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

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

Super Eights: South Africa show their ability with Kiwis win

 

Match 14, Barbados: South Africa beat New Zealand by 13 runs

South Africa started their Super Eights campaign on a winning note yesterday with Albie Morkel’s sensational batting proving the difference between them and opponents New Zealand.

The all-rounder (pictured), smashed 40 runs from only 18 deliveries – hitting 5 sixes in the process – to boost the Proteas total up to 170/4.

Batsman AB De Villiers remained 47 not out at the end of the innings and therefore finished as the team’s top scorer. 

The Kiwis’ chase got off to the worst possible start when Brendon McCullum’s shot was caught brilliantly by Herschelle Gibbs at cover in the first over.  

Despite recovering from that early loss, New Zealand’s reply faltered by later losing wickets at regular intervals and struggled to get a major partnership going, unlike De Villiers and Morkel did in South Africa’s innings.

The big blow for the Kiwis when a settled Jesse Ryder had to go when caught at mid-off for 33, placing New Zealand at 67/3. If the big-hitting opener stayed in for longer – the result may have been different.

Then the middle order all suffered from the get in-get out disease, Ross Taylor went for 19, Scott Styris 13 and Gareth Hopkins was the seventh man out for 18. New Zealand were to deeply regret the fact that none of them failed to go on and be an Albie Morkel figure but in a black shirt.

Jacob Oram went for a duck – lbw to Steyn – which ultimately ended their chances. Late hitting from Nathan McCullum boosted the end total but it was all too late as far as the match was concerned. South Africa winning by 13 runs.

Huge pressure will be put on both New Zealand and Pakistan in their crunch game against each other on Saturday. The losing side will have no chance of getting into the semi-finals. It is a must win match for both teams. Who will cope best with the pressure?

South Africa will meet England on the same day, with the winner guaranteed a place in the final four. 

Man of the Match: Albie Morkel

Zimbabwe go out after batting collapse

 

Match 9, Guyana: New Zealand beat Zimbabwe by 7 runs via Duckworth Lewis

New Zealand made it two wins out of two yesterday with a comfortable victory over Zimbabwe in Guyana and therefore seal their place in the Super 8 stage.

Zimbabwe’s second defeat of the tournament means they are now eliminated.

After being put in to bat, Zimbabwe made a decent start at 58/1 before a huge collapse saw them dismissed for just 84 inside only 16 overs – the second lowest total of the competition.

Nathan McCullum, who was the hero with the bat last Friday, continued his fine form – this time with the ball – taking three wickets in the thirteenth over.

Scott Styris (pictured) also took three wickets as New Zealand rattled down their opponents batting order in quick fashion.

Despite showing encouraging signs in the warm-ups, this defeat suggests Zimbabwe still have plenty to do to compete with the big boys in world cricket.  

New Zealand in response comfortably made it through despite losing Jesse Ryder early on.

Constant rain ultimately ended the game with the Kiwis past their Duckworth Lewis par score at 36/1 after 8.1 overs.  

Man of the Match: Nathan McCullum

Nathan McCullum’s late heroics give Kiwis opening win

 

Match 1, Guyana: New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by two wickets 

A penultimate-ball six from New Zealand’s Nathan McCullum guided his team to a tense victory against Sri Lanka yesterday in the opening game of the ICC World Twenty20 2010.

Needing three runs to win with just two balls spare, McCullum (pictured) superbly smashed the ball into the crowd as his side successfully chased their target of 136 – in what was a  thrilling first match of the tournament.  

Batting first on a slow and sluggish kind of wicket, Mahela Jayawardene’s 81 from 51 balls helped guide Sri Lanka to a par score of 135/6.

Despite losing the early wicket of star-player Brendon McCullum, New Zealand made a great start to their chase – with Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptil sharing a second wicket stand of 62.

But a couple of quick wickets – Muttiah Muralitharan bowling out Ryder and Sanath Jayasuriya knocking out Guptil’s middle stump – reduced New Zealand into a tricky situation at 66/3.

More wickets then followed with Ross Taylor and Scott Styris both being dismissed cheaply. At 96/5, Sri Lanka were well back into the match and looked to have some momentum with them.

However two consecutive sixes in the 17th over from all-rounder Jacob Oram swung the game back into the Kiwis direction.

But Daniel Vettori’s men made life more difficult for themselves when Oram was bowled by Chanaka Welegedara and Gareth Hopkins was judged run-out to leave New Zealand 117/7.

Then it was Nathan McCullum and Vettori to the rescue as they looked to get New Zealand back on track with ones and twos.

In the final over, McCullum smashed the ball for four down the legside to leave New Zealand just needing four to win from three balls. Vettori sacrificed his wicket the ball later – easily run out trying to get a second run.

But that tactic proved well worthwhile for the penultimate delivery when McCullum’s six meant a successfull start to New Zealand’s campaign.        

Sri Lanka, one of the pre-tournament favourites, now must beat a much-improved Zimbabwe on Monday to stay in the competition.

Man of the Match: Nathan McCullum