Defeat Australia by 27-runs who faced defeat twice on Day 1
The third match of day one of the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals 2013 saw Pakistan – represented by Karachi University – take on Australia – represented by the University of New South Wales. Pakistan was looking to begin their conquest with a win and Australia; to comeback from their defeat in the opening match.
Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first, but misfortune struck when opener, Ammar Hasan was sent back to the pavilion off the first ball. After the early wicket, Pakistan played it cautiously, not taking any chances against the fierce pace of the Aussies.
Rameez Azeez and Abdul Khan batted carefully, gathering singles and scoring the odd boundary till Khan was bowled by Aussie skipper, Thomas Atallah. This paved the way for Faraz Ali to step in and change the game around for Pakistan. He played the Aussie bowlers with ease, accumulating 10 boundaries and sending 2 over the ropes, to reach 69 not out with a strike-rate of 172. His knock helped lift Pakistan to a final total of 161/5 in their 20 overs.
The start to Australia’s chase was similar to Pakistan’s. They lost opener Thomas Gallop in the second over and Hugh Campbell in the third. Opening bowlers, Meer Hamza and Nabeel Khalid, bowled with pace and aggression, allowing only three boundaries in the first four overs; their 50 coming up only in the 10th over. After the initial setbacks, Australia weren’t able to recover and accelerate to keep up with the climbing run-rate. They finally ran out of overs with the score on 137/7, giving Pakistan a 27-run victory.
It was a convincing win for Pakistan whose devastating batsman, Faraz Ali, was deservedly awarded the ‘Man of the Match’. A great start for Pakistan and a lot to think about for Australia. Their semifinal hopes now hang very much in the balance.
