Pakistan had raced to 58/1 within the first six overs before Southee turned the game on its head. He claimed the wickets of Younis Khan, Mohammed Hafeez and Umar Akmal in consecutive deliveries and eventually finished with impressive figures of 5/18 in his four overs.

Chasing only 144 to win, New Zealand’s task was made easier by the rollicking start given to them by Martin Guptill, who hit four sixes in his 29 ball 54.

After Guptill’s dismissal, Ross Taylor played a patient knock of 39 not out to ensure that New Zealand won with plenty to spare.

Pakistan ( 143/9) lost to New Zealand 146/5 ( 17.1 overs)

Man of the Match of Pakistan vs New Zealand- Tim Southee.

Their move to send Indians to bat proved to be costly in the initial overs as  Sehwag got off to a brisk start smashing 3 sixes in first over. Just when you thought India were gaining momentum they lost Gautam Gambhir to a irresponsible shot. The shot which was not needed at that stage as the two openers had got 7 runs of the first 4 balls. O’Brien provided the much needed break through by getting rid of Gambhir. Then on the other end Sehwag was going great guns but he too perished for getting over ambitious. Well wickets kept tumbling after Sehwag’s dismissal.Yuvraj, Dhoni and Sharma fell  rather quickly. Suddenly Indian team lost momentum. But then came the Pathan brothers.  A lot was expected from them as they had guided India to  emphatic win against Sri Lanka.

Yusuf was going great guns by hitting Nathan McCullum for 3 successive sixes but got out perishing trying to go for the fourth one and the catch was taken well by Oram.Irfan to followed soon. Suddenly Raina had ran out of partners as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.But Raina had a good partner in Harbhajan who gave him good support and provided India the much needed impetus in the final 5 overs which which guided India to total of 162 which they thought it was enough considering they were in a precarious position at one stage.

Then came  New Zealand’s turn to bat.They got off to a bad start losing Jesse Ryder. But McCullum and Guptill put on a very good partnership to make sure they were in the hunt and they were with the run rate. Martin Guptill too played well before he fell to Harbhajan. One moment you thought India were gaining momentum but Taylor came and he too attacked the Indian bowlers.

Khan provided the much needed break through by removing the dangerous Taylor. Just when you thought India were in the game, here came  Oram. He took the attack to the bowlers and he along with McCullum guided New Zealand to a good victory.

Plenty of lessons have to be learned by the Indian team if they have to come back .Thet have to plan and play according to the situation and not go bang bang right  from the first ball. Dhoni claimed that their players played too  many shots too early. Well lets hope India comes up with a better plan and does well in the next 20- 20 match. Hope we have a  good Twenty Twenty match at the Westpac Stadium on Thursday.

Venue :- Colombo, Sri Lanka

Final Score: India 174/7 ( 19.2) beat Sri Lanka 171/4 (20 overs)

Man of the Match:- Yusuf Pathan (India)

A late assault from the Pathan brothers saw India beat Sri Lanka in a tightly fought T20 encounter in Colombo.

When the two came together at the crease, India were 115/7, needing another 57 runs from 29 balls. Some lusty hitting from the duo, combined with some poor bowling for Sri Lanka allowed India to overhaul the target with four balls to spare. Yusuf Pathan was named MoM for his all round performance ( 22 off 10 balls and 2/23 with the ball)

Earlier, a fine 61 from captain Tillekeratne Dilshan allowed Sri Lanka to post a competitive total of 171 after choosing to bat first. Jayasuriya and Dilshan got off to a flyer, but Sri Lanka lost the plot in the middle overs ( 36 runs between overs 6 and 12), and towards the end ( 19 runs off the last three overs)

India lost Gambhir and Sehwag early, but Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina ensured that they stayed above the asking run rate. However Sri Lanka clawed their way back in the middle of the innings as India went from 81/2 to 115/7. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma were guilty of taking one ball too many to get settled.

However Yusuf Pathan changed the complexion of the game, hitting Bandara for 17 in the 16th over. As Dilshan abandoned his plan of spin and turned to Fernando and Malinga, younger brother Irfan got into the act too. Fernando went for 25 runs in his two overs, and it was his sloppy 19th over that put the game back into India’s favour.

Malinga was asked to salvage a lost cause in the last over with five runs needed from six, but Irfan made sure there were no heroics from the slingy Sri Lankan as he hoisted him over midwicket for a winning six.