England crowned World Twenty20 champions

 

Picture: GETTY IMAGES

The Final, Barbados: England beat Australia by seven wickets

England are the new ICC World Twenty20 champions after a stunning seven-wicket victory against arch-enemies Australia in Barbados.

The win is England’s first ever world title in the history of cricket and it became official when captain Paul Collingwood hit the winning runs with three overs to spare.

Collingwood won the toss and elected to field and that decision paid dividends when Australia were restricted to 8/3 inside the first three overs.

But David Hussey led the Australian recovery with a hard-worked knock of 59 and Cameron White pressed the accelerator with a well made 30 to get Australia a competitive score of 147/6 from their twenty overs.

But overall it was an under-par total given the nature of the pitch, despite Australia’s enthusiasm on their recovery of 8/3.

So could England go on and get the 148 runs for their first world title? Well it looked doubtful when opener Michael Lumb fell early when he was caught at mid on from the bowling of pace bowler Shaun Tait.

However a fantastic and breathtaking partnership of 111 between Craig Kieswetter and man of the tournament Kevin Pietersen basically sealed England’s fate. The pair did not hesitate to play their shots and failed to let the pressure of winning a world title stand in their way.

Their shots were brilliant as Kieswetter made 63 – his highest score for England – before later being bowled out by Mitchell Johnson. Pietersen made 47 being skying a shot to long-off – he was the second batsman to go.

But Collingwood and Eoin Morgan insured no batting collapse was to delay the inevitable. In the end Australia’s total was not enough for this confident and strong England line-up.

At last England own a world title and it is fully deserved for the way they have played throughout the competition. Their aggressive style and clever bowling has got them just reward and coach Andy Flower deserves much credit for this transformation in the England team.

As for Australia, they will clearly be disappointed losing a world final but this tournament certainly shows that they have the ability to play in this format of the game. It is a massive improvement from the 2009 tournament in England where they were knocked out in the opening round.

Its been a fantastic tournament here in the West Indies, plenty of fantastic cricket being played with fans all over the world enjoying the matches.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) deserve credit for creating such a wonderful tournament – a complete opposite to the 50-over world cup held in the West Indies three years ago where there was much criticism on several issues. Pat on the back for the ICC and everyone associated in providing a wonderful competition and congratulations to England.  

Man of the Match: Craig Kieswetter

Player of the Tournament: Kevin Pietersen (England)

Sensational Hussey takes Australia to the final

 

Semi-Final Two, St Lucia: Australia beat Pakistan by three wickets

Awesome final-over hitting from Mike Hussey turned a likely defeat into an incredible win and booked Australia’s place in Sunday’s ICC World Twenty20 final.

Chasing a huge and tough target of 192, Australia seemed to be down and out when they fell to 144/7 in the 18th over.

But some unbelievable late hitting from Hussey and Cameron White (throughout the innings) stormed the Australians to a thrilling win in undoubtedly the match of the tournament.

Needing 18 off the final over – bowled by spinner Saeed Ajmal, Mitchell Johnson ran a single from the first delivery to get Hussey on strike. Then Hussey hit the next two balls for six to put the fright onto Pakistan.

Next ball and Hussey left himself room to play a square-cut boundary leaving Australia just one run away from victory. Hussey smashed the penultimate ball for six at mid-wicket region to end the game with remarkably a ball to spare.

Australia had scored 53 runs from just 16 deliveries and their finished total of 197/7 is the highest in the competition so far. Hussey finished 60 not out in arguably his best knock for his country.

Earlier in the match, Pakistan made what looked to be a winning total of 191/6 with the Akmal brothers making the biggest contribution. Umar Akmal batting at three made 56 and opener Kamran Akmal scored 50 from 34 balls.

But due to Hussey’s brilliance it proved not to be enough.

It’s an Ashes themed final in Barbados on Sunday with Australia taking on England. With both teams playing some great twenty20 cricket at the moment, the match should be a cracker.      

Man of the Match: Mike Hussey

Super England book place in World Twenty20 final

 

Semi-Final One, St Lucia: England beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets

England are through to the final of the ICC World Twenty 20 after a convincing seven wicket victory over Sri Lanka in yesterday’s first semi-final.

It is the first time England have reached the final of an ICC event since the 2004 Champions Trophy, and nobody can say that they do not deserve it.

