4 Months to Go: Lookback at ICC WT20 2009, Afridi brings glory for Pakistan in England

Early wickets were key for Sri Lanka, but Pakistan didn’t let that happen. Kamran Akmal did the early hitting to keep the scorecard ticking over at a healthy clip. Along with Shahzaib Hasan, he had put on 48 for the opening wicket before he was stumped attempting a biggie. Hasan was dismissed two overs later, and Sri Lanka had a look in.

It was then that Afridi took charge. It wasn’t a typical ‘Boom Boom’ innings. This was more measured – by Afridi and T20 standards – but, if at any point the asking rate appeared to dip, he would launch it right back with a big hit. He scored a fine 40-ball 54, putting on an unbroken 76-run stand with Shoaib Malik, who added a 22-ball 24.

The winning run came off a leg bye, but it didn’t matter. Afridi stood there, arms and legs stretched out wide and a huge grin pasted across his face. He then collapsed in a mid-pitch embrace with Malik, as the rest of their green-clad teammates rushed out to join them. And just like that, cricket had a new magic moment.