Inside Australia’s inaugural Over-40s World Cup triumph after upsetting star-studded Pakistan
From bulletproof vans to non-stop autographs, step inside the madness that surrounded Australia’s inaugural Over-40s cricket World Cup win.
Aussies love an underdog story.
And while the Australian Over-40s World Cup triumph may not have been of the same air as Steven Bradbury, it wasn’t far off.
The Aussies toppled host nation Pakistan – a side which boasted seven former international cricketers – in a thrilling finish to the Over-40s T20 World Cup last week.
The triumph was Australia’s first World Cup win at Over-40s level in what was the inaugural T20 World Cup for the age group, after reaching the semi finals of last year’s 50-over iteration.
“Pakistan were absolute favourites so for us to get up and do what we did was phenomenal,” said Australian player Andy Crook of the triumph.
“They’re always going to be pretty tough and they were undefeated going into the final, they regularly scored 200-plus.”
The final was played at National Stadium Karachi, which holds 30,000 spectators but sat empty due to security restraints.
The pitch the final was played on used soil from the WACA which made for a bouncy deck. As such, the Aussies went into the match with an pace-heavy attack and it proved a masterstroke as Pakistan were restricted to 9-150 from 20 overs.
“They made 150 which was well below par, our bowlers were phenomenal,” Crook said.
“We changed our team up a bit and went in with a pace attack as we felt they’d be vulnerable to our pace, whereas previously we went in with a predominantly spin attack.”
In reply, Australia reeled in the total just three wickets down with six balls to spare.
Steve Nottle made a 40-ball 47 at the top of the order, before Nasir Jalil (25 not out off 10 balls) and Brenton Edwards (18 not out) off 11 steered the Aussies home, with Jalil hitting a six to bring up the winning runs in style.
“It was a close one but our guys timed it beautifully,” Crook added.
With the ball, Mark Cleary ran rampant in the final with 5-22 from his four overs. The 45-year-old who represented Australia A and won national T20 titles with both South Australia and Leicestershire finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker.
“He had an absolutely phenomenal tournament, he was great,” Crook said.
Among the high profile ex-internationals Pakistan boasted were skipper Abdul Razzaq, who won the T20 world cup with Pakistan in 2009, Sohail Khan and Fawad Alam.
The trio alone has played 74 Test matches between them.
Crook said the attention around the tournament on the ground in Pakistan was “crazy”.
“Pakistan is so big in terms of cricket, for the two weeks we were there it was in the papers, it was on TV, it was a big deal in the media space, a lot of attention,” Crook said.
“Guys couldn’t go anywhere without having selfies and people coming up to them. The media attention blew us away.
“People live and breathe it and people knew the players, it was crazy.
“The security was unbelievably strict, it was broadcast at a really high level, but there was a ban on crowds.
“There’s been some tensions and things like that in Pakistan and at certain cricket they don’t allow crowds in the stadiums.
“We were basically going around in bulletproof vans, we had police escorts and they shut down roads to get to games, all that sort of stuff.
“There were a few nervous moments where you’re stuck in traffic and stuff like that but they looked after us really well.
“We had a security detail and a head of security for our team who was with us at all times, police were around all the time, there were very few times where we felt unsafe.”
The Australian Over-40s will be out to defend their crown at next 50-over World Cup, which is set to be held in Guyana in late 2026.
Originally published as Inside Australia’s inaugural Over-40s World Cup triumph after upsetting star-studded Pakistan
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