T20 Australia Vs Pakistan St Johns Wood Road, London Middlesex England

Despite England's recent victory in the T20 final, it seems that teams from the subcontinent still excel at reaching the boundary rope with regularity. Normally it's captain Afridi who is sending a shower of cricket balls onto spectators. This time, however it was Umar Akmal's turn.

In front of a partisan Birmingham crowd, Akmal clubbed a ferocious 64 off just 31 balls. With brisk support from Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik, The Pakistanis notched up 167-8 in their 20 overs. Shaun Tait was the only bowler who escaped unscathed, his 2-25, whilst the likes of Johnson and Tait were pinged around with disdain in comparison. Umar Akmal sounds like the latest in a long line of precociously talented batsmen from that part of the world. He's scored a first class double hundred at 18 and has scored heavily in all forms of the game already. Certainly looks like one we'll be seeing with regularity in future..

In reply the Australians reached 144 all out in 18.4 overs. After losing the wickets of Warner and David Hussey who put up 50 together, the middle order couldn't cope with the resulting run rate and duly folded.

Pakistan win by 23 runs. Same venue today, and both teams will do it all over again.