After putting up a brave fight against the Mighty Aussies, our Green Army bowed out of the World Cup amid emotional scenes. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, the Pakistani openers, Ahmed Shahzad and Sarfaraz Ahmed, succumbed to the immense pressure of the situation, and got out at the small score of 24 in the 6th over.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Haris Sohail somewhat steadied the ship and took the score to 97 before Misbah got out and then Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals.

Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi again flattered to deceive, and by the time Sohaib Maqsood got out, Pakistan had 188 runs on the board and had lost 7 wickets.

The tailenders took the score past the 200 mark, and finished up with a respectable score of 213. Haris Sohail was the top scorer with 41, followed by captain Misbah-ul-Haq with 34, and Sohaib Maqsood with 29. Josh Hazelwood was the pick of the Aussie bowlers, picking up 4 scalps, while Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell took 2 wickets each.

In reply, the Aussies got off to a shaky start, losing opener Finch in the third over. Warner and Smith looked to be playing up a decent partnership, before losing Warner and then captain Michael Clarke to Wahab Riaz’s brilliant bowling.

Shane Watson and Steven Smith carried the flag brilliantly, with Smith completing his half century, before getting out on 65.

Shane Watson scored 64 runs and Maxwell scored 44 runs.

The tie was soon over, courtesy some brilliant batting by the Aussies, resulting in a 6 wicket win in favor of the Aussies, and dreams of all the Pakistanis being broken for four more years. Wahab Riaz took 2 wickets, while Sohail Khan and Ehsan Adil taking 1 wicket each, thus bringing an end to the team’s World Cup campaign.

This was also the last time we saw Misbah-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi don the green color of our national team in a One-Day International.

With that, the curtains were drawn on the careers of arguably one of Pakistan’s greatest ODI captains, Misbah-ul-Haq, and one of the most entertaining players of all-time, Boom Boom Shahid Afridi.

Misbah and Afridi will both be sorely missed and cricket might never see another player quite like the greatest showman of them all, Shahid Afridi.

And now, for us Pakistanis, the countdown for CWC 2019 is well and truly on!