Afridi's short but fruitful stint on the pitch was very fun to watch. I dont think we could have won the match if it wasn't fro afridi.
Good job youhana and inzi.
Afridi did an awesome job, its not easy when u gotta make 20 runs in 20 balls with 3 wickets in hand and only one batsman, thats when pressure gets to u, and to relieve the pressure afridi added excitement to the game and those 25 made Pakistan come in awesome position and thats why they were able to play much more comfortable
did u guys catch when Harbajan came to bowl Afridiand akram was like "I tell afridi we dont need big shotss just 4 an over and he would asay yes captain and 2 mins later back in dressing room" haha
and then akram was like "afridi will go after the ball we know that, indians know that, pakistanis know that and everybody knows that"
overall amazing fight by YOYO and hats off to everone
btw whose catch did afridi drop?
everyone hail afridi 
Well Played Pakistan...The bowling was good...and in the batting, Inzi, Youhana and Afridi saved Pakistan :D
This is what woolmer has to say.
Salam all. good performance over all. good bowling by almost everyone except for Afridi. Afridi being given ball in 40s is still a mystery to me. Afridi played is right spot in batting, the last batsman (if he has to be in the team).
Afridi’s 25 was good when needed but then his usual self showed up when he tried to smack the last one and got caught.
Solid batting by Inzimam and Youhanna.
People, 200 was not really that easy a target on that pitch, if you hadn’t noticed ball was moving and at times showed uneven bounce and the overcast condition was not helping either.
Great match overall, good “TEAM” performance. This win and some previous wins were not “one man” performances, a contribution from almost everyone (or many, not “few”). Great job :k:
In the end, best team won 
Watchout Windies, here comes Pakistani team!!!
The Game Responds:
*All Afridi and Shoaib haters; please go away. Youhana learned from his mistake in the game against the Aussies at Lord's; good stuff. There's a very good chance of a repeat of Pakistan VS Australia in the final. Let's see what happens. People, That Is All.*
Congratulations to everyone and hats off to Yoyo, Inzi, Rana, Akhtar and Afridi.
Once again thanks ASN for a wonderful job. We all owe you gizzilions of thanks.
No doubt khocha played really well. This is exactly what he is capable of and this is what we should expect from him. Poor guy was thrown as opener in the start of his career and the expectations were wrong. He is a spinner in the first place and then a late order slogger. All the best in next two games. I hope he will chip in his 100% with ball and bat.
Glad to see that Shoaib is picking up his rythem, I hope he will take wickets in the up coming matches as well. Woolmer rightly sent him as first change bowler. He knows where and how to use his guys. The game plan is clicking mashallah. Good use of brains and talent. :k:
I have no complains with the three younster batsman that were out cheaply. Its not easy to take this much pressure. The experience will teach them itself. But Farhat is a rising concern as he looked awkward the whole season. A big parchi indeed.
And as Game said, there would be a repeat of WC 99 final at Lords again and insahllah we will be victorous this time.
I also like to mention, Irfan’s first spell which reminded me of the Sultan of swing’s usual first spell. Complete dominance its all about.
Also the sportsmanship of The Wall, not only his innings saved India some pride but his pressence in field is a big contribution in motivatioin of the whole team. As soon as Yoyo hit the winning shot, he looked at the third man where ball was driven and didn’t even bother to look back again if the fielder is returning the ball and took off his gloves to shake Yoyo’s hand.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by phoenixdesi: *
good analysis faisal...i am so happy that i can not even post anything decent or reasonable....lol....can u guys believe that i searched for an indian restaurant list in phoenix/tempe at google 3 Am in morning and then started calling them if they are showing the match. finally, i ended up in a restaurant at arizona state university where there were almost 20 indians and 18 pakis watching the match.....Beofre i left, i woke up my poor wife 3.30 am in morning to inform her that india has lost 3 wickets for 27 runs and i am going to a restaurant to see the match live ..... she probably even did not understand wat the hec i am talking about and i just left.....the whole atmosphere was electrified as usual.............and when pakisatn lost 3rd wicket at 25 i left the room because indians were making too much of noise and i could not take it.......i came back again when inzi got out.....and when afridi smashed pathan for sixes we all got mad....now it was our time to pay back to indians and we did it in a perfect LAHORIE WAY..... one after another , indians kept leaving the rastaurant with faces down and when YOYO THE TIGER hit the winning shot there were no indian there and we were jumping all over.....it is amzing how cricket effects all of us....most of paki guys were well established professionals and all of us were hugging each other... screaming loud....and of course we never met each other before.....there was no karachite, lahorite or sindhi, punjabi......every one was huggin each other...anway, YOYO payed the innings of his life and pathan ka Bacccah afridi showed who is the real PATHAN when he kicked Naqlee pathan'ass today....plus the way afridi got out also proved that he is the real pathan....anway sab ko bhot bhot mubarak ho.....ALLAH KA LAKH LAKH SUKAR HA....this is a big win yaroo...because indians always criticized us that we lose big match against them....allah ka shukar ha uss nay izzat rakh leee......this was a big a match.........
