Was the Australia-Pakistan game yesterday one of the all-time great matches of the World Cup?

[Harsh Thakor]

In the end Pakistan were defeated by a convincing margin of 44 runs by Australia but the scores did not reflect the true intensity of the tussle which resembled a hard fought boxing match with fortunes continually twisting.

Pakistan seemed coarse when Babar Azam,Inam Ul Haq and Mohammad Hafeez were batting .They counter -attacked the Aussie atack with a most organized and clinical display of batting and looked as though looked like taking Pakistan home like a Ship in the Ocean moving in complete harmony.Sadly due to mistiuming of shors both Inam and Hafeez perished a major dent was made in the Pakistan battingand the game had a 180 degrees twist with a precipitated middle order collapse.At six down it literally looked game,set and match for Australia before 2 spectacular resurgency by Pakistan launched by first Hasan Ali and then Wahab Riaz .In partnership with Sarfraz Ahmed they resurrected Pakistan from the grave with a bout of spectacular hitting.Although Hassan Ali's tenure was much shorter his blitzkrieg of 32 of a mere 14 balls re-lit the spark in the batting which Wahab Riaz turned into a prairie fire.From the depths of despair Pakistan came withing touching distance of famous win before Wahab's dismisal when Paksiatn were a mere 48 runs adrift.Unlike Hasan Wahab too time to launch his counterattack.Wahab Riaz's inings may rank amongst the best ever in a world cup or O.D.I. at no 9 position.

This game had 4 features.The 1st was the collapse of Australia to 308 when they seemed destined to reach a total of around 340-350.The 2nd was the most clinical approach by the Pakistan top order in the 1st half of the chase.The 3rd was the sensational middle order collapse after 25 overs.The fourth was the spectacular resurgence of Pakistan from the depths of despair to come so close.

The standard of cricket was not at its best but few matches have ever had so many twist and turns.The Pakistan chase reminded you of a spark being lit at every point when afire was on the brink of being extinguished.Maybe not one of Pakistan's most gallant defeats or Australia's best wins but the ebb and flow possibly makes it an all-time great world cup or O.D.I.game.Pakistan were defeated honourably and to me lack of temperament was the deciding factor. As a cricket fan I rooted for Pakistan who proved that they had more than the talent required to overcome Australia.It reminded me of the Pakistan teams of 1975 and 79 that came so close to beating strong teams but lost out because of approach.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Harsh Thakor

[Ajju]

Its going to be revolution in pak cricket history

[ShoonyaSifar]

What exactly was great about it? Pakistani dropping catches as if they were allergic to leather, Pakistani batsmen throwing away starts to get out on silly shots or Maxwell bowling in death overs?

[AuxiliA]

Nope. Any match which doesn't feature Majid Khan, has no right to be called great. 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Even star sports do as much Dhoni-Chalisa as much u overrate pakistan games

[AK007]

On the contrary, this will belong to one of the all time worst matches - both teams were trying hard to lose, but newbie Aussies were no match to the expert Pakistanis.

Edited June 13, 2019 by AK007

[SK_IH]

[Nikola]

Every Pakistani player & match is all time great for you.

[Adi BB]

No but a close second to Zimbabwe UAE last WC ,that was the GOAT wc match 

[philcric]

Greatest WC match of all time.

 

Mohammad Hafeez's depositing of Aaron Finch's 85 kmph full toss into the hands of Mitchell Starc on the 65m mid wicket boundary was the single most surreal piece of cricketing action in its WC history. I'm yet to recover from the brilliance of those 5 seconds.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by philcric

[Sandeep99]

Cringeworthy descriptions. It was anything but a classic or greatest.

[nevada]

Nothing screams "Troll!" like the title of this thread.

[Stuge]

Best of All times .

[Adi BB]

I had the feeling ever since I began reading Op's posts (since 2013 I think ) be it Green ghetto or ICF that this guy is masquerading as a great cricket thinker/lover but underneath is a big troll who laughs his @ss off to the innocent posters lol 

[Sean Bradley]

And the Bhaskar award for the most Ghatiya Thread of the year goes to 

[Asim]

No, the previous match: Pak vs SL was...

[YUSER_]

Surely so many great moments to remember drop catches,the way in which Australia played last few overs, pakistan's batting collapse 

[Gollum]

More food for thought 

[Suhaan]

A big GHANTA

[Laaloo]

Yes. This match has changed cricket as we know it forever.