Pakistan vs India, World Cup T20 2012, Warm-up Match

Pakistan beats India by 5 wickets

Kamran Akmal stormed into form
World Cup T20 2012

A wonderful T20 took place at Colombo, prior to official beginning of World T20 2012. Pakistan an India faced each other in a warm-up match which wasn't for the record-books.

India won the toss and elected to bat first. Virender Sehwag provided a good start, which was thrown away when two quick wickets went down. However, then a massive stand was witnessed between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Both went on to score their 50s and their partnership lasted 127 runs, at a run rate of near 10 per over. Kohli finished with 75 off 47 balls not out. His inning included 7 fours and 2 sixes. Rohit Sharma also played a major role in India's total by scoring 56 off 40 balls. India amounted 185 in 20 overs, a total that didn't seem could be surpassed. From Pakistan, only Ajmal's figures are worth mentioning for good reasons; he conceded 22 in his 4 overs, picking up 2 wickets.

However, Pakistan's batting started to look promising right from the beginning. After a good start, Ashwin broke the opening stand and a run out followed by that wicket left Pakistan rebuilding from scratch. Kamran Akmal who walked in after 2 wickets, didn't waste time, rather started going after the bowlers instantly. Hafeez and Kamran Akmal were batting nicely, when Ashwin was brought back into attack - he got rid of Hafeez, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal in his second spell, leaving Pakistan 91/5 in 11.3 overs.

Target at this point seemed way out of reach. However, Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik battled through the difficult time and when time came, they started raining sixes. A target that seemed too difficult at once, was quite easily achieved in the end with 5 balls to spare. Kamran Akmal scored 92 off 50 balls with the help 5 fours and 6 sixes. Shoaib Malik also batted aggressively scoring 37 runs from 18 balls with the help of 2 four and 2 sixes. The unbeaten partnership between the two was of 95 runs from 7.4 overs at a run rate of 12.4 per over. From India, Ashwin bowled well to pick up 4 wickets for 23 runs from his 4 overs. Rest of the bowlers surrendered to Kamran Akmal's will as their figures were made to look horrible.

Though, this match means little to record books - yet it means a lot to both teams, and fans of both the countries. Pakistan can go into the world cup with a lot more confidence, having beaten Australia 2-1, and defeating India while chasing a mammoth total.

Enjoy!