T20 World Cup News

India draws first blood, courtsey Yuvraj

2009-07-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

Who have thought that West Indies will reach as closer as 319 runs in reply to India 339/6? At end of 42nd Over of West Indian innings the match almost looks like in the hands of India with West Indies requiring another 75 runs in the last 8 overs with three wickets in hand.

But West Indies wicket keeper batsman Dinesh Ramdin (29 runs of 26 balls) and D.Bernard (19 runs of 20 balls) kept West Indies in hunt with 44 runs partnership of just 32 balls for the eighth wicket before comeback man Ashish Nehra removed Bernard to bring India right back into the game. He also removed Dinesh Ramdin to close the match for India.

No body thoughts that West Indies lower order batsman will fight till the end. Despite of loosing wickets at regular Interval they were always ahead of India scores. But in the end it was Yuvraj inning that made the difference. With help of Yuvraj Singh brilliance India collected 62 runs without loosing a wicket in batting powerplay on the other hand West Indies manage 36 runs for the lost of three wickets in their batting powerplay and in the end this was the vital difference between two teams.

Earlier after electing to bat first India were struggling at 32/2in the 8th over. Once again Indian top orders were tested by short pitch stuff from West Indies pace attack. After giving India a steady start opener Gautam Gambhir (13 runs of 14 balls) and Rohit Sharma (4 runs of 12 balls) got out by short pitch delivery.

Yuvraj Singh joined D.Karthik to rebuild the innings from 32 for 2. His approach made up for the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina and allayed fears of weakness in the batting order. Yuvraj revived the Indian innings by adding 135 with Karthik for the third wicket and then 86 runs in just 57balls with Captain M.S.Dhoni(41 runs of 46balls), both partnership that laid the platform for only the second ODI total in excess of 300 in Jamaica.

In the end Yusuf Pathan (40 runs of 38balls) and Harbhajan Singh (19 runs of 13balls) played well to get pass India total close to350 runs mark.

Yuvraj Singh was declared Player of the Match for his blistering knock of 131 runs of just 102 balls.

Match Summary (India won by 20 Runs)
India – 339/6 in 50 Overs

Yuvraj Singh- 131 Dinesh Karthik– 67

D. Bravo– 10-0-66-2 D.Bernard- 8-0-50-1

West Indies– 319/10 in 48.1 Overs
S.Chanderpaul- 63 R.Srawan– 45
Ashish Nehra– 7.1-0-49-3 Yusuf Pathan- 8-0-56-3

India tour of West Indies 2009 Cricket Schedule

2009-07-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

Just after the completion of 2^nd edition of twenty20 World Cup in England, Indian team will tour Caribbean for four match ODI series against the West Indies. The first two ODI's of the series will be played in Jamaica while next two ODI's will be played in St Lucia.

India will play their first one day international on 26^th June 2009. And the rest of three one day internationals will be played on 28^th June, 3^rd July and 5^th July 2009.

All the matches will be telecast in India by Tensports TV Channel.

India Vs West Indies Schedule (All timing are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Timing	Teams	Venue
Fri 26 Jun 20:00 PM	1^st ODI – India v West Indies	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Sun 28 Jun 20:00 PM	2^nd ODI – India v West Indies	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Fri 3 Jul 19:00 PM	3^rd ODI – India v West Indies	Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Sun 5 Jul 19:00 PM	4^th ODI – India v West Indies	Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Indian Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain/WK), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, M Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik (WK).

West Indies Squad for first two ODI's:Chris Gayle (Captain), Denesh Ramdin (WK), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor.

Sachin Tendulkar wants India fans to be ‘mature’ after World Twenty20 failure

2009-06-26T04:56:00.000-07:00

India’s cricket fans are putting more pressure on the team with their emotional reaction to defeat and need to get behind the players during tough times, according to the batsman Sachin Tendulkar

As the winners of the first World Twenty20 two years ago, India were one of the favourites for the current tournament but a three-run loss to England, their second Super Eights defeat, left them with no chance of reaching the semi-finals.

India’s captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, bore the brunt of fans’ anger and security at his home in the eastern city of Ranchi had to be beefed up after scores of fans burnt his effigy, shouted slogans and accused him of underestimating England. India lost all three of their Super Eights games.

“I feel there is very high emotion among the people when they react. But do these reactions help us to play better? Not really,” Indian media quoted Tendulkar as saying.

