Pakistan crowned World Cup Champions (20-20)

There is no stopping Afridi when he is on a roll. This is exactly what the Sri Lankans and South Africans found out when he produced some magic with the bat and ball to win first world cup for Pakistan in the 20-20 format. On comparison I would rate Sri Lanka as a better team in today’s final primarily in two departments (batting and fielding). Pakistan surely had the edge in the bowling department, as that turned out to be the decisive case rolling SriLanka out below 140.

 
Man of the match – for the semifinal and final

With Umar Gul, Ajmal, Afridi and young Amir having a brilliant run to the finals – the only way to beat them was to post a big total. Sadly for lankans, that couldn’t happen. Personally, the highlight of the match was the spectacular display of fast bowling in the first over of the day. Amir bowling six short balls to Dilshan (man of the series), trapping him for a duck with a mistimed pull shot.

 
Two man of the match performances handed South Africa and SriLanka their first loss in the tournament

Pakistan with momentum is a beast that cannot be contained. England discovered that fact to their cost in 1992 at Melbourne, when Imran Khan’s cornered tigers sprung at their throats to seize the country’s first major global title. And now, a generation later but in a campaign of distinct and glorious parallels, Sri Lanka have also sampled the unstoppable alchemy that occurs when cricket’s most emotional and temperamental participants find a way to meld their ambitions to their deeds 

 The South African juggernaut was brought to a screeching halt by Shahid Afridi (man of the match for the semifinal and final) who, dumped the tournament favourites out of the World Twenty20 and secured Pakistan’s place in the final. For South Africa it was their first loss in the tournament, as it was for Sri Lanka in the final.  

This is how it happened (click the image for full view)..

 

  

As the Pakistan team took their victory lap, the public address system belted out Dil Dil Pakistan, an all-time favourite rock song by Vital Signs, one of the early Pakistani bands. Later at the press conference, Younis Khan described the win as a gift to the nation.

 

The celebrations have just started ..