One Step Closer

If I didn't see it for myself, I would have never believed it.

Pakistan has proven to be a force in the Twenty20 World Cup. And now the team is qualified for the semi-finals in a face-off with New Zealand.

For those who weren't in the loop, last week we faced-off against arch rivals India. In what ended up being one of the most exciting matches I've ever seen, both sides were TIED after their allotted innings. This is about as rare as a perfect game in baseball. Both sides see-sawed back and forth and at the end of the day, the match was decided by a farce known as a "Bowl-Out". This genius creation to decide matches had players bowling at stumps in a best of five format.

To put it in perspective, it would be like having a shootout in hockey with no goalies, and the team with the most goals wins. And of course, Pakistan technically lost! Though friends and family say that they threw the proceedings as a gesture, in order to ensure that both Asian countries went through to round two.

Shockingly, we turned Giant Killers in the Super 8 Stage, knotching wins against Sri Lanka and the mighty Australians. This is a huge burden of this Pakistani fan's back, as I was getting very tired of Australian dominance. And now that we're in the Semis, I have my heart racing in hopes that they pull of what I've always hoped - the big win!

What's made it very enjoyable is the nature of this new-look team. I don't know if it's the influence of team selectors, new Australian coach Geoff Lawson, or even new captain Shoaib Malik, but this team plays with composure and has yet to collapse in typical Pakistan fashion. And it seems a few new gems have been unearthed from the gallis (streets) with Sohail Tanveer proving his odd action is tricky.

Anyhow, enough cricket talk, I have some Z's to catch up on. Talk to y'all later!