Internet Desk: Up until the introduction of the Super-Over in International T20 cricket, if a match ended with the scores level (either because both teams reached the same score after 20 overs, or the second team scored exactly the par score under the D/L method, the tie was broken with a bowl-out. The first international bowl-out in a Twenty20 match took place on 16 February 2006, when New Zealand beat West Indies 3-0 in Auckland. A bowl-out was also used on 14 September 2007 when India beat Pakistan 3-0 during the 2007 ICC World T20 at Durban, South Africa.
It was the 10th match of the Group D fixture between Arch Rivals India and Pakistan where Pakistan chose to bowl first after winning the toss. India went on to score 141 for the loss of 9 wickets. Robin Uthappa top scored with half century from 39 balls. Mohammed Asif was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets and just gave away 18 runs. Pakistan came into bat to chase down a par score at the Durban track of 142 runs. Pakistan lost wickets frequently at quick intervals which put pressure on them. Misbah Ul Haq top scored with 53 runs from 35 balls while Irfan Pathan was the pick of the bowlers with 2/20.
More than 21 years after Javed Miandad’s last-ball heroics in Sharjah, India and Pakistan played out a thrilling tie at the ICC World Twenty20, with Misbah-ul-Haq run out off the last ball of the match. But the tournament rules didn’t allow for the spoils to be shared, and it was India that prevailed in the bowl-out. Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa were Dirty Harry-accurate, while Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi all missed by a fair distance as a sell-out crowd celebrated an enthralling finale.
The 33-year-old Misbah, who made a magnificent 53 from just 35 balls, had been an unlikely hero for Pakistan after Shahid Afridi’s dismissal, with 39 needed from 15 balls, had left them in a seemingly hopeless situation. He needed just one run from the last two balls of the innings, but Sreesanth came round the wicket to deliver a dot ball and then a short one that Misbah could only parry to silly mid-off. He had no chance of completing the single.
This was the most nervous and thrilling 10-12 minutes of an Indo-Pak T20 International tie till now. Click on the link below to relive the moment.