Mike Hussey’s big blows ensure improbable Australia win

Beausejour Stadium (Australia won toss): Australia beat Pakistan by three wickets

Michael Hussey engineered a near-impossible fightback to carry Australia into the final of the World Twenty20 tomorrow.
England will need to end the only unbeaten record of the tournament to secure the title.
Australia needed 125 from ten overs and 18 from the last six balls from Saeed Ajmal, but the requirement came down quickly as Hussey swung successive sixes over square leg and long-on to finish 60 not out from 24 balls.
Monitoring the game in Barbados after a morning flight, Paul Collingwood, the England one-day captain, and his colleagues must have thought that Pakistan would form the opposition. England beat Shahid Afridi’s side in Bridgetown nine days ago, but must now take on Shaun Tait and Dirk Nannes on the fastest pitch in the tournament.
“That is one of the best wins I have been involved in across any form of the game,” Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, said. “Mike Hussey is an absolute freak. You look forward to any opportunity to beat England, but they have some match-winners as well, so it will be a great final.”
Play in the Beausejour Stadium began 30 minutes late because of rain and Australia gradually lost control in the field. The Akmal brothers, Kamran and Umar, hit fifties and the addition of 69 runs from the last 26 balls took the total to 191, which Clarke thought was about 20 runs too many. The hitting looked sensational until it was trumped by Hussey.
Clarke’s concern proved justified when David Warner cut the second ball of the reply to backward point and Shane Watson forced to long-on. Cameron White injected stability to the innings and, with 43 needed at one point from 15 balls and heads in hands in the Australia dugout, Hussey timed the recovery perfectly.Pakistan †Kamran Akmal c Warner b Johnson 50 (34 balls) Salman Butt c Warner b Smith 32 (30) Umar Akmal not out 57 (35) *Shahid Afridi c Haddin b Hussey 8 (9) Khalid Latif c Warner b Nannes13 (6) Abdul Razzaq run out11 (7) Misbah-ul-Haq run out 0 (0)Extras (b 10, lb 1, w 9) 20Total (6 wkts, 20 overs) 192Mohammad Hafeez, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Aamer and Saeed Ajmal did not bat.Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-89, 3-114, 4-145, 5-190, 6-192.Bowling: Nannes 4-1-32-1; Tait 4-0-25-0; Johnson 4-0-37-1; Watson 2-0-26-0; Smith 2-0-23-1; Hussey 3-0-24-1; Clarke 1-0-13-0.
AustraliaD A Warner c U Akmal b Aamer 0 (2) S R Watson c Rehman b Aamer 16 (9) †B J Haddin st K Akmal b Rehman 25 (20) *M J Clarke st K Akmal b Afridi17 (19) D J Hussey c and b Rehman13 (9) C L White c Hafeez b Aamer 43 (31) M E K Hussey not out 60 (24) S P D Smith st K Akmal b Ajmal5 (4) M G Johnson not out5 (3)Extras (lb 7, w 5, nb 1)13Total (7 wkts, 19.5 overs) 197S W Tait and D P Nannes did not bat.Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-26, 3-58, 4-62, 5-105, 6-139, 7-144.Bowling: Aamer 4-0-35-3; Razzaq 2-0-22-0; Rehman 4-0-33-2; Ajmal 3.5-0-46-1; Afridi 4-0-34-1; Hafeez 2-0-20-0.
Umpires: B R Doctrove and I J Gould (England).