Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Irony of this match is that we cant say that 'better team won'. Pakistan was on the wrong ends of decisions throughout the day, showed great fight and urgency in the field. In my opinion Razzaq's run out was the key.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Not a bad match. Pakistan fought all the way and if it had not been the runout of Razzaq we might well have won. They go into the second match with their morale intact. Inzi and Malik should have shown bit more restrain as well.
Overall 7/10 for Pakistan. 
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Man Of The Match: S.J.Davies
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
rana's the third highest scorer. great.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
at th end of the day, we can’t really depend on Afridi except for improving the R.R. , so I agree with saby… Razzler was the last hope in this match… but the early wickets cost us the match.
Bowlers ki mehnat zaaya 
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Abay zaban andar kar 
Nahi to kheench kay tujhay hi khilaa dooNga!! 
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Inzamam is saying a new thing.... " Boys are working Hard"
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
It was really an amazing match apart from umpiring and the usual clash of pakistan’s top batting order. And rana was simply superb masha’Allah .. :k:
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Hmm well not quite. The bowlers have tasted blood now they know they won’t settle for anything less. Aussie batsmen will have to watch their tails next match. 
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Rightly said 
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
alrighty guys... I'm callin it a night (or morning!).
Over & Out!
AH.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
very well done in the end, hard luck and better luck next time.
akmal and Butt needs to be dropped immediately. Inzi needs to concentrate after his fifty. having azhar in place of Khalil cold have make little impact if not huge one.
Lets see what happens on Sunday
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Abay ay la bubbal kha tay ghusa thook day lakin apnay oper 
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Man of the match and series shoudl go to that idiot umpire,, did any one see Waqar leaving the comentary box.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Rana’s asperation should be an inspiration for other team mates and the fan’s.
Better luck in next 2 finals Pakistan
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
to be honest no matter how much solace we find in umpiring decisions, 236 was a very chaseable target and should have been overhauled. poor batting by pakistan.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
tough day for pak but still ...well said 236 was chasable to say teh least....reallly pathetic display by teh batsmen....except for butt (which was a bit hard to pick up --lbw) everything else was just good bowling and pathetic batting....aus very lucky with batting today but well bowled....they were in pressure today (i mean 236 for them) and they bowled their hearts out.....lookin forward to next one.....
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
Symonds and Lee put Australia one-up (Umpires put Australia one-up)
The Bulletin by Peter English
February 4, 2005
Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath (and umpires) devastated Pakistan’s top order after Andrew Symonds corrected corrected? he was out once in each 20 runs span dammit! an early batting wobble and helped Australia take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three VB Series finals at the MCG. Lee provided the pace and McGrath the accuracy to strike three times in the first three overs, and put Pakistan on the defensive immediately.
As hard as Pakistan tried through Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, whose flame was short and bright, they were unable to rise from the dreadful start. Both sides struggled in the opening ten overs on a pitch offering valuable bowling help (and umpires were offering valuable batting help to AUS), but Pakistan experienced the greater danger.
The memory of Lee swiftly charging in to bowl at 150km/h will linger for a long time in the minds of the batsmen and spectators. Lee struck in his first and third overs with beautiful deliveries to remove Salman Butt leg-before - although Butt insisted he hit it -(he hit it dammit, dont you have a TV to watch? atleast say it that decision was wrong) and clean-bowl the in-form Yousuf Youhana (3 for 9). In between, McGrath, playing his 200th match, dismissed Kamran Akmal to a lazy pull for his 299th career wicket. He became the eighth bowler to collect 300 when Mohammad Hafeez skied a pull that had much height and little distance, which Shane Watson took easily (4 for 27).
McGrath’s record was one of a small collection of fine displays that were scattered around an unusual number of stumbles in the showpiece event. The occasion visibly affected both sides, but Australia’s fright at 3 for 53 was settled by Symonds’ brutal and sensible 91, and then vanquished by their opening bowlers.