Team India Reluctant to Play against Pakistan: Afridi

2009-06-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

Even though the teams did not meet in the main tournament, they featured in a completely sold-out warm-up match. “I was a bit disappointed. It didn’t appear to me by the attitude of the Indian players that they want to play against us,” Afridi told Geo TV after he arrived home on Wednesday.

“On the face, they said they would like to see cricket between the two countries but I think in their hearts they thought otherwise. Their attitude and behaviour while playing against us showed this,” Afridi said. Pakistan and India have froze bilateral cricket ties since the Mumbai terror in November 2008 with the cancellation of India tour of Pakistan earlier this year.

Afridi added that he still believes that cricket could heal relations between the neighbouring countries and bring the people together. “I always say use sports to foster good relations and remove misunderstandings,” said Afridi who was at the peak of his career in the T20 World Cup with both - bat and ball.

He said Pakistan has proved critics wrong by winning the World T20 title when everyone counted India and South Africa as favourites. “I think our performance is a lesson for other teams. We are World champions and I hope teams will now come to Pakistan.”

Pak Players Demand for IPL Fee Hike after T20 World Cup Win

2009-06-26T04:52:00.001-07:00

After IPL organisers announced that the Pakistani players would be welcome to play next season of IPL in 2010 but subject to the clearance from both governments, sources in the sports management company representing players like Misbah-ul-Haq, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul and Kamran Akmal said they are unlikely to play on their old contractual terms of $100,000 each.

“These players are now iconic figures after winning the T20 World Cup and it makes no sense that they should settle for old terms when other players are being paid in millions,” the source said.

The Pakistani players could not take part in IPL Season 2 this year after the Pakistan foreign ministry advised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) against sending players to India after the Mumbai terror attacks.

The franchisees then thought of either terminating or suspending the contracts of the Pakistani players who had represented them in the first season.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi has said that the franchisees are free to play their Pakistani Players in next season of IPL, provided that the governments of both the countries give the clearance.

On the other hand the Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a cash award of Rs 2.5 million for each member of the squad that clinched the Twenty20 World Cup title in England.

The announcement came from the PCB chairman Ejaz Butt a day after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani had hosted a dinner in honour of the Pakistan squad and also announced a cash award of Rs. 10 million for them. “The team deserves a lot of praise for their hard work and efforts,” Butt said.

Butt made the announcement during a special visit by the players to the Parliament on Thursday on the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza.

Pakistan outplay SL for T20 World Cup

2009-06-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

The result could not have been better than this for both Pakistan cricket team as well as for their nation. It was not a nail biting final like last time but it has given lots for Pakistani fans to cheer about for years to come. After Imran Khan, Younis Khan became the first captain to lead his team to win a major ICC Events.

This was Pakistan first major title in the 17 years. They last won the major event in 1992 World Cup under captaincy of Imran Khan in Australia.

Chasing the target of 139 runs to win, Pakistan chased down the score easily with six balls to spare to beat Sri Lanka by 8 Wickets and become ICC World Twenty20 Champions. Shahid Afridi once again played a match winning knock of unbeaten 54 runs of 40 balls and picked up one wicket in the game.

From the moment tournament most runs scorer T.Dilshan got out in the first over, Pakistan had a grip on the match. After deciding to bat first Sri Lanka lost their first wicket in the very first over of their inning and that to of Dilshan. From there on they lost their momentum and at one stage they were struggling at 70/6 in the 13th over.

But thanks to skipper Kumar Sangakkara (64 runs of 52 balls) and Angelo Mathews (35 runs of 24 balls) partnership of 68 runs of 42 balls which helped Sri Lanka to put decent fighting total on the board.

Pakistan started their run chase well with opener Kamran Akmal (37 runs of 28 balls) and S.Hasan (19 runs of 23 balls) gave decent start by putting 48 runs in 43 balls before Jayasurya broke through with his first delivery in the next over when he beat Akmal in the air with his left-arm spin and had him stumped for 37 off 28 balls.

M.Muralitharan then removed S.Hasan caught by Jayasurya to give Sri Lanka second breakthrough but Afridi and S.Mallik ensured no further hiccups. Both batted with calm and composure. They have put on unbeaten 76 runs partnership of just 57 balls which took Pakistan home amid loud celebrations from their fans in the stands.

