Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Pakistan enter semis

They will take on South Africa in Friday's semi-final clash.Having won the toss and choosing to field, captain Imad Wasim's men took no time to get into their stride with Adil Raza immediately making a double strike, removing both Australia openers with just one run on the board.
From that moment onwards, Australia never looked like winning the match as Pakistan's seam attack of Raza and Azhar Attari laid a great foundation for spinners Imad and Umer Akmal to push home the advantage.Only James Pattinson looked comfortable in what were conditions more suited to the slower, lower wickets of Pakistan than the bouncier, flatter tracks of Australia. In the end, the team was all out for 129, significantly short of where captain Michael Hill would have wanted, especially given that he said afterwards he would have batted anyway had he won the toss.But like most Aussie teams, this one was not in the mood to roll over just because it had been bowled out for a low score. Jeremy Smith and Josh Hazlewood took early wickets as Pakistan stuttered to 32-3 and at that stage, the Australians’ tails were up. But Ahmad Shahzad (40) and, in particular, man of the match Ali Asad took the game to Australia’s bowlers and were not afraid to play shots despite the high-pressure circumstances.

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