They have finally beaten Australia. Moreover, Afridi the captain has an important victory under his belt.

Pakistan needed this win more than anything in this world.

After the 12 successive losses to Australia since last year and the close losses to India and Sri Lanka during the Asia Cup, Pakistan needed a win to kick start their marathon tour of England.

And they did it.

Umar Gul was the difference between the win at Birmingham and the loss at St. Lucia in the semi final of the World T20.

The wounds of that semi final were still fresh in my mind, and I'm sure in the minds of all Pakistani fans, when Australia needed 50 runs of the last 5 overs with Michael Hussey at the crease.

He could have done it again I thought.

Lightning did strike but this time the strike came from Umar Gul!

That was some delivery to get rid off Mike Hussey and the Aussie hopes.

Boy was Gul missed during the World T20. And what a difference he made yesterday.

Afridi in his post match conference said that he had been waiting for this win for a long time and hopefully it will go a long way in defining Pakistan's attitude under his leadership.

The team looked committed and united; they played with a lot of spirit and were sharp in the field.

Nasser Hussain said it best when he described the catches held by Afridi. They weren't great catches but the celebrations lifted the entire team. Bear in mind, from Pakistan's perspective, the catches were really great catches.

And they surely lifted the team.

The confidence that this win gives Pakistan will do them a lot of good. A confident Pakistan is a really dangerous side and they've been looking for this win for a long time.

A dangerous Pakistan can do wonders in the field and the next 3 months will be very entertaining from a cricket perspective if Pakistan remains confident.

And Afridi is just the right man to keep Pakistan's confidence levels high!