Shahid Afridi was declared Player-of-the-Match for his super all-round performance both with bat and ball.

Tilakratne Dilshan was declared Player-of-the-Series for scoring the 317 runs in seven innings with an average of 52.83.

Umar Gul once again proved that he is the most dangerous bowlers when it comes to twenty20. Like 2007, he once again ended up with most number of wickets in ICC World twenty20 2009 with 13 wickets to his name.

T.Dilshan of Sri Lanka scored the most number of runs in the tournament with 317 runs with an average of 52.83 in seven innings that he has played.

Yuvraj Singh of India hits the most number of sixes (9) in the tournament.

Chris Gayle of West Indies hit the biggest six of the tournament with 105 meters.

Match Summary (Pakistan won by 8 Wickets)

Sri Lanka – 138/6 in 20 Overs

K.Sangakkara- 64* Angelo Mathews– 35*

Abdul Razzak– 3-0-20-3 S.Afridi- 4-0-20-1

Pakistan– 139/2 in 18.4 Overs

Shahid Afridi- 54* Kamran Akmal– 37

M.Muralitharan– 3-0-20-1 S.Jayasurya- 2-0-8-1

Sri Lankans sink 'Windies' ship to sail into final

2009-06-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka enters the Final of ICC World Twenty20 in grand style after beating West Indies comprehensively by 57 runs. It will be against Final between two Asian teams like last T20 World Cup where

India

played

Pakistan

and this time

Sri Lanka

will take on

Pakistan

at Lord’s on June 21^st.

T.Dilshan played a brilliant inning of the tournament to guide his team single handedly to par score of 158/5 in their 20 overs. Then a new man with the bowling speed of 80 mph Angelo Mathews picked up three wickets in his very first over of West Indians inning to break the back-bone of West Indies run chase. From 1/3 Bravoin the first over it was almost over for West Indies from there on to achieve the target against the quality bowling attack. Mathews took three for 16 in his four overs.

Chasing the target of 159 runs to win, West Indies inning started disastrously with all top three batters (Xavier Marshall, L.Simmons and D.Bravo) back in the pavilion without troubling the scorer and West Indies scores was 1/3 at the end of first over. Then it was Sri Lankan twin spinners (Murali and Mendis) who done the rest of the damage to West Indian innings by picking up five wickets in between them and conceded just 38 runs in the total eight overs bowled.

Chris Gayle who remained unbeaten on 63 runs of 50 balls was a single batsman who got pass double figure mark. Next highest scorer for West Indies was innings extra with 11 runs.

Earlier, Dilshan's knock was the centerpiece of Sri Lanka's 158 for five. His 57-ball innings, featuring two sixes and 12 fours, was the equal third-best in Twenty20 international history. Only fellow opener Sanath Jayasuriya (24 runs of 37 balls) and Mathews (12 not out of 6 balls) also made it into double figures.

It was only Dilshan inning who gave some respectability to Sri Lankan totals otherwise it could have been different story for them. Other than him no Sri Lankan batsman able to get going, once Jayasurya got out in 11^th over it was the start of a collapse that saw two more wickets (K.Sangakara and M.Jayawardne) lost for four runs in eight balls.

At the end of 19^th over Sri Lanka were 140/5 but Dilshan and Mathews collected as many as 18 runs in the last over bowled by Gayle to reach a formidable total and which was enough for West Indians.

T.Dilshan was declared Player-of-the-Match for his blistering unbeaten knock of 96 runs of 57 balls.

Sri Lanka v West Indies 2nd Semi Final of ICC World Twenty20 at Oval

2009-06-19T08:41:00.000-07:00

2^nd Semi Final of World Twenty20 will be played at Oval between Sri Lanka and West Indies. The winner of this game will join Pakistan for the Final to be played on 21^st June at Lord’s Cricket Ground.

We already witnessed some shocking results in the tournament so far with India, Australia and last night tournament firm favourites South Africa lost to Pakistan by 7 runs, so no body can tell who is going to win this World Cup. One bad day of good team can cost them badly and one brilliant performance from individuals can lift their team. beaten by underdogs

So far West Indies love the Oval wicket on which second semi final will take place. They have played two games in this tournament at same venue and on both occasions arguably produced their two best results, thrashing Australia by seven wickets in the group stage and defeating England by five wickets.

