Michael Hussey pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in living memory, as Australia chased down a mammoth Pakistan total by the skin of their teeth to qualify for their first Twenty20 World Cup final. Pakistan were left wondering how they could have lost a game that they were in control of until the very end, but the same Australian tenacity that dominated world cricket from 1999 reared its head in the most timeliest - and unbelievable - of fashions.
Pakistan made a quiet start after they were put in to bat, scoring just 3 from their first two overs, before Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt suddenly accelerated. The next two overs yielded 24 runs, and Pakistan were off. Akmal brought his 50 up from 32 balls, but David Warner snapped an excellent catch at deep cover to take the first wicket at 81 in the 9th over. Butt and Shahid Afridi departed soon afterwards, but Umar Akmal picked up where his brother left off, reaching his own 50 from 29 balls. The pressure started to get to the otherwise-unflappable Australians, as Mitchell Johnson conceded 24 runs from his final over. Khalid Latif's short but quick 13 (strike rate of 216.66) helped propel Pakistan to 191/6, the second-highest score of the tournament. With a wily spin and pace attack at his disposal, Shahid Afridi would have felt confident that a target run rate of 9.6 an over would give his boys one foot in his second consecutive World Cup final.
It certainly seemed like that when the explosive David Warner fell from the second ball of the Australian reply. Shane Watson and Brad Haddin combined to fight back before Mohammed Aamer collected his second wicket of the match, having Watson caught at long on. Australia 28/2, but on par with the required run rate. Kamran Akmal's good day continued, stumping Haddin and then Clarke in consecutive overs - 63/4, and the run rate started to slip. Cameron White, who rescued his team from a similarly tricky situation against Sri Lanka, smashed four sixes in two overs before Abdur Rehman removed David Hussey. 107/5, the required run rate over 12 an over now. Mohammed Aamer removed White for a scintillating 43 off 31 (5 sixes and no 4s), and when Kamran Akmal effected his third stumping of the day to get Steve Smith, the writing was on the wall - Australia needed 34 from the last two overs. Michael Hussey milked Mohammed Aamer's 18th for 16 runs, and with 18 required from the last six balls, hit Saeed Ajmal for 6, 6, 4 (which tied the game) and 6 to take Australia home with one ball left. It was the most dramatic conclusion to the Twenty20 game - or indeed any game of cricket - we've seen in a while.
So it's going to be an Ashes final on Sunday, as a sublime and well-oiled England take on a charged-up and roaring Australia. Pakistan knocked South Africa out at the semi-finals of the 2009 tournament, and Australia lost their semi-final match against India in 2007; it looked like history would repeat itself, and it almost did. But Michael Hussey's 60 (24 balls, three 4s, six 6s, s/r 250.00) will rank as one of the greatest innings of all time, in any format of the game. This was Twenty20 - and cricket - at its best: the first half of the game was all Pakistan, and the second half was a vicious tug-of-war between Australia and Pakistan. Despite Australia's best efforts, Pakistan had the momentum going into the final six balls, before Mike Hussey launched an impossible assault that will bring all eyes to what promises to be a classic final on Sunday.