The third ODI at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi proved to be another nail-biter with India narrowly escaping a white-wash at the hands of the ever improving Pakistan side. Bowlers once again dominated the game with all 20 wickets falling in the game and neither sides could complete their quota of 50 overs. The pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla had everything in it for the bowlers, as seam movement for the pacers and frequent sharp turn for the spinners was adamant throughout the game.

India's batting woes continued and with the exclusion of Ajinka Rahane in place of Sehwag, as the opening partnership didn't yield much once again. Opening bursts from Irfan and Junaid was a sight to be seen for fast bowling fans and the pair left India battered at 37 for 3 in 10 overs where Irfan picked up the wickets of Rahane and Gambhir while Junaid Khan once again took the scalp of his favorite bunny of the series; Virat Kohli. Once again, the middle order stumbled and Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni trio did everything to guide the sinking Indian ship to a decent total. None of the three players reached a fifty but did contribute with scores of 23, 31 and 36 respectively. The spinners further damaged the Indian batting line and with Saeed Ajmal's five wicket haul, India were bowled out for 167 in 43.4 overs.

Last night’s T20I between Pakistan and Australia was more than a thrilling one, it had almost everything in it and ended with an excruciatingly close finish. Pakistan have finally found the spark they had been missing for a couple of years as their T20I performances were not as solemn as they are known to provide. With this series victory, Pakistan would enter the T20 World Cup with more than just confidence and high spirits.

Pakistan again won the toss in the second 2nd T2OI and this time they decided to bat first. Skipper Hafeez has been a little short on the runs during the ODI series but this time he came with the will to score big. The very first ball of the Pakistan innings was dispatched for a boundary. Three boundaries were attained from the first six deliveries. Imran Nazir at the other end has been struggling to get to his usual self. He just can’t get used to this cautious batting style but needs to cut loose and go after the bowlers. This time he couldn’t do anything and was clean bowled for a duck on his second delivery by Starc. In came the in-form Nasir Jamshed and with Hafeez, the two formed a partnership of 76 runs. The second wicket fell at the score of 89 runs when Dane Christian took a spectacular catch of a loose Nasir Jamshed’ shot off Cummins’ bowling. Jamshed added 45 runs to the total with 4 fours and a six. 8 runs later, Hafeez departed as well for 45, caught Warner bowled by Watson. Kamran Akmal continued from where he had left in the first T20 and scored 43 not out with 6 boundaries. But lost Umar Akmal for 13 during the build-up off Christian’s bowling. Pakistan finished with 151 runs for 4 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

After the disappointing loss in the ODI series, Pakistan have a point to prove in the three T20Is and they have begun brilliantly. Winning the first T20I rather convincingly and bowling out the Australian side for a mere 89 runs and winning with 31 deliveries left. The preparation for the T20 World Cup couldn't have a better start than this.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to field. Captain Muhammad Hafeez was more than just relying on his spinners and introduced himself into the attack in the beginning for the likes of David Warner. Shahid Afridi's injury cost Pakistan a key bowler but it paved the way for Raza Hassan's debut. Surprisingly, this was Nasir Jamshed's T20I debut as well and for Australia's Glenn Maxwell as well.

Back again at the Palekelle International Cricket Stadium, Sri Lanka came back with the perfect performance in reply to Pakistan's clinical win in the first ODI and easily won the second one to level the series. The stand-out performers for Sri Lanka were Tillakaratne Dilshan whose century took Sri Lanka to a healthy total of 280 and Thisara  Perera who tore apart the Pakistani batting line up  and took 6 wickets while giving away 44 runs.

Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bat first. The opening partnership between Upul Tharanga and Dilshan last for 37 runs before Tharanga was caught behind off Sohail Tanvir's bowling for 18 runs. In came Sangakkara and Hafeez got him caught and bowled off 18 runs as well. Chandimal and Dilshan looked well settled until Chandimal got trapped LBW by Shahid Afridi for 32 runs. Mahela Jayawardane and Dilshan formed a formidable partnership of 86 runs during which Dilshan got to his 14th hundred and the second against Pakistan which included 14 fours and a six. Jayawardane was cleaned up by Ajmal but Dilshan remained not out at 119 while Perera's 24 run cameo kept him not out off just 22 runs. Sri Lanka finished their innings at 280-4, setting a big challenge for an already struggling Pakistani batting line up.

The sixth day of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Tournament wasn't filled with any surprises as Dolphins and Stallions straight-forwardly won their games. The first game saw Karachi Dolphins taking on Lahore Eagles. Dolphins have done pretty well in the tournament without the services of Shahid Afridi. Eagles batted first and made 148-8 in their required 20 overs. Imran Farhat top scored for the Eagles with a score of 41 runs off 31 balls which included 5 fours and a six. Apart from him the only batsman who contibuted enough to the total was Taufeeq Umar who score 30 runs off 24 balls with five boundaries to his name. All the bowlers from the Dolphins' side had disciplined bowling. Rumman Raees and Haris Ayaz grabbed 2 wickets each while Muhammad Sami, Tanvir Ahmed and Faraz Ahmed grabbed one each.

The Dolphins as expected got the required total in 18.1 overs. The top order had some jolts as the openers couldn't contirbute much. But The phenomenal partnership between Asad Shafiq and Sheheryar Ghani got the Dolphins home safely. Shafiq scored a brilliant and careful 58 off 47 deliveries with six fours and Ghani struck 44 off 27 deliveries with five fours and a six. Dolphins got themsleves a berth in the semi-finals where they would face a strong Lahore Lions' side.

