#OTD in 2009: Pakistan secured their first T20 World Cup Title victory

On this day in 2009, Pakistan produced a clinical performance to beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets to win their first-ever T20 World Cup Trophy at Lord’s. They had emerged as the runners-up in the previous edition of the ICC event. 

Pakistan reached the semi-finals with three victories in five matches. On the other hand, Sri Lanka had won all of their five fixtures to reach the penultimate stage. Prior to the final, the two sides met in the group stages, and Sri Lanka managed to win by 19 runs. 

In the semi-finals, Pakistan secured a close victory against South Africa by a margin of just seven runs, while Sri Lanka picked up a comprehensive win over West Indies by 57 runs. 

The Kumar Sangakkara-led side had elected to bat first with the aim of posting a strong score on the board. However, they got off to a bad start, with Tillakaratne Dilshan (0) and Jehan Mubarak (0) falling in quick succession. 

Sanath Jayasuriya (17) started to look dangerous, but he chopped a good-length ball off Abul Razzaq into the stumps in the fourth over. A couple of overs later, Razzaq made Mahela Jayawardene (1) edge it out to the first slip, and Sri Lanka was reeling at 32/4. 

Then Chamara Silva and Sangakkara kept the score ticking at a fine rate, and the odd boundaries provided a respite to the team. However, Silva (14) could not time his pull shot well and was caught at silly mid-on off Umar Gul in the 12th over. 

The following over saw Shahid Afridi dismiss Isuru Udana for one of 5, and Lanka had managed to score just 70/6 in 13 overs. 

The then youngster Angelo Mathews arrived at the crease and started in a cautious manner. But his partnership with Sangakkara allowed Sri Lanka to steady the ship. 

Mathews (35*) and Sangakkara (64*) provided a late flourish to score 50 runs in the last four overs, which propelled the team to a total of 138. 

In reply, opener Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan provided a good start for the team by hitting consistent boundaries. 

Akmal (30) was stumped as he tried to charge towards a delivery from Jayasurya in the eighth over. 

Two overs later, Hasan mistimed a lofted shot off Muttiah Muralitharan and made his way back to the pavilion for 19 off 23, and Pakistan was at 63/2. 

Afridi found his groove to score 54 off 40 balls, and he was well-supported by Shoaib Malik (24). The partnership helped Pakistan chase down the score with eight balls to spare and seal the title. 

Dilshan was named Player of the Tournament for scoring 317 runs at an average of 52.83, with three half centuries.