Paul Collingwood’s side eased their way to their target of just 129 – finishing the match off with still four overs to spare.

Kevin Pietersen’s (pictured) fine form with bat continued as he ended on 42 not out after openers Craig Kieswetter (39) and Michael Lumb (33) took the match completely away from Sri Lanka’s grasp.

But it was England’s bowling attack that stole the show in St Lucia yesterday restricting their opponents to a below par score of 128/6 from their 20 overs.

Stuart Broad claimed the man-of-the-match award for his brilliant figures of 2/21 – getting the wickets of the in-form Mahela Jayawardene and Chamara Kapugedera.

Spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy also did terrific work, using the help of the pitch and breeze as Sri Lanka struggled to get their run-rate up and set a decent score.

Angelo Mathews shined with the bat for Kumar Sangakkara’s side with a hard-worked half century (58) to at least give his team a score to work with. But in all honesty it was no way near enough for this strong looking and confident England side. 

Having never won a world staged event in the sport, England are now just one win away from making history. 

They will play the winner of the second semi-final between Australia and Pakistan (playing later today) in Sunday’s grand final at Barbados.

Man of the Match: Stuart Broad

 

This article can also be seen on The Daily Dust website.

ICC World Twenty20 Super Eight standings and Semi-Final draw

 

Here are the final  group standings of the Super Eights stage of the competition and the all important semi-final draw.

Group E – Final Standings

1. England 6pts (NetRR +0.962), 2. Pakistan 2pts (NetRR +0.041), 3. New Zealand 2pts (NetRR -0.373), 4. South Africa 2pts (NetRR -0.617)

Group F – Final Standings

1. Australia 6pts (NetRR +2.733), 2. Sri Lanka 4pts (NetRR -0.333), 3. West Indies 2pts (NetRR -1.281) 4. India 0pts (NetRR -1.117)

Semi Final Draw

England v Sri Lanka (Thursday May 13 – St Lucia)

Australia v Pakistan (Friday May 14 – St Lucia)

The two winners of each semi-final will play each other in the ICC World Twenty20 2010 Final on Sunday May 16 at Barbados.

Australia stroll to easy victory as hosts crash out

 

Match 24, St Lucia: Australia beat West Indies by six wickets (Group F)

West Indies were knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 after a batting collapse wrecked any chances of beating a strong Australian side.

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the tournament’s host nation crashed to a very poor 105 all out.

The early loss of skipper Chris Gayle in the second ball of the match proved to be a massive blow for the team and you have to wonder in Twenty20 cricket whether they rely too much on their captain.

Throughout this event its been Australia’s pace bowlers in the wickets but this time the spinners were to share the limelight with Steven Smith (pictured) taking three wickets and David Hussey took two.

Michael Clarke’s men secured and maintained their 100 per cent winning record so far in the competition when they easily reached their target of 106 with more than two overs to spare.

The target was so small that Australia were under no pressure as far as time was concerned. Brad Haddin top scored with 42 as Australia eased their way to victory.

Australia certainly look the team to beat in this competition. They will play Pakistan in the semi-final encounter on Friday.

The two teams last met in the first round group stage with Australia’s batsman coming out on top.  

Man of the Match: Steven Smith

New Zealand out while England continue to impress

 

Match 22, St Lucia: England beat New Zealand by three wickets (Group E)

England made it three Super Eight wins out of three and knocked New Zealand out of the ICC World Twenty20 in St Lucia on Monday.

Tim Bresnan (pictured) shined with both bat and ball as they successfully chased down a target of 150.

This victory secured England finished top of Group E with a maximum six points and their next encounter will be a semi-final clash with the runners up of Group F on Thursday.

The win also eliminated any thoughts persisting that England are a one-man team with the batting heroics of Kevin Pietersen, who in this match did not feature as he was back in the UK with his wife expecting their first child together.

For New Zealand however, this was a must win game for them and they failed to get a big enough total to make that possible.

Opting to bat first, Daniel Vettori’s side batted much better in previous games but their total of 149/6 was probably ten/fifteen runs short of a match winning effort.

Ross Taylor top scored for the Kiwis making 44 from 33 deliveries. His 62-run partnership with Scott Styris helped guide his team into a strong position at 141/5 with ten deliveries left.

