Scorecard
Mahendra Dhoni was a touch nervous. A great over bowled by R.P.Singh had just been ruined by a last ball four off a yorker that didn't come off. That cut down the ask to 13 off the last over and Misbah was on strike. And, he had just tonked 4 sixes, three off them off Harbhajan.
Joginder Sharma was to bowl the last over like against Australia. Dhoni's trusted pro who could go the whole hog. The first ball went for a wide, wider than the Pacific Ocean. 12 off 6 balls now. The next ball was a pull back...no run. Then a full toss for which the clairvoyant Misbah was ready - yet another six over mid-off meant a mere six runs were needed off the final four deliveries. Pakistan had won the match. Well, almost. At least I thought so then. It was here that Captain Dhoni stepped up like he has throughout this tournament with instinctive/inspirational moves. He set up the line and laid the bait...now all he had to do was wait. Here's how...
Dhoni pulled up the fine-leg...Misbah saw it. Joginder was ready, and so was Misbah...Jogiya ran in and bowled at less than 70 mph, following Misbah who was moving towards the off to Marillier/Ashraful the ball to fine leg. It was all pre-planned from both sides but one got it right - the lure was fine leg up, and the punch was a slower ball following the batsman. You just cannot get these balls Ashrafulled/Marilliered over the boundary...this shot is meant for the faster balls!
The ball rose weakly from the little impetus it had off the bat, and even lesser from the bowler who cut down his pace. The angle too was akward for Misbah who was trifle unbalanced..and he had announced it fair and square to boot. The Indians were expecting it anyway. Sreesanth had time to position himself and the catch was much closer to him than expected. He caught it anyway - the most important catch in recent Indian cricketing history.
Misbah had just gifted away the tournament instead with one ball-worth of blackout in an otherwise brilliant innings! It was as if he had drawn too much power into the lines which short-circuited the system just when not needed!
I had given Pakistan the trophy at that last ball four off the previous over. I was humbled. That was a piece of Captain Dhoni again.
Through all this, it was Irfan Pathan, one of my picks for performers of the day who needed to step up. He did it in style! Welcome back Irfan Pathan!
RP Singh showed us why he is among the best bowlers of the world today. He carried India into the battle to protect yet another asking rate of 7 rpo. That's thrice already India have done it in T20. No one else have defended these kind of scores.
Shoaib Mallik and Afridi (how predicatable is his top edge?) paid for their overconfidence and sent the match India's way.
This top edge of Afridi is too predictably predictable. Irfan is experienced enough to know it and confident enough to bowl the required ball now.
Before all this, India did its best to give it away. Yusuf Pathan's (elder sibling of Irfan)selection and position were spot on. He set about his task to upset Asif and perhaps neutralize the man who had troubled India most in the recent past. he succeeded for all of 2.3 overs in which he tonked a six and four off Asif (in fact, his first scoring shot for India was a six! This is his debut for India...). But what followed later beat understanding. When Asif was just recovering from Yusuf Pathan, India eased uip into consolidation mode from 2.3 overs onwards till the 10th over.
True Hafeez bowled brilliantly but India got it wrong by not attacking. It was here that I put one black mark against Captain Dhoni.
When the second wicket went down and Pakistan were ready with spin for the expected Yuvi, Dhoni should have sent Rohit or himself and kept Yuvi for Gul who, as I said in another article was bound to come as 5th bowler to cover the rear. It may not have mattered much for Gul was in a rare brilliant form. It was also argued that if Yuvi was held back, Mallik might have delayed spin. But that would have been playing into India's hands! Yuvi with spinners with only 4-5 overs is a different proposition than when 15 overs remain. This is my black mark against Dhoni today - the first in this tournament which has seen brilliant captaincy from him.
Gambhir stepped up - one more of four the players I expected had to do well for India to win. make that three since Sehwag didn't play. This boy cannot be left out of the team anymore - he has grown by leaps and bounds in temperament in this tournament. He isn't throwing it away after a quick 20-30. Today he put together vital runs.
In the end, self-belief won. Well done India! Well done Irfan Pathan, MOM.
It was a huge achievement for a new India.
Ultimately, a great game of cricket, my commiserations to Pakistan, but well played Pakistan too! Especially Gul, Hafeez, Misbah and Imran Nazir. Cricket won in the end and World Cup won back itself in a fortnight.
Someone told me earlier today that the 2007 50-50 WC was still going on in the Caribbeans. And now I hope test matches don't end in 3 days; T20's will be blamed for it!
ICC T20 WC Finals India v Pakistan Part - I
ICC T20 WC Finals India v Pakistan Part - II
Pressbox
Cricinfo - India hold their nerve to win thriller.
Cricinfo - Oh Misbah, not again.
