When wickets don’t come their way, bowlers look for a little help from their fielders to get a breakthrough. And that is exactly where Pakistan’s veteran player Shoaib Malik showed that despite being the oldest player in the national cricket team, he still remains as fit as the others. Malik took a blinder in the second T20I of the Independence Cup against the World XI and got the Bangladeshi player Tamim Iqbal out. His catch provided the much-needed breakthrough in the second innings as World XI were chasing a total of 175 in the second T20I.
World XI openers Hashim Amla and Tamim Iqbal got off to a convincing start. Amla-Iqbal had made good use of the powerplay overs, scoring over 8 runs per over. But Iqbal’s inning was cut-short by Malik when he flicked the third ball off Sohail Khan’s over. The 35-year-old dived to his right to take a one-handed blind catch. The effort from the veteran can be categorised as one of the best fielding efforts seen in the Independence Day Cup T20I series.
The fast bowler Sohail was delighted with the catch as he ran towards Malik with open arms in celebration. The fielders came running from every end of the cricket field in delight as they had got the breakthrough they needed before the end of the last powerplay over.
OUT! 5.3 Sohail Khan to Tamim
Watch the match at https://t.co/ssrhnqqgQA#CricketKiHalalala #PAKvWXI pic.twitter.com/qb30ZBiHTl— PCB Official (@TheRealPCB) September 13, 2017
That wicket helped Pakistan dominate the World XI in the middle overs despite Amla’s gritty knock. The home side had the match very much in control and were heading towards another T20I win and with it, the series. However, because of Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera’s aerial knocks off the last overs, the World XI the match home.
Malik did well with the bat too. His cameo of 23-ball 39 helped the home side post a challenging total on the board. Malik struck 3 sixes and 1 four in his innings. Had he taken another blinder of a catch in the 19th over to get Perera out, the match would have certainly gone in Pakistan’s favour.
