Sri Lanka qualify for T20 final, beat Pakistan by 16 runs

By Nasir Qureshi Oct 4th, 2012 ( No Comment )

Colombo: Sri Lanka qualified for the second consecutive final of the Twenty20 World Cup after defeating Pakistan by 16 runs in the semi-final of the 2012 event played at R.Premadasa cricket stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The last five overs of the Pakistan inning, which cost only 31 runs to Sri Lanka, and 16 runs in the last over bowled by Umar Gul provided Sri Lanka an advantage over their opponents.

Pakistan failed to chase a target of 140 runs and fell short of 16 runs in 20 overs for the loss of seven wickets.

Mohammad Hafeez, who got out in a miserable manner, remained the leading run-scorer for Pakistan and scored 42 on 40 balls. Umar Akmal who fight till the end, scored 29 runs followed by Imran Nazir 20. Other Pakistani batsmen failed to cross 10′s.

The Sri Lankan bowlers bowled well to restrict Pakistan 16 runs short of the target. Herath, who took important wickets of Hafeez and Shahid Afridi, remained the leading wicket-taker with three wickets followed by Mathews and Mendis, who shared two wickets.

Although Malinga got no wicket but bowled well in the depth overs.

Earlier, the Pakistani bowlers bowled well to restrict Lankans to a moderate target of 140 runs. Saeed Ajmal, Afridi, Hafeez and Umar Gul shared one wicket in the match.

Mahela Jayawardene gave good start to the team and scored 42 runs on 36 balls along with Dilshan who scored 35 runs. The other batsmen failed to capitalise on the start.

Sri Lanka will now play the final of the event against the wining team of the match between Australia and West Indies, to played tomorrow in Colombo, on October 7, 2012.

Mahela Jayawardene:

‘It means a lot for us, the crowd has been wonderful, they have been like a 12th man for the team right through. It was a tough call to leave out Akila, we felt that they had a lot of right handers and Rangana was played for that reason. We were probably 15 runs short, we have not played a lot on this surface. The bowlers backed us well and the fielding was outstanding. I am not really fussed about our oponents on Sunday, we need to win against the best to win the cup.’

Mahela is the Man of the Match (MoM).

Mohammad Hafeez:

‘I am really proud about the way the team played, everybody gave 100% on the field. There were some positives, Nasir and Hasan played really well. I will not blame the pitch, it was the same for both teams, but they played well and deserved to win. It was a good game of cricket, I thank everyone who came here to support our team. We wanted to do something for them, but it did not suffice’

Mahela: ‘It means a lot for us, the crowd has been wonderful, they have been like a 12th man for the team right through. It was a tough call to leave out Akila, we felt that they had a lot of right handers and Rangana was played for that reason. We were probably 15 runs short, we have not played a lot on this surface. The bowlers backed us well and the fielding was outstanding. I am not really fussed about our oponents on Sunday, we need to win against the best to win the cup.’
Mahela is the MoM
Hafeez: ‘I am really proud about the way the team played, everybody gave 100% on the field. There were some positives, Nasir and Hasan played really well. I will not blame the pitch, it was the same for both teams, but they played well and deserved to win. It was a good game of cricket, I thank everyone who came here to support our team. We wanted to do something for them, but it did not suffice’