The fifth day of the Faysal Bank super eight T20 saw Peshawar Panthers and Lahore Lions win in style. The Panthers recorded their first win in the absence of captain Umar Gul; but it was not enough to reach the final as Karachi Zebra's attained the second spot behind Kamran Akmal led Lahore Lions. 

In the opening game of the day stand-in skipper for the Peshawar Panthers, Akbar Badshah won the toss and decided to bat. His decision was duly appreciated by his batsman as Panthers got off to a quick start. Anwar Ali got the opening wicket in the third over but that was a blip and nothing more. Opening batsman, Iftikhar Ahmed's 77 in 56 balls was the catalyst for the Panthers as they racked in a very good 158-5 in their allotted 20 overs. 

The tough ask for the Karachi Zebra's was made near impossible as they were reduced 15-3; as former Pakistan bowler Riaz Afridi caused havoc. Fahad Iqbal, Faisal Iqbal and the impressive Anwar Ali tried to lay a fightback but the task was near impossible as the Zebra's fell short by 31 runs. 

Pakistan have been struggling in the limited overs’ formats of the game since the test series against England. The game against Bangladesh was a clear sign that the middle order is not in great shape and Pakistan would have to do more than just good in the matches against Sri Lanka and arch-rivals India to win themselves the Asia Cup. It looked as if the team bowling is ten times better than the batting and that they needed to raise up their game today to compete with the Sri Lankans who have just had a pretty decent tri-nation series at Australia. Pakistani batsmen have struggled to chase totals, either small or big. Most of the batsmen have had their hearts in their mouths when they have heard about Sri Lanka winning the toss and batting first. All relied on the bowling department to contain Sri Lanka under a total of 200.

Sri Lankan openers started with a flurry of boundaries. Aizaz Cheema was on the receiving end as his first two overs went for 22 runs. He came back with a reply and got both the openers. Both were caught while trying to muscle the ball for boundaries, first Jayawardane (12) at point by Muhammad Hafeez and then Dilshan (20) at mid-on by Saeed Ajmal. Umar Gul took the third wicket of Dinesh Chandimal, who nicked one to the first slip and was caught brilliantly by Younis Khan for a duck. Hammad Azam too got himself a wicket when the left-handed Thirimanne tried to cut him but was caught at point by Umar Akmal at a score of 7. Sri Lanka were struggling at 65-4 with almost all the top order back in the hut. Sangakarra and Tharanga held the sinking Sri Lankan ship and formed a huge partnership of 96 runs.

Dubai witnessed one of it's most raucous crowds today at the first T20 between Pakistan and England. After the Tests, by the looks of it, Pakistan seemed to have an upper-edge and was expected to get off the hook in the ODI series also. But surprise, surprise. The series were pretty much one-sided with England hitting Pakistan right back up for a whitewash. With Pakistan's ordinary performance in the ODI series, we were kept in suspence, as to whether one of the most unpredictable teams in the world, will bounce back or bite the dust. No more waiting, with Pakistan's eventful performance and the supporting crowd, they have won themselves what they could call a 'homely' match.

Yet again, Pakistan's bowling display was hefty enough to defend the competitive score made by the Pakistani batsmen in the first innings. The match seemed very much 'Gulbowlised' with Umar Gul starting off with a maiden over and bowling beauties throughout. We got to see Hafeez in full stride, bowling competitive edge and also those oh-so-masterful delieveries by no other than, Saeed Ajmal. Pakistan's only weak link in the bowling attack was Junaid Khan, who was assaulted upon by Kevin Pieterson who added a 33 off 21 balls to England's score on the board, until he unluckily hit off Shahid Afridi and was caught at deep forward square by the youngster, Asad Shafiq. The rest of England's batting lineup was what we can call 'wobbly' with only addition few runs coming in, in the form of one's or two's.

England have really done their homework well for the one-dayers. Pakistan were the obvious favorites for the ODIs but strangely, they have struggled throughout the three matches played. Credit must be given to Alastair Cook for his brilliant captaincy and even more brilliant batting. Cook has been dominating the Pakistani bowlers and has scored 313 runs in three innings which includes 2 centuries and a fifty, making him average more than a hundred. Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first today. Pakistan’s batting has been under scrutiny and it has been vividly noticed that Pakistani batsmen lack the confidence and patience to chase totals. Today Pakistan had the chance to score first and then take advantage of their in-form bowlers. Pakistan miserably failed to do so. On a batting friendly pitch, Pakistan kept losing wicket after wicket.

The openers started sort of decently as Anderson struggled to get his line right in the first couple of overs. Imran Farhat however was the first one to go for 9 runs off Steven Finn’s bowling as he nicked one to the keeper as Pakistan lost their first wicket for 22. In came Azhar Ali and this time Broad got him nicking another one to the keeper for 5 runs. Steven Finn has improved tremendously in his bowling. The way he nips his deliveries from outside the off-stump to middle and leg-stump is probably what the Pakistani batsmen struggle to play most of the times. Asad Shafiq joined a well settled Hafeez on the crease but their partnership couldn’t bore any fruit as Hafeez got trapped LBW in the following over from Stuart Broad for a cautiously made 29. Pakistan were struggling at 49 for 3 and Captain Misbah Ul Haq had to settle things for a struggling Pakistani batting line-up. But he too succumbed to the strong English fast bowling attack as Broad got him for just 1 run; Pakistan out of nowhere were 50 for 4.