Sri Lanka reached the semifinal with the unbeaten tag and now they are the favourites to lift the twenty20 title after South African exit from twenty20 world cup. Sri Lanka will be hoping to continue their winning form.

Sri Lanka who played some brilliant cricket in the tournament won their most of their matches’ because of their bowling units. From Malinga to Mendis all came good when it matter most. South Africa's unbeaten record is the one that has caught the eye for its efficiency but Sri Lanka are also unbeaten in five games out of five, with their only minor scare coming in a spirited display from the Irish.

Watch out for

Chris Gayle: West Indies team relied heavily on individuals performance to reach semifinal of world twenty20 and against Sri Lanka also they need their captain to fire with his bat and ball. We have already seen in the game against Australia how dangerous he can be at top of the order. West Indies team would be expecting something similar from him in today's game also.

Dilshan and Jayasurya: Sri Lankan openers are in great form with Dilshan and Jayasurya firing all cylinders in most of the game. Dilshan has developed a shot which is really interesting to watch (a scoop over keeper head).

Pitch & Condition

The pitch to be use for 2^nd Semi Final at Oval looks a pretty even track with good bounce. In this crunch game any team winning the toss would love to bat first and our run on the board. Any score between 160 and 170 will be good total on this wicket.

Teams

Sri Lanka is likely to go in this crunch game with same XI that beaten New Zealand comprehensively. On the other hand West Indies has some problem with their fast bowler F.Edwards who is suffering from back injury and if he will not fit till the game then Darren Sammy is likely to take his place.

Pakistan enter the Final of twenty20 World Cup beating South Africa

2009-06-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

Shahid Afridi brilliant show with bat and ball halt the South African journey of World Twenty20 to help Pakistan enter the Final of twenty20 World Cup. Now they will face (Sri Lanka or West Indies) in the Final at Lord’s on June 21^st.

Shahid Afridi who was promoted at number three did what exactly his team required from him with bat. He went on to score 51 runs of just 34 balls and then turned the game in his team favour by taking two crucial wickets of H.Gibbs and AB Devilliers in his quota of four overs.

Before playing this game South Africa was considered as firm favorite to lift the World twenty20 title after early exit of India and Australia from the tournament but South Africa CHOKE again as they were not able to chase down 150 runs target on good batting wicket.

South Africa started their run chase in style in first three overs picking up as many as 29 runs. However Pakistani bowlers came back strongly to tighten the scoring areas of Protease and from that point the panic start in South African batting lineup. Graeme Smith who was dropped earlier in the inning by Umar Gul tried similar shot to sky an easy catch to 17 years old Md. Aamer for 10 rusn of 14 deliveries.

The Shahid Afridi removed dangerous Gibbs and Devilliers in his two successive overs to peg back South African run chase. They were suffocated by Afridi and Saeed Ajmal and their inability to score enough runs during the initial and middle overs left them with far too much to do against the pinpoint accuracy of Umar Gul's yorkers.

Earlier Pakistanis captain Younis Khan won the toss and elected to bat first in knockout game. Opener Kamran Akmal gave Pakistan flying start by scoring quick 23 runs of 12 balls. However two quick wickets from Parnell and Styen bring back South Africa back into the game.

But Shahid Afridi played his natural game regardless of math situation to kept Pakistanis scoring rate in excess of 7 runs per over. But once Afridi dismissed in the 13^th over, Pakistan unable to score freely and from 120/3 in the 15^th over they reach 149/4 at the end o 20 overs. South African bowlers bowled exceptionally well in last five overs and conceded just 29 runs.

Shahid Afridi was declared Player-of-the-Match for his all-round show both with bat and ball.

World Twenty20 2009: Semi Finals + Finals Schedule

2009-06-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

South Africa Beat India To March Into Semi-Finals Unbeaten

2009-06-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

On a pitch which provided lots of help to the spinners South Africa bounce back after scoring 130/5 in their 20 overs to still beat India by 12 runs. This was India third successive defeat in World Twenty20 2009.

Chasing the target of 131 for victory, Indian openers Gambhir (21 runs of 19 balls) and Rohit Sharma (29 runs of 28 balls) gave perfect start to the team by putting on 48 runs in 6 overs but as soon as Graeme Smith introduced the spinners into the attack Indian inning started to collapse. From 48/0 they were suddenly reduced to 69/5 in the 14^th over including the run out of M.S.Dhoni.

