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Countdown Begins for ICC T20 World Cup
Lets Play Cricket..........
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| Day/Date |
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GMT |
Team vs Team |
Venue |
Fri-28
Sep-2012 |
3:30 pm |
10:00 am |
Pakistan
vs
South Africa |
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo |
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| Day/Date |
IST |
GMT |
Team vs Team |
Venue |
Fri-28
Sep-2012 |
7:30 pm |
2:00 pm |
India
vs
Australia |
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo |
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T20 News |
Australia 141 for 1 (Watson 72, Warner 63*) beat India 140 for 7 (Pathan 31, Watson 3-34) by 9 wickets
Australia's captain George Bailey doesn't think his side is over-dependent on Shane Watson. Who'd be able to tell? Watson has hardly given any of his team-mates a chance so far in this tournament, and that continued in Australia's first Super Eights match as they crushed India by nine wickets in Colombo. To be fair, David Warner was also outstanding and Pat Cummins played a key role with the ball. But Watson was again the stand-out performer, as he has been in all of Australia's matches in the World Twenty20.
Chasing 141, the Australians reached their target with 31 balls to spare. India's decision to pick three spinners - Virender Sehwag was left out to accommodate a fifth bowler - did not work, although there was little distinction between the slow bowlers and the fast men. They were all monstered by Watson and Warner. Yuvraj Singh picked up the only wicket, when Watson drove to cover with eight runs still needed and it meant India narrowly avoided their first ten-wicket defeat in a T20.
Watson had made 72 from 42 deliveries with two fours and seven sixes. He cleared the boundary straight down the ground, over midwicket and over square leg. A pair of enormous consecutive sixes pulled over midwicket off Irfan Pathan showed Watson's power, but also highlighted India's poor bowling. Short balls on the leg side to Watson made about as much sense as dropping Sehwag.
In slightly slippery conditions the spinners also failed to have any impact and were routinely dispatched by both Watson and Warner, whose 133-run partnership was their second century stand in a T20 international this month, and the Australian record for any wicket. Warner muscled three sixes of his own, including two in a row off Harbhajan Singh, whose two overs cost 20 runs. Rare though it may be, Warner was the quiet partner.
He still managed 63 not out from 41 deliveries, striking seven fours and playing a key role in demoralising India early in the chase. They remained disheartened throughout the innings, and the comprehensive nature of the result will make it hard for them to drag themselves back into form for their next match. But they must do so to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals. And to do that, they need not only to bowl much better, but to bat with more conviction as well.
West Indies 179 for 5 (Charles 84, Gayle 58) beat England 162 for 4 (Morgan 71*, Hales 68) by 15 runs
A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles powered West Indies to their first win of the 2012 World Twenty20 with a 16-run victory against England in their opening Super Eights match. Their top-order batsmen setting a daunting total of 179 for 5 and their quartet of slow bowlers suffocated the England batsmen as they started their reply.
A remarkable fourth-wicket stand of 107 in 58 balls between Alex Hales, who scored 68 from 51 balls, and Eoin Morgan, who made a brilliant, unbeaten 71 from 36 balls, gave England an outside chance of victory, but the pair were left too much to do by another lacklustre performance from their top-order colleagues.
This was England's second successive defeat following the 90-run thrashing India inflicted in their final group game and leaves their hopes of retaining the World T20 trophy hanging by a thread. England will probably need to win both their remaining Super Eights matches, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively, to progress to the semi-finals.
England were always behind in their run chase. Set a demading 180 to win - they have never chased more than 173 to win a T20I - they knew they required a good start. But, while they were expecting a challenge from the spinners, it was the seam of Ravi Rampaul that provided the killer punch.
After three balls of England's reply, Rampaul was on a hat-trick after Craig Kieswetter, attempting to pull a delivery too full for the shot, top-edged to point and Luke Wright, attempting to withdraw his bat from a short delivery, guided the ball off the bat face to slip. A double-wicket maiden never represents a good start for a batting side; when they are chasing nine an over it is likely to prove fatal.
Hales took legspinner Samuel Badree, in the side instead of the pace of Fidel Edwards, for consecutive boundaries - skipping down the pitch to drill a drive through mid-off before cutting the next ball for four when the bowler compensated - and cut Sunil Narine for another. But, at the end of their six Powerplay overs, England had scored just 29 for 2. West Indies, by comparison, had been 47 without loss. It was a gap that England could never completely close.
