By IANS
Durban : In only the second tie-breaker ‘bowl out’ in a Twenty20 cricket match, India beat Pakistan 3-0 Friday after their Group D World Championship match had ended in a thrilling tie here.
Both India (three points) and Pakistan (two points), however, progressed to the second round, Super Eights, from this group with minnows Scotland crashing out without a win.
After both teams had scored identical 141 in the allocated 20 overs, the ‘bowl out’, in which five nominated bowlers from both sides bowled at the unguarded stumps, was employed.
The first three Indians — Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa – hit the stumps while none of the first three Pakistanis — Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi – could hit the timber as the packed and noisy crowd cheered on at Kingsmead ground.
It meant that pacers Irfan Pathan, who bowled magnificently on his comeback into the national team, and Sreesanth, the other nominated bowlers, were not required to bowl in the tie-breaker.
In the only other bowl out in the short history of Twenty20 cricket, New Zealand had beaten West Indies 3-0.
The only consolation for Pakistan was that their pacer Mohammed Asif was adjudged the Man of the Match for having taken four wickets with superb bowling.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan, chasing India’s 141 for nine wickets in 20 overs, needed one run off the last ball from Sreesanth, but Misbah-ul-Haq (53, 35 balls, 7x4s, 1×6) was run out while taking the winning run.
Pakistan finished at 141 for seven wickets in 20 overs, with Yasir Arafat remaining unbeaten on 12 off five balls.
Misbah, however, played an important knock after the top batting order had almost failed. Captain Shoaib Malik scored 18-ball 20, which included three boundaries.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also played a part in the win as he scored a 31-ball 33 (3x4s, 1×6) and Pathan chipped in with 15-ball 20 that contained two successive sixes.
Virender Sehwag, who was also staging a comeback, managed just five runs.
SCOREBOARD
India vs. Pakistan, Twenty20 World Championship, Kingsmead ground, Durban
India:
Gautam Gambhir c & b Asif 0
Virender Sehwag b Asif 5
Robin Uthappa c Akmal b Tanvir 50
Yuvraj Singh c Malik b Asif 1
Dinesh Karthik b Asif 11
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Younis b Arafat 33
Irfan Pathan b Afridi 20
Harbhajan Singh b Afridi 1
Ajit Agarkar run out (Akmal) 14
Sreesanth not out 1
Extras: (leg byes 2, wides 3) 5
Total: (for nine wickets in 20 overs) 141
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Gambhir, 0.3 overs), 2-9 (Sehwag, 2.1), 3-19 (Yuvraj, 4.1), 4-36 (Karthik, 6.4), 5-82 (Uthappa, 12.1), 6-111 (Pathan, 15.6), 7-123 (Harbhajan, 17.1), 8-138 (Dhoni, 19.1), 9-141 (Agarkar, 19.6)
Bowling:
Mohammad Asif 4 0 18 4 (1w)
Umar Gul 4 0 27 0 (1w)
Yasir Arafat 4 0 39 1
Sohail Tanvir 4 0 18 1 (1w)
Shahid Afridi 4 0 37 2
Pakistan:
Salman Butt c Dhoni b Agarkar 16
Imran Nazir b R.P. Singh 7
Kamran Akmal run out (Yuvraj) 15
Younis Khan b Pathan 2
Shoaib Malik c Harbhajan b Pathan 20
Misbah-ul-Haq run out (Sreesanth) 53
Shahid Afridi c Karthik b Harbhajan 7
Yasir Arafat not out 12
Extras: (leg byes 3, wides 5, no ball 1) 9
Total: (for seven wickets in 20 overs) 141
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Nazir, 2.1 overs), 2-44 (Butt, 7.2), 3-47 (Akmal, 8.1), 4-47 (Younis, 8.5), 5-87 (Malik, 14.6), 6-103 (Afridi, 17.4), 7-141 (Misbah, 19.6)
Bowling:
Rudra Pratap Singh 4 0 22 1 (3w)
Sreesanth 4 0 29 0 (1nb, 1w)
Ajit Agarkar 4 0 35 1
Irfan Pathan 4 1 20 2 (1w)
Harbhajan Singh 4 0 32 1
Result: India win 3-0 in bowl-out after tied match
Man of the Match: Mohammed Asif (Pakistan)
Toss: Pakistan (chose to bowl)
Umpire: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies)
TV umpire: Simon Davis (Australia)
Match referee: Mike Proctor (South Africa)