[/QUOTE]
:) great story my man
We all watched the game and after the first innings we were confident we would win. It seemed like it was a done deal you know. So we're all chilling turned the tv off in the break for a bit and were resting (it's like 7 am or something rite)
Then we turn it back on and Pak is 28/3 and im like holy shyte. I swear I could have passed our rite there LOL
Man Afridi was huge today the way he played Pathan with confidence. THe openers should have done the same with Pathan, if you play him tenatively like that you will edge balls and get out. Farhat especailly should be embarassed, he's left handed and Pathan should'nt trouble him so.
Inzi and YoYo obviously were massive today. Those two are so crucial making up the heart of our middle order, they carry us so far. And yeah I'll say it again, I would have loved seeing Yunis Khan batting at #6 today . He would have taken the singles and carried us home with YoYo
Anyways, bowling was all about Shoiab and Rana (strangely enough)
Shaoib is back, so who still wants to kick him off the team?
Rana really surprised me, did'nt think he could swing it so much.
elahi the same thing happened to me... i turned on the tv and were were 14-2... maybe we were watching the game at the same palce? hats off to yoyo who has always been a match winner, it was great to see him fighting espeically at the end with all the cramping... reminded me of asim kamal during the india tests although that was a losing effort.... rana bowled his heart out... it seems like rana and sami are actually dangerous bowling together but whenever the two S's are in tandem they cant really do anything... brining shoaib first change was a good move but he was brought in too late... should have came in earlier and finished off india.... cant wait for the semi's and then Inshallah the final at Lords
well guys, i think that afridi played the most irresponsible innings of his life...
for people who were just checking the scores on CricInfo, it might have seemed like a delight...but for ppl like us, who were watching it live, it was nothing less than a freak show...i do admire his hitting capabilities, but it was something which was completely not required at the stage when he came on to bat...when moin got out, pakistan needed just 49 runs of 58 balls...so i dont see any need for big hitting...this guy was trying to smash every ball for a six...and trust me, it was making me very uncomfirtable...
i know, u mught argue that what he did was great, but before saying that, just answer one question...."what if afridi got out earlier...and pakistan lost the match"....then, still u would admire him for his blunt hitting???
inzi and yoyo played the winning innings....as i have been saying for so long, its the experience that wins u crunch matches...
and we need to do a lot of work on our opening.....malik on no. 3 has started to fail...i would rather see inzi or yoyo on the no. 3 position than malik...malik is a good talented batesman, who can come in at no. 5 and do some serious damage along with razzaq and moin...and please move afridi to the opening spot, coz thats the only place his blunt shots can be accounted for...
^
Please...Afridi may be irresponsible...but he got Pakistan out of a tough situation today...so Youhana and Rana could play without pressure of the run rate mounting up. He is a match winner...and he proved that again today. Gangualy brought on Pathan to finish the game off...and in the game of cricket...there is something called counter-attack...and thats exactly what Afridi did, and did with full effect. Hitting the oppositions main bowler for 2 sixes on 2 consecutive balls is no easy task...and after getting hit for those 2 sixes and a four...Pathan's bowling never came near to how brilliantly he was bowling to the early top order Pakistani Batsmen.
scoring 25 makes him a match winner!!!! well, thats a revelation for me...
anyways, everyone is entitles to his/her own views....
Okay.
Rana Naveed ul Hassan was awesome. I saw him bowling only in highlights. Good performance by him at the biggest stage, Hope he grows in stature as a player after this performance.
Shoaib was much more controlled and restrained aprat from being fiery. He has returend excellent figures after his dismal performance against Symonds the other day.
Afridi showed why he is a must in one day outfit. If he doesnt bowl well, he covers it up with the bat and vice versa. His second six was like whoaaaaaaaaa!!!
Inzi has grown in stature as a captain and I must say he is the now taking responsiblity on the field, his performance with the bat was always fine.
If anyone on this board criticizes Youhana again and asks for his exclusion, I will personally see to it that he/she is banned :-D. He showed why he is the backbone of our batting line up.
Over all it was a GREAT win. We finally beat India in a really BIG match and team deserves all the accolades for that. Great job and we hope we beat WI and whoever we meet in the final.
Thank you for a mature look at this. Yes Sixes get the heart rate and run rate chiming up but in reality, we won this match because of Afridi and almost lost this match because of Afridi. He has to place a prize on his wicket, right now everyone knows the script, now he must come in and stay till the end. He was the only batsman left (aside from Yoyo) and at such a crucial stage in the game he should have stayed until the end...however a great win for Team Pakistan and I feel extremely happy for all of us!
