West Indies crowned ICC World Twenty20 champions

By Fathima Zanaida

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) October 7, 2012: West Indies stunned hosts Sri Lanka by 36 runs to win the ICC World Twenty20 2012 at R Premadasa Stadium Sunday.

 

The victory was attributed to a counterattack by Marlon Samuels (78) who struck six towering sixes after West Indies could manage only 32 runs from first 10 overs.

West Indies finished with 137 for six before their bowlers did the job as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 101 runs from 18.4 overs.

Read More

ICC World T20 Super Eights Preview

By Adrian Meredith

VICTORIA, Australia (TheSportsNEXT) September 28, 2012: A quirk of the scheduling system is that it is based on rankings from a year ago, not on who finishes 1st or 2nd in each group and hence we have a situation where all of the unbeaten sides (Australia, India, Pakistan and South Africa) are in the same super 8 group, with only 2 of them going to make the quarter finals, while the other group features the 4 sides that have all lost a match (England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies).

 

It is hard to know who is traveling well and who isn't, given that 4 unbeaten sides are facing each other.

Sri Lanka are probably favoured to qualify out of their super 8 group but it is really somewhat up in the air who the other team is - though probably West Indies look the most likely.

England are reigning champions though and are ranked 2nd while New Zealand seem to always make the semi finals of every World Cup; so can't be written off.

In the other group, South Africa look like powerhouses and should qualify but then it is a question of who will go with them.

Australia seem to be in the best form of the other 3 but they are still the lowest ranked of them so who knows.

India did do incredibly well against England while Pakistan have just showcased what they are capable of.

From here, I am going to pick Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa and Australia as my 4 semi finalists, with Sri Lanka and South Africa as the 2 finalists and Sri Lanka winning the tournament.

Such an odd system though!

Highlights, Review of ICCWT20 Match No. 9-12

In an ideal world, the last 4 matches of the group stage should have all had something on the line, with teams fighting for the last spots in the Super 8s. Unfortunately, only 2 spots were still up for grabs, with Group C already decided - even before they had their final match - and Group A also had been decided.

Match 9: New Zealand vs Pakistan (Group D) had something on the line though. It was Pakistan's first match - the last team to play, and if they lost this then they would have to battle against Bangladesh for the last spot in the super 8s. Oddly enough, they ended up doing that anyway, in spite of winning. The match was all about Pakistan though with Nasir Jamsheed the best of a pretty good batting effort scoring 56 off 35 balls as they scored a huge 177, only to have New Zealand go close to pulling off a huge victory. Pakistan's bowlers were fantastic too, with Saeed Ajmal in particular bowling well. All looked scripted for a huge Pakistan victory, only to have Ross Taylor almost pull it off at the end. In the end they didn't quite make it, though they got to within 14 runs of doing it. New Zealand showed that they had fight but ultimately Pakistan showed just how good they were, and that they are a real chance of winning the tournament.

Match 10: England vs India (Group A) was something of a warm up match for both teams and India treated it as such, changing 4 players to make sure that everyone in the squad had a game. England, though, took it more seriously with only 1 change. This should have led to England winning easily, but as it turned out experimentation was the right option, as India scored fairly well, with underperforming Rohit Sharma scoring 55 off 33 balls on the way to a decent score of 170. If that seemed below par at the interval, it seemed positively enormous after England started batting. England started badly and it got worse from there, with Harbhajan Singh in particular doing well, taking 4 for 12, including 2 maidens! What was perhaps more impressive was that Bhajji had barely played for a couple of years before this! So India not only won by 90 runs but managed to get 2 of their weakest links be the best players! Very well done!