Hales pulled Darren Sammy for one six and then drove and pulled Samuels for a four followed by a six. But though Jonny Bairstow helped Hales add 55 in 9.3 overs for the third-wicket, Bairstow's struggles against the spin bowling - he made just 18 in 29 balls - put England even further behind the rate and left Morgan a vast amount of ground to make up.
West Indies' selection policy was certainly vindicated. Not only did Charles, the 23-year-old from St Lucia who has little obvious pedigree as an opening batsman, fully justify his position, but the control offered by the quartet of spin bowlers - Badree, Gayle and Narine, in particular - ensured that England were always behind the run-rate and, despite Morgan slogging a Gayle full toss for six over square leg, driving Narine for another and then top-edging another off Rampaul, West Indies always had breathing space.
Pakistan 178 for 2 (Nazir 72, Hafeez 45, Jamshed 29*) beat Bangladesh 175 for 6 (Shakib 84, Tamim 24, Arafat 3-25) by eight wickets
Pakistan's celebrated bowling unit's rare off day put a latch on it, but their batsmen smashed through the qualification door by chasing down 176 - their highest successful chase - with eight balls to spare.
To progress in the tournament, Bangladesh needed to not only post their first win over Pakistan in 13 years, but win by at least 36 runs. On a true pitch, Shakib Al Hasan posted the highest score by a Bangladesh batsman to facilitate their second-highest total, but Imran Nazir whacked his way to the fastest fifty in this World T20 to calm down any nerves there might have been after the effort in the field.
It was also a night that will be remembered for shoddy short bowling on a flat track and shoddier catching by both sides. Sohail Tanvir put down one of the simplest catches ever put down in international cricket, Kamran Akmal let through a regulation take, but it was the drop by Abul Hasan, brought in to replace Elias Sunny, that proved decisive in the end. Had he held on, Nazir would have been gone on 1 and Shafiul Islam would have got off to a confident start with a first-ball wicket. Nazir ended up with 72.
It didn't help that the chance had come off a short delivery, which encouraged them to keep bowling short, and Nazir, often good with the horizontal bat, took full toll. In his second over, Shafiul kept bowling short and was carter for four, four and six. Another short ball that went for five wides made it 20 off the over, and Pakistan had had a head start at 43 for 0 after four overs. Clearly they were not going for just the qualification. The win was on their mind.
Mohammad Hafeez remained the calm man at other end, chipping and pushing runs as Nazir kept up his power hitting while getting at least one short ball every over. After Shakib put the brakes on with just four in the seventh over, Nazir stepped out of the crease to hit Abdur Razzak over mid-off to break the rhythm. That four took him to 42 off 18, and the fifty came when Shakib provided him with a long hop for six in the 10th over.
That even Shakib was making mistakes was sign enough. Relief arrived for Bangladesh when Nazir and Hafeez fell in one Hasan over, after which came a quiet five-run over, bringing the equation down to 45 needed off five overs. For the first time it seemed Pakistan might be conscious of that qualification mark - now nine runs away - but Nasir Jamshed quashed those thoughts with two of the finest shots, four through point and a flicked six over square leg, off the next two balls.
That was cue enough for Kamran to open up too, and the rest was just a stroll. Had you mentioned the word stroll in the first innings, though, Pakistan's coach Dav Whatmore would have given you a piece of his mind. For the most part, it was a stroll for Shakib, who capitalised on the brisk start provided by Mohammad Ashraful and Tamim Iqbal.
Shakib had the extra responsibility after playing a significant role in Tamim's run-out at 61 for 2 in the sixth over. He had himself raced away to 16 off 11 by then, took it easy for the next three overs, and then resumed the charge with two fours off Saeed Ajmal in the 10th over. When Tanvir dropped a dolly from Mushfiqur Rahim in the 13th over, Shakib had reached 42 off 30. He introduced a second wind to that innings now, hitting short deliveries from Yasir Arafat for four and six to bring up his fifty.
