Pakistan are in poor form, have out-of-sorts batsmen and a depleted spin attack, says guest writer Saj Sadiq of www.pakpassion.net, but they CAN win the World T20 for inspirational captain Shahid Afridi… On a beautiful Kolkata evening on April 3, in front of thousands of cheering spectators, and witnessed by millions around the globe, a grateful and proud Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi lifts the ICC World Twenty20 trophy.Its been a tumultuous few months leading up to this momentous occasion for a team of mavericks, who until this tournament, have never looked like world-beaters with consecutive 20-overs series defeats to England and New Zealand and a disastrous Asia Cup campaign to boot.The nation rejoices and Shahid Afridi bows out from international cricket with a victory of great proportions which a cricket-mad country will treasure for many years.This is indeed a fairytale finish to the ICC World Twenty20 of 2016 and a fitting farewell to Shahid Afridi that many in Pakistan will hope to see - but even the most fanatical of their supporters will understand the magnitude of the leap of faith required for this dream to come true.Lets start with some recent history first - as if the series losses to Bangladesh, England and New Zealand within the last 12 months and then a disastrous Asia Cup were not bad enough news for Pakistan, the chaotic build-up to the World Twenty20 due to security issues could well have knocked the wind out of any group of players.Coming back to the recent cricket performances, it is true that there have been flashes of brilliance here and there, though the overall standard of cricket from this team has been well below par. The performances have been bereft and deficient of any confidence, planning and aggression and a ranking of seven is not inaccurate. Afridi has probably grimaced a few times after his sides recent T20 performances While the form of several players is an issue, it is widely agreed that the 15-man squad is more or less the best the selectors could have chosen, although the route taken to achieve this goal may have been rather circuitous. The picking and dropping of Khurram Manzoor and vice versa for Ahmed Shehzad being the prime example of this painful approach to build a squad which, on paper, has some merit.With Indian pitches known for aiding spin, it is a fact that there are still issues with Pakistans spin department. A spin attack heavily reliant upon Shahid Afridi, an unproven Mohammad Nawaz and an out-of-sorts Imad Wasim hardly fills anyone with confidence.If we look at Pakistans Twenty 20 performances in previous World Cups, spin has played a massive and crucial part in their success. In addition there is the small matter of the absence of Pakistans spin hero of old, Saeed Ajmal, from whose absence the team has not recovered completely. Pakistan will have to do without Saeed Ajmal in India Add to that the current ban on Mohammad Hafeezs bowling and one gets the impression that spin will not be Pakistans main weapon in this World Cup. With Yasir Shah also cooling his heels on the back of an ICC ban, Pakistan will need to have Shahid Afridi firing and will pray and hope that the young back-up spinners will provide adequate back-up to the skipper in the spin department.Pakistans pace attack, however, is a completely different kettle of fish. Led by the superb and ever-improving Mohammad Amir and containing in-form pace aces Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Sami, with the dangerous Wahab Riaz, the pace quartet has the ability of changing any game very quickly. If runs are put up on the board by the batsmen, Pakistans pace bowlers have the ability to defend any decent total. While the pace attack has variety and experience, with each member keenly aware of their role, the same cannot be said with any degree of confidence about Pakistans brittle batting line-up.If the shocking batting performances of late are any guide, Pakistan batsmen have the ability to render any good performance of the bowling attack and negate any advantage their hard work brings to the table. The bowling will only be useful if the team is capable of posting or chasing good totals.Mohammad Hafeezs questionable form, Ahmed Shehzads inability to rotate the strike, Shahid Afridis non-existent batting contributions and Shoaib Maliks on and off cameos, are all massive problems that Pakistan will have to contend with.The issue will be compounded on flat pitches if none of these batsmen fire and while Umar Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed have been great fighters of late, they