Now it was up to Yuvraj Singh (25 runs of 25 balls) and Harbhajan Singh (14 runs of 15 balls) to guide their team home but J.Botha removed H.Singh in his 4^th over and then D.Styen removed dangerous Yuvraj to move South Africa closer to their eighth successive win. In the end India fell short by 12 runs.

Earlier South African Captain Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat on a sharp turning track. But India's slow bowlers strangulated South Africa's impressive batting line-up after a frenetic start, and but for a wonderful hand of 63 from AB de Villiers, the already-eliminated Indians would have been left to chase a miniscule target.

Now South Africa will take on Pakistan in the 1^st Semi Final of ICC World Twenty20 on June 18^th at Trent Bridge and Sri Lanka will take on West Indies at Oval in 2nd Semi Final on 19th of June.

AB Devilliers was declared Player-of-the-Match for his inning of 63 runs of 51 balls.

Match Summary (South Africa won by 12 Runs)

South Africa – 130/5 in 20 Overs

AB Devilliers- 63 G.Smith– 26

R.Jadeja– 3-0-9-1 S.Raina- 1-0-6-1

India– 118/8 in 20 Overs

R.Sharma- 29 Yuvraj Singh– 25

J.Botha– 4-0-16-3 D.Styen- 3-0-25-2

Sri Lanka keep clean slate, reach semis

2009-06-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Man of the Match Ajantha Mendis' three-wicket spell of 3-0-9-3 took the wind out of New Zealand’s run chase, as the Black Caps collapsed 48 runs behind the victory target of 159, earning Sri Lanka a place in the semi-final with their third straight victory in the Super Eights group stages. They topped Group F.

Kiwis, the pre-tournament favorites, only beat Scotland and Ireland and lost to semi-finalists South Africa and West Indies, to exit before the semis. Captian Vettori said a South Africa v Sri Lanka final at Lord's on Sunday looked to be on the cards.

Top 5 players in batting and bowling in twenty20 2009 World Cup

2009-06-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Player Name	M	I	Runs	HS	Avg.	S/R	100’s	50’s	4’s	6’s
*T.Dilshan* (Sri Lanka)	5	5	221	74	44.20	140.76	0	2	34	1
*AB Devilliers* (South Africa)	5	5	185	79*	46.25	160.86	0	2	16	6
*J.Kallis* (South Africa)	4	4	174	57*	58.00	129.85	0	1	21	3
*D.Bravo* (West Indies)	5	4	154	66*	51.33	148.07	0	2	12	6
*K.Pietersen* (England)	4	4	154	58	38.50	152.47	0	1	19	4
*Yuvraj Singh* (India)	5	5	153	67	38.25	154.54	0	1	10	9
*M. Jayawardne* (Sri Lanka)	5	5	151	78	37.75	126.89	0	1	17	2

Here is the updated list of top 5 players who have taken most number of wickets in twenty20 2009 World Cup.

Player Name	M	WKTS	BBI	Avg.	Econ	4wkt	5wkt
*Umar Gul* (Pakistan)	5	12	5/6	9.16	6.28	0	1
*S.Ajmal* (Pakistan)	5	11	4/19	10.18	5.60	1	0
*L.Malinga* (Sri Lanka)	5	11	3/17	13.00	7.52	0	0
*A.Mendis* (Sri Lanka)	5	10	3/9	10.00	5.55	0	0
*RE van der Merwe* (South Africa)	5	9	2/14	11.77	5.30	0	0
*W.Parnell* (South Africa)	5	8	4/13	11.62	5.52	1	0
*Shahid Afridi* (Pakistan)	5	8	4/11	14.12	5.65	1	0

West Indies v England- Srawan and Chanderpaul star in a thrilling battle

2009-06-16T10:21:00.000-07:00

West Indies experienced player Ramnaresh Shrawan (19 runs of 9 balls) and S.Chanderpaul (17 runs of 10 balls) hold their nerves in the thrilling encounter against England to guide their team home by 5 Wickets. In a rain reduced target West Indies needed 80 runs in 9 overs.

But West Indies started their run chase in dramatic fashion as they lost three top order batsman for just 16 runs on the board in the third over. D.Bravo (18 runs of 13 balls) and big hitter K.Polard (9 runs of 6 balls) did tried hard to steady the West Indian innings but both batsman dismissed in quick succession to leave West Indies in critical situation. Needing 39 runs of 26 balls with two new batsman at the crease.

