ICC T20 World Cup 2009: Pakistan Win by 8 Wickets at Lord's — Shahid Afridi's 54* Off 40 Wins Player of the Match

Pakistan won the ICC T20 World Cup 2009 on 21 June 2009 at Lord's Cricket Ground, London, defeating Sri Lanka by 8 wickets with 8 balls remaining. Sri Lanka scored 138/6 in 20 overs; Pakistan chased 139/2 in 18.4 overs. Shahid Afridi scored 54* off 40 balls — combining batting and his single wicket contribution — as Player of the Match. Younis Khan captained Pakistan; Kumar Sangakkara captained Sri Lanka. Tillakaratne Dilshan won Player of the Tournament with 317 runs across the competition — the first player to pass 300 runs in a single T20 World Cup edition.

Shahid Afridi 54* Off 40: Pakistan's Match-Winning Innings at Lord's

Shahid Afridi's 54* off 40 balls — the Player of the Match innings that drove Pakistan's 8-wicket chase of Sri Lanka's 138/6 — gave the 2009 T20 World Cup final its individual batting highlight. Afridi, the Pakistan all-rounder whose hard-hitting lower-order and middle-order batting across multiple formats made him one of cricket's most explosive players, batting at a high strike rate to keep Pakistan's chase well above the required run rate throughout the 18.4 overs. Pakistan completing the chase at 139/2 — losing only two wickets and finishing with 8 balls unused — reflected the comfort of the chase that Afridi's batting contribution created, despite Sri Lanka's 138/6 being a competitive enough total on Lord's conditions.

Tillakaratne Dilshan 317 Runs: Tournament's Leading Scorer from the Losing Team

Tillakaratne Dilshan winning Player of the Tournament in the 2009 ICC T20 World Cup with 317 runs — the first batsman to pass 300 runs in a single T20 World Cup edition — from the losing finalist team gave the tournament's individual award an outcome that reflected the competition's scoring-record nature. Dilshan, Sri Lanka's right-handed opening batsman who had developed the 'Dilscoop' ramp shot that became one of T20 cricket's signature innovations, compiled 317 runs at an average of 52 and a strike rate of 144 across the tournament — outscoring every batter in the competition including all Pakistan players — while Sri Lanka still fell 8 wickets short of winning the final. Kumar Sangakkara's Sri Lanka captaincy reaching the Lord's final without Dilshan's 317 runs translating into a championship reflected how team performances in finals can diverge from individual tournament contributions.

ICC T20 World Cup 2009 in Context

The ICC T20 World Cup 2009 — held in England — was the second edition of the competition (following the inaugural 2007 edition won by India in South Africa). Pakistan winning the 2009 edition at Lord's gave the T20 World Cup its second consecutive subcontinental winner after India's 2007 triumph, confirming the Asian cricketing nations' dominance of the format's early editions. Sri Lanka, as the losing 2009 finalist, would reach the final again in 2012 (losing to West Indies at Colombo) and win the 2014 edition (beating India at Dhaka) — a pattern of T20 World Cup finals appearances that reflected Sri Lanka's sustained white-ball quality across the competition's first decade. Pakistan's 2009 title remains their only ICC T20 World Cup championship — Younis Khan's captaincy achievement at Lord's standing as the pinnacle of Pakistan's men's T20 international success.