Pakistan defeated World XI by 33 runs at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium in the third and final T20 match of the 3 match series to lift the Independence Cup. Pakistan had won the first match by 20 runs on Tuesday before World XI levelled the series with a seven-wicket victory in the second on Wednesday.
World XI won the toss and elected to bowl first in the series decider. Pakistan finished on183-4 from 20 overs. Ahmed Shehzad was brilliant for his 55 ball 89 with 8 fours and 3 sixes. Babar Azam scored 48 while Fakhar Zaman contributed 27 runs. Srilankan Thisara Parera was the only bowler amongst the wickets as he picked up 2 wickets.
World XI in reply were restricted to 150/8 from 20 overs and fell short of the target by 33 runs. David Miller and Thisara Parera scored 32 runs each while Daren Sammy remained unbeaten on 24 but that wasn’t enough to take their team to victory. Hasan Ali picked up 2 important wickets as he finished with the figures of 2-28. Usman Khan, Imad Wasim and Rumman Raees shared a wicket each for Pakistan.
The series was arranged as part of Pakistan’s efforts to bring back international cricket to the country, which has only hosted Zimbabwe for a limited-over series in 2015. Foreign teams have refused to tour Pakistan since a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009.
During the innings break the Pakistan Cricket Board arranged a lap of honour for retired greats Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq. The two were given a standing ovation by a packed 25,000 crowd.