cannot be relied upon to rescue the team every time. Mohammad Amir will be a key man for Pakistan in the World T20 If the fairytale is to come true, a spell of magic is necessary to provide the batting performances which the bowlers will gladly defend or use to their advantage.The truth is that Pakistans batting has consistently failed lately and in a very tough group, and facing some quality bowling attacks, if the batting continues to misfire, Pakistan may well fail to progress in the group stages.If recent performances are any guide then purely from the teams point of view and considering their poor form, getting out of the group may well be the only success Pakistan can hope for.However despite the chaos, confusion and poor form, Pakistan cricket teams have the ability to astound and surprise. Their best performances are usually saved in the face of adversity.The class of 2016 may not be among the favourites at the World Twenty20, but write this team off at your peril.Sky Sports is the only place you can watch all 35 games in 27 days of the 2016 ICC World T20. Or watch from £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. Also See: Afridi: Pakistan are ready Pundit World T20 picks How to watch World T20 Sky Cricket on Twitter Vegas Golden Knights Shirts .Tzavelas opened the scoring in the 11th and Pereyra added another in the 51st. Emmanuel Kone pulled one back in the 80th and Levadiakos missed several chances to level in the last 10 minutes. 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"We were down Paul, down so many bodies," Scott said.BARCELONA, Spain -- Neymar scored his sixth goal in seven days to cap Barcelonas 3-0 win over Cartagena on Tuesday as it advanced in the Copa del Rey on a 7-1 aggregate score. With the round-of-32 matchup practically decided after Barcelonas 4-1 victory in the first leg, the match lacked pace at the start and Cartagenas Diego Segura almost snatched a goal for the third-division side when he curled a free kick off the upright in the 28th minute. But three minutes later Pedro Rodriguez scored his third goal of the series before Cristian Tellos deflected shot sneaked inside the post in the 68th. Neymar rose over his marker to head home Andres Iniestas cross in the 88th and record his first goal in the competition. The Brazil striker scored a hat trick against Celtic last week and he netted twice against Villarreal over the weekend. Barcelona captain Carles Puyol played his first game at Camp Nou in nine months after being sidelined by injuries. "Its always important to play well at home and we made sure to finish off the tie," Pedro said. Barcelona will next face Getafe after it brushed aside second-division Girona 4-1 to go through 5-2 on aggregate. Barcelona first travels to Madrid to play Getafe on Sunday in the Spanish league before they meet twice more in the cup in January. Getafe cruised to the win at home on goals by Pablo Sarabia, Adrian Colunga, Angel Lafita and Lisandro Lopez. Alcorcon, the minnow that shocked Real Madrid 4-0 in 2009, fought back on the road to erase a 2-0 first-leg loss to Granada bbefore bettering the topflight side on penalties.dddddddddddd The second-division team forced extra time after goals by defenders Hector Verdes in the 42nd and Alberto Gomez in the 83rd to level the aggregate score at 2-2. Alcorcon showed more mettle in the shootout that went to a sixth round before Granada centre back Jeison Murillo launched his spot kick over the bar. Also, Osasuna eliminated Malaga on away goals after a 1-1 draw, earning the Pamplona-based side a possible meeting with Madrid in the round of 16. Osasuna, which had rallied from a three-goal deficit to draw 3-3 in the first leg, went ahead through Malaga defender Weligtons own goal seconds into the match. Malaga forward Eliseu Pereira levelled with a long strike in the 61st, but Bernd Schusters team fell one goal short. "The first goal was a shame," said Schuster. "We had conceded before we even touched the ball." Madrid hosts third-division Xativa Olimpic on Wednesday after being held to a 0-0 draw in their first game. Villarreal forward Jeremy Perbet curled the ball in off the post in the 58th to claim a 1-0 win at Elche, sending his team through 3-2 on aggregate. Levante routed Recreativo Huelva 4-0 at home to easily overturn its 1-0 first-leg loss. Simao Mate headed in Levantes first goal four minutes in, with Ruben Garcia, Andreas Ivanschitz and David Barral following suit against the second-division opponent. Defending champion Atletico Madrid hosts Sant Andreu on Wednesday after winning their first game 4-0. ' ' '