Inzamam and Malik played themselves in before swinging to pick up Pakistan. Both registered half-centuries in a futile fightback. The runs were made carefully, but when it was time to let loose they could not keep pace. Lee came back in the 31st over and soon added the crucial wicket of Inzamam (5 for 118). Inzamam has been the most consistent player of the series with five fifties, but Pakistan needed his first century.
In desperation, Malik and Afridi spectacularly opened their shoulders and cleared the rope before failing in the delicate balance to keep their heads. Malik found Darren Lehmann at mid-off and when Simon Katich caught Afridi, who chopped 26 from 15 balls, in the deep the match was decided (8 for 171). Lee finished with the satisfying figures of 3 for 23 off 10 overs but Symonds was Man of the Match.
While Australia’s fast bowlers were in step, they were given initial breathing space by Symonds, who (was out atleast 3 times in his inning but not given and ) showed what a difference a medal ( and umpires ) can make. Before winning the Australia One-Day Player of the Year award on Monday, he had five ducks in six innings and was lined up for plucking alongside the dropped Matthew Hayden.
In 50 overs of up-and-down cricket, Symonds hauled Australia to safety after the top three were sent packing, but on his departure at 213, the innings was once again unsteady. Afridi and Abdul Razzaq, who were both on hat-tricks, were responsible for curtailing the galloping in a team performance that contained moments of brilliance, crazy lapses and a collision. The upshot was a restricted total of 237 that supporters of the underdog believed was a job well done.
Symonds’ self-belief was quickly evident when he warmed up with two powerful off-drives and a pull, and he looked as dangerous as during his 143 not out against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. With his helmet covering the frizzy hair that would make The Simpson’s Sideshow Bob break into song, Symonds became the main event. He was strong and delicate in hitting seven fours in a display that Australian fans had waited for all summer.
Afridi was the only bowler to really ( get symond out 2 times) trouble Symonds, who survived a couple of strong lbw appeals - the umpires were reluctant to raise their fingers throughout the innings. ( THEY WERE NOT GIVING AUSSIES OUT, SIMPLE IS THAT. NOT THAT THEY WERE CHEATING BUT SAY IT DAMMIT THAT AT LESAT ON 5 OCCASIONS AUSSIES WERE OUT and BALL WAS HITTING MIDDLE STUMP NOT EVEN LEG OR OFF STUMP ) Symonds and Damien Martyn shone in a 137-run partnership that steadied the rocking innings. Martyn was the support act for his partner’s attacks and managed a smart 53 without a boundary until he was stumped off Afridi (4 for 190). Darren Lehmann replaced Martyn and was caught-behind first ball to an embarrassing reverse-sweep.
Michael Clarke was preferred to the out-of-form Hayden as opener, but the move was less successful than Hayden’s series average of 10.5. After a rocky start in swinging conditions it was Clarke who was out for 9, lbw playing back to Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who stayed on tour rather than return for his father’s funeral (1 for 29). Adam Gilchrist went to a fine jumping catch by Razzaq. He and Ricky Ponting were unsettled in strange cases of early nerves on the big stage.
Naved had an eventful match along with his bowling teammate Mohammad Khalil. The pair collided in the field, forcing Khalil off to hospital for x-rays on a suspected dislocated shoulder. Naved then combined for a gallant 45-run partnership with Iftikhar Anjum at the close. Pakistan’s response against the world champions was brave, but again the challengers fell short.
© Cricinfo
RED AND BOLD are the corrections made by Decent 6Chora in this article.
Re: VB Series 1st Final Australia v Pakistan
we bowled well to restrict the world champs to a target well within our reach but the same old problem of %$£$%%^ up when the chips r down popped up ] ] ] ] 9-3 then 27-4 come on, losing so many wkts so early in our innings, i was amazed with inzi’s and sialkotias’ resistence inzi 4rom their on. this is indeed a gr8 opportunity missed to draw 1st blood. should’ve won this 1