Match 11: Ireland vs West Indies (Group B) was the only really exciting match out of the final 4, as this was a straight out shoot out for the last spot in the Super 8s from Group B. Ireland simply had to win to qualify. If it was a no result, West Indies would qualify by virtue of being beaten by a slightly smaller margin than Ireland were. Ireland started poorly, with their opener Porterfield clean bowled first ball, one of 4 players to be out bowled, out of 6, a pretty impressive bowling effort! But in between that Ireland had shown some fight. There was some rain mid innings, but they only lost 1 over per side. Just the same, Ireland's total of 6 for 129 off 19 overs looked grossly inadequate. We will never know, though, as rain then came in to ruin the match, and West Indies didn't even have to bat! West Indies therefore had 2 matches ruined by rain, losing one by Duckworth-Lewis and the other one washed out - and qualify for the super 8s without a victory! A hollow qualification but qualification just the same. Perhaps the organisers shouldn't have planned this during Sri Lanka's monsoon season?

Match 12: Bangladesh vs Pakistan (Group D) was a little bit more interesting, as Bangladesh could qualify if they beat Pakistan by 36 runs - if batting first - or with a really complicated formula if they batted 2nd - as it would depend on how many runs Pakistan made as to how many overs they would have to get them. As a result, in spite of conditions suggesting it was better to bowl first, Bangladesh batted first, presumably to make it an easier equation. And what batting they managed! Tamim Iqbal starred early before Shakib al Hasan came in. Shakib was largely responsible for Tamim's run out for 24 off 12 balls but then Shakib himself launched, finishing with a very impressive 84 off 54 balls, the highest ever score by a Bangladesh batsman in a T20 international, as the team finished with an impressive 6 for 175, Bangladesh's 2nd highest ever score in T20 internationals! Pakistan needed 140 to qualify; but while it would have been easy for Pakistan to have aimed for that first, they instead simply launched. In the 2nd over, Bangladesh had a chance to take an early wicket, a simple catch, but missed it, and then, two harder chances later, and they were all but out of the game. Imran Nazir capitalised on those early drops and other mistakes as he powered to 72 off 36 balls. Shakib probably deserved man of the match but Imran Nazir was given the total, as he was on the winning side. Nazir and his opening partner Hafeez were both out at around the 120 mark but the game was well and truly over by then and Pakistan cruised to an easy, and crushing, victory, as Bangladesh left the tournament; but at least they had given themselves a chance.

Read More

ICCWT20: India tame charged-up Afghanistan by 23 runs

By Fathima Zanaida

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) September 19, 2012: India avoided an early scare at the ICC World Twenty20 2012 (ICCWT20) on Wednesday when they used their spin wizardry to tame a spirited Afghanistan side by 23 runs in their opening Group A match played at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Afghanistan came quite close to stun the Team India but superb control by Yuvraj Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin kept them at bay. Especially, Yuvraj Singh once again proved himself as the best part-time bowling option for Mahendra Singh Dhoni as he captured three wickets at a critical juncture of the match and rocked Afghanistan who were looking threatening and restricted them to 136 all out from 19.3 overs.

Batting first, India managed a formidable total of 159 for five, thanks to some of the worst-ever fielding performance and lack of discipline by Afghan fielders and bowlers, respectively. Afghan fielders dropped at least six catches and missed a number of run out opportunities besides leaking runs through bad control thus gifting India at least 35-40 runs extra.

Afghanistan skipper Nawroz Mangal won the toss and invited Indian batsmen to take guard first at the same pitch where Australia and Ireland had played a rather low-scoring match but both captains of the second match hoped that the pitch would have got slower and would have more runs on offer.

They were quite right as India posted a good total on the board after sent in by Afghanistan. Gautam Gambhir (10 from 8 – 1 four) and Virender Sehwag (8 from 10 – 1 four) found it tough going at the start against the new ball.

However, India’s best batsman at the moment, Virat Kohli (50 from 39 – 4 fours, 2 sixes) showed no signs of nervousness and once again exhibited his exuberance through some quality shots all across the park but not without sheer luck as he was dropped twice by the Afghanistan fielders.

Yuvraj Singh (18 from 20 – 1 six) did spend some time at the middle but he also found it difficult to get accustomed to the pace and bounce of the pitch. Suresh Raina (38 from 33 – 6 fours) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18 not out from 9 – 2 fours, 1 six) used long handle to some effect and added 45 runs into the total from 26 balls.