However S.Chanderpaul and R.Srawan used their all experience and didn’t panic as West Indies achieved the target with four balls to spare.

Earlier after winning the toss Paul Collingwoood decided to bat first and his team posted a decent total of 161/6 on the boards with help of Ravi Bopara (55 runs of 47 balls), K.Pietersen (31 runs of 19 balls) and S.Broad (10 runs of 2 balls). But 162 runs target on Oval wicket was always tough task to defend.

As the England inning ended rain started to came down heavily and West Indies was presented with revised target of 80 runs in 9 overs which was very simple equation for them.

Ramnaresh Shrawan was declared Player-of-the-Match for his inning of 19 runs of 9 balls

Pakistan v Ireland- Ajmal and Akmal star in Pakistan win over Ireland

2009-06-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

Pakistan performed exceptionally well in their last match of Super Eights to qualify for the Semi Final of World twenty20. Electing to bat first Pakistan posted a decent total 159/7 on the boards in their 20 overs and in reply Ireland fell short by 39 runs to give Pakistan an easy win in the end.

Kamran Akmal was the star of the day for Pakistan with bat as he hold the Pakistan inning together with a solid knock of 57 runs of 51 deliveries. Other major contribution came from hard-hitting batsman Shahid Afridi who made 24 runs of just 13 balls.

Requiring a win to move into the semi-finals, Pakistan accomplished just that with an efficient performance, easing past Ireland by 39 runs at The Oval.

Pakistan bowling once again looked as solid as was in the last game. Saeed Ajmal picked up 4 wickets to destroy the Ireland batting line-up, while Umar Gul continued from where he had left off against New Zealand, knocking over the stumps thrice, including once off a free-hit ball, and then scoring a direct hit to run out West.

Ireland never looked in the game in the run chase as they kept loosing wickets at regular intervals and finally they manage just 120/9 against strong Pakistan bowling attack.

Kamran Akmal was declared Player-of-the-Match for his inning of 57 runs of 51 balls.

Twenty20 World Cup 2009 Points Table

2009-06-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Here are the points table with the Net Run rate and the number of matches each team has played so far in the Twenty20 World Cup 2009.

In the initial phase of World twenty20 we receive two shocking results first when Australia didn’t qualify for Super Eights stage and then BangladeshIreland to qualify for the Super Eights stage. beaten comprehensively by

Defending world champions India are placed with England, South Africa and West Indies in Group E while New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Ireland are placed in Group F.

No points is carry forwarded into the Super Stage that means each team will start fresh and at least they have to win two of their Super Eights matches to give themselves chance to qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 Semifinals.

Top two teams from each Group will qualify for the ICC world twenty20 Semi Final spot and if any two teams have same point then net run rate will come into play to decide the team going forward to play the Semi Finals. Should net run-rate also fail to separate the sides, then the one with the higher number of wickets taken per balls bowled in the group stage in which results were achieved, will be preferred. And if the teams remain in a deadlock, then the winner of the group match between the sides will prevail. If all of the aforementioned tie-breakers fail, the teams will be separated by drawing lots.

Points Table at Super Eights Stage

Group E – India (A1), England (B2), West Indies (C1) & South Africa (D2)

Group F – Ireland (A2), Pakistan (B1), Sri Lanka (C2) & New Zealand (D1)

Group E

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
*South Africa*	2	2	0	0	0	4	+0.90
*West Indies*	3	2	1	0	0	4	+0.06
*England*	3	1	2	0	0	2	-0.41
*India*	2	0	2	0	0	0	-0.42

Group F

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
*Pakistan*	3	2	1	0	0	4	+1.19
*Sri Lanka*	2	2	0	0	0	4	+0.70
*New Zealand*	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.94
*Ireland*	3	0	3	0	0	0	-2.18

Points Table at Group Stage

Group A – India (A1), Ireland (A2) and Bangladesh
Group B – Pakistan (B1), England (B2) and Netherlands
Group C – West Indies (C1), Sri Lanka (C2) and Australia
Group D – New Zealand (D1), South Africa (D2) and Scotland

Group A

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
India	2	2	0	0	0	4	+1.23
Ireland	2	1	1	0	0	2	-0.16
Bangladesh	2	0	2	0	0	0	-1.00

