1st Semi-Final, Northampton, July 12, 2024, 05:00 PM
Pakistan Champions
198/8(20.0ov)
West Indies Champions
178/10(19.5ov)
Pakistan Champions beat West Indies Champions by 20 runs
Right then, that's it from the coverage of this game. Pakistan Champions become the first team to seal a spot in the finals of the World Championship of Legends 2024. Who will be the other finalist? To find out do switch tabs and catch the live action from Semi-Final 2 which sees India Champions go up against Australia Champions. That game is underway. Do not miss anything. Until next time, take care and goodbye.
Younis Khan, the victorious skipper is in for a chat. He praises the batter down the order, with the way they fought till the very end and helped them get to a commendable socre. Adds that eveyone is a match winner in this team. If something goes wrong there are many players who put their hand up. We haven't really seen the best of Shahid Afridi in this tournament and hopefully he has saved it for the final game. States that he feels blessed to be a skipper of this side. Informs that Australia and India, both are quality sides, and it is all about the nerves in knockout matches and whoever is able to control the nerves will make it through to fight it out against them.
Darren Sammy, the skipper of West Indies Champions says that they did well in the powerplay but let them slip away a bit too much towards the end and couldn't capitalize on the batting powerplay too. Adds that on such surfaces they have to make the most of powerplay and Pakistan keep things tight and got wickets regularly with the reverse swing. Concludes that this has been a fun experience in front of his family and such tournaments keep the fun alive and keep players active.
Aamer Yamin wins the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his outstanding all-around performance including 40 runs off 18 ball and 4 catches. He says that he along with Younus planned of taking it deep and things started to flow nicely after one good hit. Adds that he is happy to have helped the side get to the finals and will look to replicate the same in the finals. Concludes that he and Sohail Tanvir had the momentum from their batting performance and it just carried out into their bowling and they did really well in the first four overs.
Stay tuned for the presentation here..
Earlier in the innings, Pakistan Champions were teetering at 10/3 inside the Powerplay and everyone would have chalked them off after such a start, but then came a match-saving knock from the skipper himself in Younis Khan. He came out all guns-blazing and forged a valuable partnership with Kamran Akmal of 79 runs, which turned their innings in the right direction. Kamran Akmal agonisingly fell short of his half-century, but looks from a team perspective, he did an outstanding job. Younis Khan went on to make his half-century but could be stay out there till the very end. Once he departed it looked like 175 was what Pakistan could get to, although Aamer Yamin and Sohail Tanvir had some other ideas, as they expressed themselves with the bat in hand. Yamin scoring 40 runs off just 18 deliveries is a remarkable effort with the bat, and Tanvir being that amazing support player who ended his innings with 33 to his name. If not for these two batters, the run chase could have been completely different.
After that, Dwayne Smith got his eye-in but right after the drinks break he ended up giving up his wicket. Jonathan Carter followed suit soon after. This is when things got a bit more tickier for West Indies Champions as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals which didnt allow them to grow a partnership, that could get them home. Ashley Nurse came out with intent, smacked the ball all across the park, but had to go back in an unfortunate manner, through a run out. Rayad Emrit provided his side with a cameo down the order, but it wasn't enough for them to make it to the finals. Pakistan Champions were sensational with the ball, and when you talk about T20 matches, there are plenty of phases that need to won, and quite evidently most of them were won by Pakistan and they come out on top, deservedly so. Sohail Khan stood out with the ball in hand with his four-wicket haul. Wahab Riaz and Shoaib Malik chipped in with a couple of wickets.
We all know West Indies are capable of winning crucial battles in a T20 game, especially with the amount of power-hitters they have in their ranks, although it was a completely different story out here during the run chase. Pakistan Champions were on the money with the new ball. The duo of Aamer Yamin and Sohail Tanvir hardly bowled any looseners up top, which saw West Indies Champions score only 7 runs in the first 4 overs of the Powerplay. No power from West Indies Champions up top, is not what are used to seeing, but Pakistan Champions surprised everyone with their top-notch bowling, although Chris Gayle came back to life in the third over of Aamer Yamin, he took him to the cleaners and tried to release some pressure from his side. Gayle tried to take the matter into his own hands, as his partner in Dwayne Smith was struggling to get his timing right initially, in this process the Universe Boss ended up losing his wicket. Chadwick Walton then came to the middle, played a decent knock, stitched a small stand with Smith but slipped out 19 runs with Sohail Khan getting the better of him.
Pakistan Champions make it through to the FINALS!! They are the first team to inch closer to lifting the trophy. Pakistan Champions first made a comeback with the bat in hand in the later stages of the first innings, to post a defendable total on this batting-friendly deck. Usually, 207 is considered to be an average score on this wickets, but Pakistan Champions made 198 looks enough on it, as West Indies Champions have been bowled out for 178 runs here.
In over# 20
0W
0W
1
4
1
Sohail Khan 21/4(3.5)
OUT! CLEANED UP! A peach of a delivery here to finish things off in style for Pakistan Champions. Sohail Khan comes 'round the wicket and dishes it on a length, outside off. The ball comes into the left-hander with the angle. Sulieman Benn prods and tries to defend it out with a straight bat but misses it completely. The ball sneaks through the gap and goes on to hit the top of middle stump. Pakistan Champions win by 20 runs!
19.5
W
OUT! CLEANED UP! A peach of a delivery here to finish things off in style for Pakistan Champions. Sohail Khan comes 'round the wicket and dishes it on a length, outside off. The ball comes into the left-hander with the angle. Sulieman Benn prods and tries to defend it out with a straight bat but misses it completely. The ball sneaks through the gap and goes on to hit the top of middle stump. Pakistan Champions win by 20 runs!
OUT! TIMBER! Sohail Khan picks up his third wicket of the night. It is a fuller length ball, attacking the stumps. Jerome Taylor stays inside the crease and looks to flick it away but misses. The ball sneaks through and disturbs the furniture behind. Pakistan Champions now a wicket away from victory.
19.4
W
OUT! TIMBER! Sohail Khan picks up his third wicket of the night. It is a fuller length ball, attacking the stumps. Jerome Taylor stays inside the crease and looks to flick it away but misses. The ball sneaks through and disturbs the furniture behind. Pakistan Champions now a wicket away from victory.
19.3
1
Tino Best now rotates the strike as he punches this length ball to covers.
19.2
4
FOUR! Lucky boundary. It is a fuller one, around middleg. Tino Best looks to hack it through the line but it catches the inside edge and runs down to deep fine for four runs. A boundary out of nowhere for Best.
19.1
1
Fuller one, around off. Taylor knocks it down to mid on for one.
In over# 19
0W
1wd
6
6
6
2nb
2
0
Shoaib Malik 26/2(2)
OUT! CAUGHT! Shoaib Malik gets the last laugh and will breathe a sigh of relief! Bowls it flat and wide on off, Rayad Emrit looks to launch this one into the stands too but gets it off the lower half of the bat. The ball goes high and falls straight into the bread basket of Aamer Yamin at long on, who makes no mistake. His fourth catch of the match! This certainly should be the game for Pakistan Champions! West Indies Champions need 26 from the final over to make it to the final.
18.6
W
OUT! CAUGHT! Shoaib Malik gets the last laugh and will breathe a sigh of relief! Bowls it flat and wide on off, Rayad Emrit looks to launch this one into the stands too but gets it off the lower half of the bat. The ball goes high and falls straight into the bread basket of Aamer Yamin at long on, who makes no mistake. His fourth catch of the match! This certainly should be the game for Pakistan Champions! West Indies Champions need 26 from the final over to make it to the final.