Shapoor Zadran bowled beautifully and captured two wickets for 33 runs while Dawlat Zadran (1/25), Karim Sadiq (1/33), and Mohammad Nabi (1/35) also bowled well and had they not bowled those 14 wides things could have been different at the end of the day.

Afghanistan looked confident to chase down the hefty target right at the beginning of the innings but lost Mohammad Shahzad (18 from 16 – 3 fours) in the fourth over. Skipper Nawroz Mangal (22 from 18 – 1 four, 1 six) took the score to 52 runs with Karim Sadiq (26 from 26 – 3 fours) before he was bamboozled by Yuvraj Singh.

Asghar Stanikzai (6 from 9) also couldn’t last longer as he along with Sadiq were captured by Yuvi who looked difficult to handle for the Afghan batsmen.

However, Mohammad Nabi (31 from 17 – 2 fours, 2 sixes) played a brilliant cameo to bring Afghanistan back in the hunt but wickets kept tumbling at the other side and in the end Afghanistan were bowled out for 136 runs from third ball of the penultimate over.

Lakshmipathi Balaji, who inclusion had raised many eyebrows, proved the most successful bowler for India as he captured three wickets for 19 runs while Yuvraj Singh took three wickets for 24 runs and Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed two scalps for 20 runs.

Virat Kohli was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant half century.

Watch ICC Twenty20 2012 Live

Read More

ICCWT20: Australia vs Ireland Scorecard

By TheSportsNEXT

 

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (TheSportsNEXT) September 19, 2012: Australia defeated Ireland by seven wickets in their opening match of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 (ICCWT20) on Wednesday as Shane Watson did the job with both and ball to demolish the Irish opponents.

Following is the complete scorecard of Australia vs Ireland match

2012 ICC World Twenty20
Match 2: Australia vs Ireland
Group B	Venue:	R Premadasa
Result	Australia won by 7 wickets
Ireland Innings
Name	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
William Porterfield	c Starc b Watson	0	1	0	0	0
Paul Stirling	c Watson b Starc	7	12	1	0	58.3
Ed Joyce	c Warner b Maxwell	16	18	3	0	88.9
Niall O'Brien	b Watson	20	24	2	0	83.3
Gary Wilson	lbw b Hogg	5	5	1	0	100
Kevin O'Brien	c Wade b Watson	35	29	5	0	121
Alex Cusack	Not Out	15	14	1	0	107
Trent Johnston	b Starc	7	7	1	0	100
Nigel Jones	Not Out	14	10	0	1	140
Did Not Bat: Goerge Dockrell, Boyd Rankin
Extras	(lb 3, w 1)	4
Total	(7 wickets; 20 overs)	123	6.15 Runs Per Over
Australia Bowling
Name	Overs	M	R	W	Econ
Shane Watson	4	0	26	3	6.5
Mitchell Starc	4	0	20	2	5
Pat Cummins	4	0	29	0	7.25
George Dockrell	2	0	12	1	6
Dan Christian	2	0	11	0	5.5
Brad Hogg	4	0	22	1	5.5
Australia Innings
Name	Dismissal	Runs	Balls	4s	6s	S/R
David Warner	c K O'Brien b Dockrell	26	23	4	0	113
Shane Watson	Run Out (Johnston)	51	30	5	3	170
Mike Hussey	lbw b K O'Brien	10	11	0	0	90.9
Cameron White	Not Out	22	18	2	0	122
George Bailey*	Not Out	6	8	1	0	75
Extras	(lb 4, w 6)	10
Total	(3 wickets; 15.1 Overs)	125	8.24 Runs Per Over
Ireland Bowling
Name	O	M	R	W	Econ
Boyd Rankin	4	0	28	0	7
Trent Johnston	2	0	21	0	10.5
Alex Cusack	2	0	10	0	5
George Dockrell	3.1	0	31	1	9.78
Paul Stirling	1	0	13	0	13
Kevin O'Brien	3	0	18	1	6

Watch ICC Twenty20 2012 Live

Read More