Cricketnext.com - India are Twenty20 Champions
Cricketnext.com - "Dhoni did a fantastic job" - Tendulkar
Telegraph Sport - India win World Twenty20 Final
Daily Mail - Dhoni has Twenty20 vision for India
The Hindu - India lifts inaugral Twenty20 WC
Hindustan Times - India beat Pakistan in cliffhanger, lift Twenty20 World Cup
The Indian Express - India are the World Champions
Rediff.com - India crowned Twenty20 world champions
Geo TV - India clinches ICC T20 WC trophy by upsetting Pakistan
ESPN-Star - World Champions: India down Pakistan to win Twenty20 final
Blog World
The Commentary Box - Perfect !
Cricket with Balls - Pakistanis, Germans and Indians, oh my.
The 100th anything
2 hours ago
8 comments:
Soulberry,
"The ball rose weakly from the little impetus it had off the bat".
Its all very well for you to say that, but when the ball rose weakly, my heart sank, and my blood pressure shot up.
It was the most disquietining moment of my life.
BTW, Soulberry, resist this unmanly urge to take pot shots at God Dhoni.
Let him be,I am sure we will all be taking pot shots at him,by the end of next series. :)
Help!
Just visited Tubby's blog, he has made some interesting points on emotion and efficiency.
But unfortunately, I was unable to leave a comment.
Has he closed his blogs to comments?
Aaah. Cat and mouse, cat and mouse, and the heartbeat the only casualty!
Nice summary SB. Yes it was clever to keep fine leg up for the slow bowler but then Misbah made a mistake of playing it fine than bit square. Had he done that then am sure he could have cleared Sree easily. Misbah lost the plot as pressure got onto him.
I feel Dhoni was lucky in the end. In my view he choose the wrong person to bowl the last over but then you can say better to trust a person who is willing than one who is not sure.
I however credit Dhoni for the way he led. He inspired people to play fearless cricket and led from the front. It is too early to say whether he will succeed in the long run or not. He is more like Kapil when it comes to leadership. I just wish he does a better job than Kapil.
Awesome victory. i hope we dont overdo the celebrations and dont disrespect the biggest batsmen of this country
Hi Guys,
I've just recovered my energies and time after that match. Sorry for the delay and I beg your indulgence...my heart took a beating back there.
Ottayan, my heart was sunk after the three sixes. I had almost conceded the match and even congratulated the Pakistan fans after that four off RP Singh's last ball. It plumbed a new depth with that six off Joginder but...but when Misbah began to jump to the off long before the ball was bowled, I observed a flicker of life in it. When Jogiya pitched it slow and short and following the bat, unbalancing Misbah who was committed and had to lever up the ball, my heart zoomed back into life with the ball! In all that all I could say was "What? Why did Misbah do that?"
It's all on the 606 official match thread...there were some non-regular Indian fans there who felt at that time I was a Pakistan fan from those comments!
I went to Tubby's soon after...he had a heartfelt post but I managed to sneak in a comment there. Tubby loves his team and game.
John, there was a time when the mouse was chasing the cat down. That's when I felt lost in a crazy wonderland of Caroll's creation.
SD, yes, it was a wonderful victory. See, Misbah had pre-determined to such an extent that the bowler could pick his spot to bowl. To the ball he bowled that was all he could do other than somehow pat it back or let it hit his body and play for the next ball.
He could not have played it square...the ball was moving slightly away with him (and therefore following him and cramping his angles) it was dipping already due to lack of speed and just shorter length...Misbah could have easily allowed it to come and strike his body instead and play the next ball...he feared mistakenly in that mad moment that it might go onto the wickets and went ahead reflexly. He is an original...very different from Kapil...far savvier too.
Tubby, I wish they have celebrations they can remember. The spirit that is brewed here will distillate through the eyes of youngsters watching and, like it happened with Sachin and '83 WC, it might raise another.
Winning moments must leave their mark - it is not only for the losing ones to scar forever.
If today India is still a dangerous team in ODI's (albeit erratic) it is the result of not just all the matches they play but also the self-belief engendered by a different generation decades ago. Likewise, can you forget the Sharjah scar of Miandad's six that saw India stop competeing with them for the next few years?
Victories must be given more prominence than wounds. Wounds must be explored, cleaned up, debrided and healed and then forgotten. Indian cricket has been wounded for sometime now.
good stuff. yes, i too felt dhoni missed a trick by not coming ahead of yuvraj with two spinners operating in tandem, knowing yuvi's preference for the faster stuff, especially at the outset of his innings. but i suppose he was ruing having come ahead of yuvraj in the game against the kiwis and spoiling it.
Hi Sumit,
That's sort of given with YUvi isn't it? A spinner like Afridi is different because he's a little faster than most but even a spinner like Hafeez (who bowled very cleverly with his delayed release action)...I expected Yuvraj to fall in a heap.
Dhoni has mellowed down in batting and could have come ahead....Gul and India might have had a different scoreline then.
But, nothing succeeds like success.
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