But when Taylor went, New Zealand had a disappointing end to their innings with England restricting them to 149 after a good tight over from Bresnan.

Openers Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter got England off to a good starting – once again taking the attack to their opponents. But a string of quick wickets in the middle stage swung the match New Zealand’s way.

Ravi Bopara smashed the ball to Taylor at cover, Lumb was given lbw from the bowling of Vettori and then Paul Collingwood clipped the ball to Brendon McCullum on the leg-side.

But a vital partnership of 52 between Eoin Morgan and Luke Wright recovered England and got them back on course for victory.

New Zealand boosted their chances of a crucial when Luke Wright was caught at mid-off but Tim Bresnan came in and finished the job off – hitting the winning runs in the final.

With three wins on the bounce, England are finally looking like very strong contenders in an ICC event. 

Man of the Match: Tim Bresnan

Pakistan through to semi-finals with South Africa win

 

Match 21, St Lucia: Pakistan beat South Africa by 11 runs (Group E)

From the brink of elimination, Pakistan have amazingly qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 semi-finals with a tense 11-run victory over South Africa.

Having lost their two Super Eight matches, the defending champions needed to beat South Africa here and hoped that England would beat New Zealand in order to go through – and that is exactly what happened.

For South Africa, they will have plenty of concerns on the way they have performed throughout the tournament – again their batting let them down despite the quality of players to their line-up. They could not keep up with the run rate and a slow start left with too much to do down the order.

Batting first, Pakistan made a poor start losing three early wickets with just 18 runs on the board but Kamran Akmal was on hand to get them going scoring 37 from 33 balls.

But when he fell in the eleventh over, Pakistan needed someone to get them a defendable innings score. That man was all-rounder Umar Akmal (pictured) who made a brilliant 51 – hitting 4 sixes in the process, to givePakistan much-needed momentum in the later stage of the innings.

Captain Shahid Afridi also made a quick-fire 30 to galvanise his side to a total of 148/7.

South Africa though – despite having the likes of Graeme Smith, Herschelle Gibbs and Jaques Kallis – they made an awfully slow start and failed to take advantage of the first six overs powerplay.

At the end of those first six overs they were placed at 32/2 with Smith and Gibbs back in the pavilion – the latter making three from 14 deliveries – rather unusual for his style of batting.

AB De Villiers threatened to increase the run rate by making a good half century but when he fell with the team still needing 47 to win with four overs left was a massive blow.

Johan Botha did his best to keep South Africa in the match but Saeed Ajmal’s spin bowling restricted the batting side. At the end they fell eleven runs short and were therefore eliminated from the competition.

Make no mistake its the top order batting that has cost South Africa here. Slow starts against England and now against Pakistan have cost them dearly.  A rethink is needed.

As for Pakistan who won the event last year. Remarkably they are just two wins away from doing it all over again. They are much likely to match up with Australia for Friday’s second semi-final. 

They know how to win this tournament – will that experience help them in the business end of this year’s ICC World Twenty20?

Man of the Match: Umar Akmal

Super Eights: Cameron White leads Australia to thumping win

 

Match 20, Barbados: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 81 runs (Group F)

A fantastic innings from all-rounder Cameron White rescued Australia and eventually led them to a comfortable victory against Sri Lanka in the ICC World Twenty20.

White (pictured) came into the bat with his team in a spot of bother at 67/5 in the eleventh over – but a superb knock of 85 not out, not only got Australia out of a tricky hole but cemented them as favourites for the match.

The momentum they finished with the bat, they took with the ball as they dismissed their opponents for a poor 87 all out in just over 17 overs.

Australia’s massive victory means the team have all but sealed their place in the semi-finals – only a miracle can deny them now.  

Winning the toss and batting first, Australia were placed in big trouble when bowlers Angelo Mathews and spinner Suraj Randiv got two wickets each by dismissing four out of the top five in the batting order – with the score at a precarious 30/4.

Randiv collected his third wicket in the eleventh over when he bowled out Australia skipper Michael Clarke to make 67/5.

But a tremendous century partnership between White and the in-form Mike Hussey guided Australia to a good total in 168/5. Hussey scoring a brilliant 39 not out from 26 balls.

Sri Lanka’s hopes of victory were dealt a blow when run machine Mahela Jayawardene failed for the first time in the tournament when his pull shot was caught by Steven Smith at the boundary.

