Umars power Pakistan to victory in first T20I

Pakistan drew first blood in the two-match Twenty20 series against Australia at Edgbaston by defeating them by 23 runs.

After opting to bat on a good track, the Pakistani openers failed to give a good start but Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt led a brief recovery and added 43 runs in the Quick Start Overs. They departed in quick succession and after that we witnessed a rollicking innings from Umar Akmal, who scored the fastest fifty by a Pakistani off just 21 balls which included 7 fours and 3 sixes, as he and Shoaib Malik steady the ship and prevented the opposition from making further inroads adding 51 runs for the fifth wicket followed by another 39 runs for the sixth wicket between Umar Akmal and Razzaq as Pakistan added 54 runs in the Extreme Performance Overs. Akmal finished with a Batting Momentum of 132 while Tait picked up 2 wickets in his 4 overs, earning a Bowling Efficiency of 96 but none of the other bowlers were impressive.

Chasing 168 for a win, Australia suffered early set backs when Watson departed for a duck followed by skipper Michael Clarke. After that, David Warner and David Hussey launched a stunning counter-attack as the Aussies bludgeoned 56 runs in the Quick Start Overs. But once these two batsmen departed the Australian middle-order collapsed and from 85/4 in the 11.2 overs, they were bundled out for 144 in 18.4 overs. Mohammed Aamer and Saeed Ajmal were the pick of the bowlers claiming 3 wickets apiece but Umar Gul earned the best Bowling Efficiency of 138 as he took 2 wickets for 13 in his 3 overs while David Warner finished with a Batting Momentum of 54. Although Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi failed with the bat but he was spot on with his captaincy and also picked up a wicket along with two brilliant catches which turned the game in his side’s favour.

Pakistan finished with a Castrol Index of 162 as compared to the Aussies’ 128 and the only time Australia were ahead was in the Quick Start Overs, but not by a huge margin. Umar Akmal’s imperious knock of 64 earned him the Man-Of- The-Match award and he finished with an overall Castrol Index of 209. Australia have less than 24 hours to pick themselves up and try and level the series on Tuesday. Pakistan, meanwhile will be looking to finish the 2-match encounter on a high with a 2-0 whitewash ahead of the 2-match Test series. The game on Tuesday is at the same venue and starts at 1600 GMT.