On the 4th of May 30 years ago when ODI Cricket was still played in the pristine whites and the ebbs and flows of one-day internationals could be compared with the melodrama attached to modern-day T20s and the cricketing fraternity had begun to marvel at the unearthing of a prodigious left-arm seamer six years ago, Pakistan clinched their second Austral-Asia title on the trot.
Wasim Akram's all-round display with both bat and ball sealed the deal for Pakistan in the final game against Australia at Sharjah. His sparkling hattrick stunted Australia's progress and paved way for a memorable victory for Pakistan. In fact, this wasn't the first time he had achieved this feat. Only six months earlier against a West Indian side of that era, Akram had bagged his maiden ODI hattrick in a Champions Trophy match on the same ground.
For a major part of the Australia-Asia Cup, however, Akram hadn't been that useful with the ball. Before the final, he featured in only two games with three wickets to his name. It was the other W, Waqar Younis, who had been wreaking havoc throughout the tournament and had already picked up a staggering 15 wickets before the final match.
Pakistan had a stern task ahead of them to overpower the Allan Border-led Australian side that was coming off a sensational run of form and had won all 10 of their last 10 games and were rightfully deemed favorites for lifting the trophy.
The Men in Green batted first on a flat Sharjah deck and they got off to a brisk start courtesy a whirlwind 40 from Saeed Anwar's willow. Saleem Malik stabilized the innings in the middle overs with a crucial 87 runs off 114 deliveries. When Akram strode out to bat, Pakistan had been reduced to 179 for 6 and desperately required a flourishing finish.
Akram came out all-guns-blazing and smashed a quickfire 49 off 35 balls. His eighth-wicket partnership with Mushtaq Ahmed played a vital role in taking Pakistan to a more than respectable score of 266.
In riposte, Australia got off to a wonderful start as David Boon and Mark Taylor added 62 runs in their opening stand, seeing off the threat of the two W's. Younis came to the rescue again as he plucked out Dean Jones and Allan Border's wickets in back-to-back overs. Mushtaq also joined the party with his treacherous legspinners and soon Australia found themselves stuttering at 207 with three wickets in the bag.
Ian Healy, the wicket-keeper batsman, was then joined by Merv Hughes and together the duo added another 23 runs to bring Australia on the verge of sealing a thrilling victory. At this time, Akram re-emerged for the final assault. He had been luckless throughout the evening with the new ball not doing much on the flat trough.
He castled Hughes as the latter looked to heave it away and totally missed out on any sort of contact. Carl Rackermann then walked out into the middle and was greeted first up with a sizzling inswinging delivery that jagged back quite a bit after pitching. Middle stump rooted. Pakistan were now a wicket away from a moment of glory. Out came Terry Alderman but he gave in to the exhilaration and buzz that surrounded the ground and fetched an almost impossible stroke on his very first ball - running down the track while also giving himself room outside leg-stump to access the off-side.
Safe to say, that he couldn't get any sort of bat on the ball that whizzed past his blade and disturbed the leg-stump's timber behind. The superb bowling display ensured a 33-run victory for Pakistan in the final. Till date, Akram remains the only cricketer to have taken two hat-tricks in Tests as well as ODIs.