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by knightofhearts: *
well guys, i think that afridi played the most irresponsible innings of his life...
for people who were just checking the scores on CricInfo, it might have seemed like a delight...but for ppl like us, who were watching it live, it was nothing less than a freak show...i do admire his hitting capabilities, but it was something which was completely not required at the stage when he came on to bat...when moin got out, pakistan needed just 49 runs of 58 balls...so i dont see any need for big hitting...this guy was trying to smash every ball for a six...and trust me, it was making me very uncomfirtable...
i know, u mught argue that what he did was great, but before saying that, just answer one question...."what if afridi got out earlier...and pakistan lost the match"....then, still u would admire him for his blunt hitting???
inzi and yoyo played the winning innings....as i have been saying for so long, its the experience that wins u crunch matches...
and we need to do a lot of work on our opening.....malik on no. 3 has started to fail...i would rather see inzi or yoyo on the no. 3 position than malik...malik is a good talented batesman, who can come in at no. 5 and do some serious damage along with razzaq and moin...and please move afridi to the opening spot, coz thats the only place his blunt shots can be accounted for...
[/QUOTE]
Amazing to me that this is the same Rana who I felt would never play another international match in his career after Karachi but credit to Inzy and Woolmer for sticking with him and, what is more, putting him in as the opening bowling in another big game! Now that is saying something. And India definitely bowled their hearts out, Pathan could not have done more to give India a chance...in the end, Pakistan just was the more organized outfit. This is the kind of game we have lost in the past but I do feel Woolmer has created molded this team into a first class unit in just no time! To top it all off, we have bested India three times in a row and take the season series from them. Make no mistake, this was a HUGE match for India, they had the Champions Trophy circled on their calendars since last year, especially this game against Pak. We kept hearing that they would bounce back in time for this tournament but they were bounced out and now Pakistan can say bye bye to the 300 pound gorilla on their back since they have knocked India out of the second biggest tournament cricket has.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by saby: *
Okay.
Rana Naveed ul Hassan was awesome. I saw him bowling only in highlights. Good performance by him at the biggest stage, Hope he grows in stature as a player after this performance.
Shoaib was much more controlled and restrained aprat from being fiery. He has returend excellent figures after his dismal performance against Symonds the other day.
Afridi showed why he is a must in one day outfit. If he doesnt bowl well, he covers it up with the bat and vice versa. His second six was like whoaaaaaaaaa!!!
Inzi has grown in stature as a captain and I must say he is the now taking responsiblity on the field, his performance with the bat was always fine.
If anyone on this board criticizes Youhana again and asks for his exclusion, I will personally see to it that he/she is banned :-D. He showed why he is the backbone of our batting line up.
Over all it was a GREAT win. We finally beat India in a really BIG match and team deserves all the accolades for that. Great job and we hope we beat WI and whoever we meet in the final.
[/QUOTE]
Things to consider for Bob Woolmer
1. Our openers failed yet again.
2. Shoaib malik’s foot work was the highlight of his class. (It’s not only him..the problem is common among most batsmen from the sub continent)
3. Afridi gambled again and lost his wicket when he was needed to stay till the end.
4. Razaq’s aggression in bowling is questionable
5. Sami failed yet again to contain batsmen at the death of the innings
Things that worked well for Pakistan
1. Shoaib Akhtar was impressive, however the variety in his bowling is far from matching the quality of Wasim Akram and Imran Khan
2. Yousaf Yohana and Inzimam ARE world class.
3. Moin Khan is still fit and can play till 2007 WC. No worries there.
4. Pakistan is far superior than the mediocre Indian team. Three straight losses means something!! The fact that Ganguly, Sehwag and Yuvraj had to bowl shows the depth in Indian bowling attack.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fayz: *
Pakistan is far superior than the mediocre Indian team. Three straight losses means something!! The fact that Ganguly, Sehwag and Yuvraj had to bowl shows the depth in Indian bowling attack.
[/QUOTE]
Ditto. What is really funny is reading all the Indian Newspapers BEFORE and AFTER the game. hahahaha.
salam all.
About Afridi, he did a good job of reducing the pressure of increasing run rate when Youhanna was unable to run singles and doubles due to cramps! but we never see any improvement in his batting (temperament that is).
Moin: what was he thinking when playing uppish shots? I thought he was more experienced than Youhanna!
Inzi: good job, but what were you doing fishing like that (when got caught behind)?
Imran Farhat: If you really wanna go fishing, please go to northern Pakistan you’ll enjoy it, please don’t use your fishing expertise in cricket.
Yasir: Okay, we learnt that you are trying to improve your “on side” playing skills and want to attack the attack bowler, please practice it more and do some work out in gyms, your “SIX” was well within boundary.
Shoaib Malik: 
you are in England, not in Pakistan, watch the ball and its swing.