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Pakistan batting lived upto their reputation and proved that they are not bad “Chasers” to win the 2009 ICC T20 Championship in their second attempt, defeating favourites Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in the Final at the Lords.

Set to a chase a moderate total of 139, the top order of Pakistan displayed immense responsibility and controlled aggression to run home with 8 balls to spare. Shahid Afridi played a stellar role, scoring 54 runs off 40 balls to earn a Batting Momentum (BM) of 73. Afridi, known for his hard hitting style of batting, changed his game in the Final and played a more restrained innings. He built a solid partnership of 76 runs with Shoaib Malik which saw Pakistan reaching the finishing line with flying colours. Afridi also chipped in with his bowling, picking up a lone wicket for 20 runs, to be judged the Man of the Match. Opener Kamran Akmal also played his part with a 28-ball 37 runs (BM of 49) which gave Pak the start they needed in the Final.

Pakistan was successful where Sri Lanka failed – batting. The batsmen dominated the Lankan bowling right from the start. During the middle overs - when Mendis and Murali usually keep a tight leash on the opponent batsmen - Pak batsmen carefully saw them through and instead targeted the weak-link in the Lanka bowling – Isuru Udana. He was clobbered at 11 runs per over which made all the difference in the match.

However, Sri Lanka couldn’t capitalise much from the seemingly batting friendly track after they decided to bat first. Traditionally, batting first at Lords has helped teams win 5 times in the previous 7 matches played here, but in the Finals, the Lankan top order with the exception of skipper Kumara Sangakkara drew a blank against some top class bowling from Pakistan, especially Abdul Razzaq who picked up 3 wickets for 20 to earn a Bowling Efficiency (BE) of 90. Sangakkara remained unbeaten on 64 runs off 52 runs (BM of 79) and his partnership of 68 runs with Angelo Mathews (35 runs off 24 balls and BM of 51) took the Lankan total to respectability after being reduced to 6 for 70 by the 13th over. The failure of openers Dilshan and Jayasuriya in the Finals proved crucial as Sri Lanka fell short by 20 runs in the final total.

In 2007, Pakistan perished while chasing India in the Finals. In 2009, however, Pakistan resurrected themselves to become a better “Chaser” and win the World T20 Championship.

The Three M’s of the Lankan bowling attack - Mendis, Murali and Malinga was joined by another M - Angelo Mathews who completely stunned the West Indies top order to take Sri Lanka to the finals of the ICC T20 Championship.

West Indies were again undone by the superb bowling performance of the Lankans as they set to chase a modest target of 159. Against a par score of 180 in the first innings at the Oval, 159 was always supposed to be a gettable target for the Windies - known for their hard hitting styles and for being formidable “chasers” in this format of the game. But the Lankan fast bowler Mathews broke the momentum with a three-wicket haul in the first over of the chase from which the West Indies could never recover. Later, the two spinners – Mendis and Muralitharan choked the Windies batsmen leaving skipper Chris Gayle fighting a lone battle for his side. He remained unbeaten on 63 off 50 balls (Batting Momentum or BM of 79) to become the only batsman to reach the double figures for his side.

It was Sri Lanka’s bowling that did the trick again in the semi-final. If Lasith Malinga was not as lethal as he was in the previous games, Mathews took his place in this game. Mathews, Mendis and Murali today bowled 12 overs, conceded 54 runs and captured 8 wickets – a feat which devastated the Windies.

Sri Lankan Bowling Performance in the Semi-final

Earlier, Sri Lanka overcame a sedate start to their innings only to cut loose later and reached a score of 158 – largely due to Dilshan’s heroics with the bat. He scored a scintillating 96 off 57 balls (BM of 162) and carried his bat through to take the Lankan total to safety. The first wicket partnership of 73 runs off 63 balls between Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya gave momentum to the scoring rate of Sri Lanka. Then Dilshan teamed up with Chamara Silva to add another 50 runs to accelerate the Lankan innings. He was deservedly judged the “Man of the Match” for his electrifying innings.

The ICC T20 Championship final like last time will now be an all Asian final with Sri Lanka meeting Pakistan on Sunday at the Lords.

Pakistan did everything right from the start to book their place in the finals of the ICC T20 Championship for the second time in a row. They batted first, scored a par score at the Trent Bridge and then the spinners choked the South Africans to script a historic win.

Opting to bat first – a wise decision given the fact that the track at Trent Bridge slows down considerably over 20 overs – Pakistan, powered by Shahid Afridi Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan, scored 149 – the average score at the venue. Then, just as Jacques Kallis (64 runs off 54 balls and a Batting Momentum or BM of 76) and Jean Paul Duminy were threatening to run away with the match, the Pak bowlers kept a tight leash to choke the South Africans in the end to win by 7 runs and proceed to the finals.

The Pak spinners were able to check the runs and also pick up crucial wickets. Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Malik bowled 9 overs between them and conceded only 44 runs, at less than 5 runs per over, and picked up 3 valuable wickets to keep the Proteas’ chase at bay. Afridi was the pick of the lot capturing 2 wickets for 16 to earn a Bowling Efficiency (BE) of 100. He was also instrumental with the bat, scoring 51 runs off 34 balls to attain a Batting Momentum of 77 and was deservedly adjudged the “Man of the Match”. Umer Gul bowled two crucial overs during the death and his perfect swinging yorkers had a telling effect on the South African batsmen, who couldn’t flex their muscles to muster 51 runs in the last 5 overs.

Earlier, South African bowlers, especially the spinners gave away too many runs – 66 runs in 8 overs, at more than 8 runs per over – which made all the difference in the match. Roelof van der Merwe, Johan Botha and Duminy were unable to restrict the Pak batsmen, especially Afridi, Malik and Younis Khan.

It was the first loss for South Africa in the tournament, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time as they again played true to their tag of “Chokers” in World Cricket.