advantage . They Played according to the Plan . Groundsmen gamble with Pitch Performance & 1st Bat Get that advantage.
Srilankan's gain for their home advantage.They were well planed for that game . Groundsmen gambled with the pitch & 1st Bat got that advantage.
This is what happens when the top order is made up of sloggers and pinch hitters. The team lacked specialist batsmen. Get rid of Afridi, Nazir and Malik for good. Bring in Shafiq, Azhar Ali and Razzaq. Selection of players based on their political connections must stop!
wining and losing is a part of game.... we still support are team...We LOVE you all...Proud to be a part of this nation, proud to be a PAKISTANI....best wishes for team in green ... those who think that our team have done this done that... first do something for pakistan then talk about it.
@Muhammad Rizwan Ali: ali bhai dont be discouraged.pak bowling except against iindia is very very strong whether t20 odi or test match.only batting needs to be improved.they are not comfortable against even weak indin bowling attack.
@Pungi:
please correct yourself. As per standard pocedure pakistan lost to India
Facts: Pakistan lost to both of the Asian cricket giants i.e India & Sri Lanka in crunch games!! So something MUST be wrong in the planning & selection of the team. Pakistan needs more palyers like Nasir J and hafeez and less like Nazir & Afridi
Same team, same players, same performance, same management,same issues
why poor Pakistani people suffer,
Heart pains, wasting of time and money, many more
guys.take it lightly .it is a tamasha.and more correctly a buisness.dont overstress your heart unnessasiry.
India deserves semi final spot more than pakistan.....india is beter side den pakistan...
Guys, Here are a few lines for your consideration: 1. No Cricket playing team is visiting Pakistan for some years. 2. Some of our players were convicted for match fixing. 3. Pakistani players are not allowed to play IPL. 4. Umpires like Tucker from Australia gave two decisions against you in this tournament.
Hence, we have played two Finals of T20 (of which we won once) and four semi finals. Isn't it a great achievement? Please Be Positive and support your team.
If you want to win rely on cricketing skills rather than god's will (Qaum ki duayain)
@Raman: and team in blue always cry like a baby....
@Enlightened: Dont' worry about us, worry about Men in Blue. Big time chokers, can't even make to it to the semi's.
They selected cheerleaders who appears to be suffering from arthritis! But, guys give them the credit for trying their best to dance, despite the said ailment.
One can see the Indian and Pakistani supporters going at each other, but what to make out of it when an international professional cricketer Suresh Raina makes dragotory remarks about Pakistan in his tweet today.
" Ek do din late Gaye ghar !!!! who bhi besharam ki tarah Gaye ... Bye Bye Pakistan !!!!"
@Pungi: When did Pakistan beat India in this tournament, the warmup game has no bearing.
Lets face it, Pakistan made this far by pure luck, tournament format, and individual brilliance of Umar Gul with the bat against South Africa. Just like India, they deservingly got kicked out due to poor team selection and nepotism. India left out Harbajan against South Africa and Pakistan surprisingly dropped Razzaq today who had scored 22 of 17 balls in the last game. Leaving out Asad Shafiq, probably the best batsman of spin bowling for the entire tournament in Sri Lankan condtions is beyond comprehension. Why was Shoaib Malik in the team if he was not bowling, is he better than Asad Shafiq? Well, Sense and wisdom are not the forte of Pakistan Cricket these days.
we deserve it,,as razaq s the most experienced and fast playing batsman sitting outside...finish the grouping and keep the merit 1st.razzaq missed you a lot in this tournament
@Amitabh Bachan: Very well said!
The way both teams played it looks match was already fixed. There was no enthusiasum at all showed from both sides. I think this T20 world cup is a flop. I think big touraments should be held in Aus,Eng or SA. Not in India,Srilanka,Ban. Poor Script from ICC.
We haven't been able to find a replacement of imran khan yet
Was a great game - went from "fixed" to "pakistan zindabad" back to "fixed".
We are happy with Pakistan performance. Making it to all 6 semi finals in ICC events over the last 5 years is amazing amazing job :) that too when we are not playing at home. Today wasnt our day. We got bad decision against our inform batsman and that change the whole momentum of the game. I hope we do well in future ICC events as well and victory isnt far :)
Pakistani team is unprofessional and play like gamblers.
Pakistan happiness didn't last even for 48 hours. Chokers.
well played pakistan but still i believe there are some burden players in team who we have to get rid of like imran nazir,shoaib malik,AFRIDI,Yasir Arafat & Mohammad Sami.Let's keep these players to either test or one day if they are required there otherwise we have a lot of talent in Pakistan which is waiting for there turn...
That should be the end of Afridi's career. Plus also Akmal (improved as a keeper but gotten worse as a batsman), Sami (who sat out the tournament) and Arafat (simply out of touch). Hafeez's captaincy also left a lot to be desired, possibly he needs guidance from more experienced people.
Time to bring in newer players.
Hafeez played selfish inning and throwed his wicket at crusial moment when he should have played like Dilshan played for Lankans, Match fixer Kamran Akmal tried again and again but to no avail, Shoaib Malik playing due Sialkots MNA's pressure, Imran Nazir Tulle baaz Failure, and last but not the least of all SHAHID AFRIDI should be in the in commercials and fashion shows only, Pls throw him, what else u need to throw him, A.razzaq, why he was dropped, Asad shafiq why not given a single match, S.lanka played well, all the best for them to win the final
The team in green always chokes...be it SA or Pakistan!!!!
Well played both teams... Congratulation Sri Lanka..
Compliments of Mohammad Hafeez. Yes indeed Pakistan choked but Hafeez should be happy his friends always made it to the playing XI at the cost of Asad Shafiq and Razzq.
Why doesn't it say breaking news, just like when we win?
South Africa has passed the chokers tag to Pakistan and now they can win the next tournament and Pakistan would continue with this new tag for a couple of years from now.