Another period of calm followed when Arafat and Shahid Afridi managed two wickets in five deliveries, but Kamran failed to make it three in eight when he dropped a sitter from Nasir Hossain. At 133 for 4 in the 16th over Shakib remained the main threat. He moved around the crease in the 18th over to pay with Umar Gul's length, scoping, flicking and cover-driving for fours. With 33 coming off the last three overs, Pakistan's travel agent might have had a look at Karachi fares, but Nazir put them back on their way to Colombo.
Ireland 129 for 6 (Gayle 2-21) v West Indies match abandoned
West Indies qualified for the Super Eights of the World T20 after rain prevented a second innings in their key Group B game against Ireland in Colombo. It meant Ireland exited on the back of a no-result for the second World T20 running, after they were denied the chance to beat England by the weather in Guyana in 2010.
With both teams having lost their first game in the tournament, this was a must-win encounter. But while Ireland will feel understandably aggrieved at the manner of their elimination, they will also reflect that they produced two under-par displays with the bat and that, had the rain that started to fall heavily straight after their innings stayed away, West Indies would have been strong favourites to overhaul a target of 130 in 19 overs. They qualified through virtue of a superior run-rate to Ireland.
The unsatisfactory manner of Ireland's exit will do nothing to improve the reputation of this event, though. Staging such a high-profile tournament during the monsoon season in Sri Lanka was always likely to prove a high-risk strategy and there was something almost inevitable about rain ruining one of the few games in the event so far where the result actually mattered. Tellingly, spectators once again stayed away from this game in their droves.
The result also underlined the importance of winning the toss in this World T20. With the limitations of the Duckworth-Lewis method becoming increasingly apparent in this format, the opportunity to bat second and benefit from D/L is an obvious advantage. Had the rain relented, West Indies could have been set a target of just 44 in five overs with all of their wickets intact.
Ireland will reflect, however, that they never really found much fluency with the bat. William Porterfield, for the second game in succession, was dismissed by the first ball of the match. Perhaps anticipating a repeat of thwas e bouncer that he hooked down the throat of fine leg against Australia, Porterfield this time beaten by a fine, inswinging yorker from Fidel Edwards.
Perhaps the rain that interrupted their innings after only five overs was also crucial. Before the delay, Ireland were well placed at 33 for 1, with Ed Joyce having guided his first ball to third man and inside edged another boundary later in the over and Paul Stirling looking increasingly fluent. While Ravi Rampaul's first over cost just two, Stirling top-edged a pull to the boundary off Edwards and then greeted Darren Sammy's introduction into the attack in the fifth over by giving himself a little room and crashing a pair of fours through the covers.
Sunil Narine came into the attack after a rain delay of about an hour, with the game reduced to 19 over per side. He soon showed the value of his spin bowling, beating Joyce's outside edge with his first two deliveries and then bowling him as the batsmen attempted a sweep with his third. At the end of the power-play, Ireland were 35 for 2.
Sammy dismissed Stirling, top-edging an attempted pull, in the seventh over, and almost has Gary Wilson in similar fashion later in the same over. On this occasion, however, Wilson gloved the ball over the keeper's head and capitalised by sweeping Narine for one boundary and cover driving Russell for another. The introduction of Chris Gayle accounted for Wilson, though, when he edged an arm-ball to the keeper to leave on 70 for 4 in the 12th over.
A partnership of 26 between Kevin and Niall O'Brien gave the Ireland innings some impetus. Niall pulled one six off Andre Russell, while Kevin drove another off Edwards, but when Gayle beat Niall O'Brien with a quicker ball and Kevin O'Brien, in moving across his stumps to glance, was bowled by a yorker, Ireland's last recognised batsmen had gone.
Narine, perhaps unsettled by Nigel Jones carting him for six over long-on, donated a free-hit to the Irish cause by over-stepping in the penultimate over and Trent Johnston thrashed one six over long-on off Gayle, but their total of 129 for 6 was still likely to prove some way short of par.
West Indies had made two changes to their side for the game. Russell came in for Dwayne Bravo, who had a groin strain, while Darren Bravo replaced Dwayne Smith.
Ireland were without Boyd Rankin. He had not recovered from the illness that has swept through the Irish camp in recent days, so Max Sorensen was drafted into the side in his place. It means that Rankin, who a few weeks ago announced his decision to retire from international cricket with Ireland in order to concentrate on playing Test cricket for England, has probably played his last match for the country of his birth.
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