The wickets of Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tilikaratne Dilshan and Mathews soon followed, as the Australian pace attack rattled the top order.

At  49/5, Sri Lanka needed a comeback like Hussey and White provided for Australia. Unfortunately that was not to happen as Sangakkara’s side collapsed to a heavy defeat.

Spin from Steven Smith and captain Clarke got the wickets of Dinesh Chandimal, Chamara Kapugedera and Lasith Malinga as they faltered to 87 all out – the fourth lowest innings total of the tournament so far.

They will have to play much better against India on Tuesday – in a game both sides must win to have a chance of getting into the last four.

Man of the Match: Cameron White

Super Eights: Gayle onslaught gives West Indies vital win

 

Match 19, Barbados: West Indies beat India by 14 runs (Group F)

West Indies captain Chris Gayle shined with the bat to guide his team to a crucial victory over India in the ICC World Twenty20.

With two Super Eight defeats on the bounce, India must now only rely on slim chances to qualify for the semi-finals.

Gayle batted superbly and blasted his way to 98 from 66 balls, before dramatically being run-out in the final over as he looked to get late runs for his team while setting a target.

The West Indies skipper was well supported by fellow opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul (23), with the pair sharing a first wicket stand of 80.

Darren Sammy (19) and Kieron Pollard (17) also contributed as the host nation made a decent total of 169/6. Ashish Nehra continued his fine tournament with figures of 3/35 from his four overs.

Chasing 170 to win, India got off to a poor start by losing both opening batsman to the short ball and when Rohit Sharma was judged caught behind, despite his protests, they were reduced to 38/3.

Wickets in successive overs later on from Gayle and Suliemenn Benn put India deep in trouble at 81/5 – only MS Dhoni gave them hope.

But when he got run out in the 19th over with the run rate shooting up at 139/6 – India’s chances were all but over. They managed to finish on 155/9 – sadly for them it was 14 runs short.

Just like the last ICC World Twenty20 at England in 2009, India were exposed by the short ball and four of their nine dismissals were due to bouncers. India simply have failed to learn from their previous mistakes.

India must beat Sri Lanka on Tuesday and rely on West Indies losing to Australia – plus having a better net run-rate, to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Man of the Match: Chris Gayle

Super Eights: New Zealand stay alive with last-ball win

 

Match 17, Barbados: New Zealand beat Pakistan by 1 run (Group E)

New Zealand kept their chances alive of reaching the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 yesterday, with a thrilling last ball victory over defending champions Pakistan.

Needing two runs to win from the final ball, Pakistan’s Abdur Rehman slashed the ball in the air down the leg-side – only to find Martin Guptil, whose catch sealed a dramatic one-run win for the Kiwis.

The defeat means Pakistan are now having to rely on very slim chances to qualify for the semi-finals.

In a must-win match for both sides, New Zealand worked their way to 133/7 after their 20 overs.

Daniel Vettori’s 38 and 33 from opener Brendon McCullum provided the Kiwis with a competitive score.

But again their failure to get big partnerships and batsman not making the most of their starts was a key feature and it could (probably should) have backfired on them.

Pakistan lost early wickets and were reduced to 42/4 with pacemen Kyle Mills, Shane Bond and Ian Butler (pictured) striking for Daniel Vettori’s team.

And things got even worse for them when skipper Shahid Afridi was out when Nathan McCullum took a fine catch at the boundary.

But Salman Butt’s composed knock and a big-hitting 29 from Abdul Razzaq brought them right back in contention to win the match.

New Zealand though dismissed Razzak to restore their chances of victory with tail-ender Rehman arriving to the crease.

But on the penultimate delivery, Butt ran through for a single leaving Rehman on strike for the crucial final ball and himself stranded on 67 not out – a decision he would later regret.

Rehman it proved could not respond well to the pressure and could only smash the ball air-bound to Guptil at the boundary. It was a poor shot given the fact they just needed two runs for a vital win – and if they got a single, the match will have gone to a super over scenario.

The poor shot and bad decision-making has truly cost the Pakistan team. A miracle is needed for them to now reach the semi-finals. 

New Zealand must beat England on Monday to have any realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Pakistan must beat South Africa comprehensively and hope England beat New Zealand – but in reality their chances are all but gone, even if they do win their next game.   

Man of the Match: Ian Butler