Thisara Perera struck a six on the penultimate ball of the match to lead the World XI to victory
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Thisara Perera’s all-round performance and Hashim Amla’s unbeaten 72 saw the World XI triumph over Pakistan by seven wickets in a nail-biting affair in Lahore.
The World XI’s victory levelled the series at 1-1 after Pakistan batsman Babar Azam starred in the first Twenty20 International on Tuesday by smashing a superb 86.
Choosing to bat first, Pakistan got off to a solid start before opening batsman Fakhar Zaman was given out lbw off the bowling of Samuel Badree for 21.
Ahmed Shehzad and Azam kept the runs flowing with a 59-run partnership before Shehzad was caught by David Miller at long-on off the bowling of Imran Tahir for 43, which came off 34 balls and included five boundaries and a six.
Azam went on to score 45 off 38 deliveries, which included five boundaries, before he became Badree’s second victim.
Even though Imad Wasim and captain Sarfraz Ahmed were dismissed by Thisara in the same over, Shoaib Malik’s quickfire 39 saw Pakistan finish on 174/6 off their 20 overs.
Thisara and Badree picked up two wickets apiece, while Tahir and Ben Cutting chipped in with one wicket each.
Chasing 175 to win, the World XI got off to an excellent start as Amla and Tamim Iqbal amassed a 47-run partnership in 32 balls before Tamim was removed by Sohail Khan for 23.
Tim Paine only made 10 runs, while captain Faf du Plessis mustered 20 before he was caught by Shadab Khan at deep extra cover off the bowling of Mohammad Nawaz.
That was to be Pakistan’s last taste of success as Amla and Thisara worked in tandem to inch the World XI ever closer to victory.
Heading into the last over of the match, the World XI needed 13 runs to win. With the first ball going for a wide and Thisara and Amla securing six runs from four balls, the World XI found themselves needing six runs to win off the last two balls.
But, Thisara finished it off in one as he smashed the penultimate ball of the match over Rumman Raees’ head and over the rope for a six.
Amla concluded the game on 72 off 55 balls, which included five boundaries and two sixes, while Thisara remained undefeated on 47 off 19 deliveries, which included five sixes.
Hashim Amla scored his seventh half-century in Twenty20 Internationals
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Wasim, Sohail and Nawaz claimed one wicket each.
Sarfraz was gutted to have lost off the penultimate ball, and said: “World XI deserves the credit. Amla and Perera kept it till late and did it. Our bowlers are young and this is an occasion for them to learn how to bowl in such situations. We were a little sloppy today in the field. The score was good enough, 175, but if the execution was better in defending, we would have pulled it off.”
Du Plessis was thrilled to have levelled the series at 1-1, and said: “We needed this to keep the series alive. We bowled well today and made fewer mistakes. The wicket had a bit more spin today. Hashim was amazing for us, we needed that one guy to bat till the end and that didn’t happen yesterday.
“We’re obviously a team that’s brand new together, so last night we were disappointed we didn’t do our best. Our bowlers were very good tonight and the batting was smart too. I expect the third match to be in similar conditions so we’ll look to repeat this.”
Thisara edged out Amla for the Man of the Match award, and said: “First of all it’s a real honour to be selected to the World XI. Not much to say, it was a very happy day. Hash told me to stay till the last moment because we can catch up. I listened to him and we did really well. It’s a habit for me to be in this situation. This is a dream come true for me [playing in this team]. Thanks to the Pakistan fans for coming out.”