Group B

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
*England*	2	1	1	0	0	2	+1.48
*Pakistan*	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.85
*Netherlands*	2	1	1	0	0	2	-2.03

Group C

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
*Sri Lanka*	2	2	0	0	0	4	+0.63
*West Indies*	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.72
*Australia*	2	0	2	0	0	0	-1.33

Group D

Teams	P	W	L	NR	T	Points	NRR
*South Africa*	2	2	0	0	0	4	+3.28
*New Zealand*	2	1	1	0	0	2	+0.31
*Scotland*	2	0	2	0	0	0	-5.28

England v India- Defending Champion India thrashed by England

2009-06-16T10:03:00.000-07:00

That is that for India. The defending twenty20 World Champions India crashed by England to get out of the competition. The determined England put up a good show with bowl to restrict India short by 3 runs of their target. Chasing the target of 154 runs to win Indian top order batsman didn’t provided the start they were looking for. They consumed too many deliveries in the middle overs and could not able to keep the control over required run rate.

G.Swann turn the game in England favour in his 3^rd and 14^th over of Indian innings when he dismissed R.Jadeja (25 runs of 35 balls) and dangerous looking Yuvraj Singh (17 runs of 9 balls), India needed another 67 runs in 36 balls to achieve the target.

The turning point was the dismissal of Yuvraj Singh superbly stumped by James Foster as he reached out to drive Swann. Yuvraj had smashed 17 - including two sixes - from eight balls prior to that, but Foster's quicksilver glovework ensured that India were left a Snowdon-sized peak to climb without their most explosive batsman.

Yusuf Pathan (33 runs of 17 balls) and M.S.Dhoni (30 runs of 20 balls) did tried hard by putting on 63 runs in 36 balls for the sixth wicket but it was too late for the Indians.

There too much mistakes made by the Indians in a do-or-die game and M.S.Dhoni must be asked why he sent R.Jadeja ahead of in-form Yuvraj Singh or why he didn’t came himself to consolidate the inning when India are two down for 24 runs on the board in the 4^th over.

When asked about sending Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj M.S.Dhoni in post match presentation said he was saving Yuvraj and himself for the last few overs. But he must learn from the mistakes quickly of sending better player ahead in the crunch game. He was too defensive today’s in his decision making whatever the reason.

Now India are out of competition and they will take on South Africa on Tuesday and look to register a win to save some pride otherwise it’s one of worst series India have played in the recent times.

154 runs target was easily achievable if he had planned their innings perfectly but it was total misjudgment by the team management of sending Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj Singh.

The most glamorous team is knocked out and with a close defeat, there will be numerous points to ponder over and different people will come up with different points in the game that resulted in this 3 run defeat. Ishant Sharma's expensive spell, Jadeja's innings of the early 90s ODI mould, Dhoni's inability to get the big shots going et al. But the margin of three runs takes my head to that one particular delivery. Three extra runs were given away by India off what would have been the last ball of the England innings had it not been a wide. It was fired outside the leg stump by Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh charged in to stop an unstoppable single, only to fumble and let it go to the fine leg fence. What could have been 2 wides, was 5 wides and perhaps, when this match is seen under the microscope, it was that microscopic slip up that made the ultimate difference.

West Indies beat India by seven wickets at Lords

2009-06-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

A superb all-round performance by Dwayne Bravo (66 runs of just 36 balls and 4/38) helped his team to beat defending Twenty20 Champion India by 7 Wickets in their first Super Eights game at Lord’s.

Chasing the target of 154 for victory West Indies didn’t got off to start they would have liked from their Captain Chris Gayle (22 runs of 28 balls) and A.Fletcher (0 runs of 2 balls). Indian bowlers didn’t allowed Chris Gayle to settle in his own rhythm as e did against Australia at Group stage match. Indian bowlers kept pressure on him with Harbhajan Singh bowling a second maiden of the tournament.

At 42/2 in the eighth over it seems that India will easily grab the match in their bag but once D.Bravo arrived at the crease it was all different ball game. He didn’t allow any Indian bowlers to put pressure on him and he kept West Indies required rate in check and within the reach. He continuously kept collecting the boundary in each over from over number 9th till end and that how West Indies wrapped up this game.

Earlier Indian captain M.S.Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first but Indian top order were reeling from the pace and bounce of Fidel Edwards. At 29/3 in the fifth over it was all looking down and out for India but Yuvraj Singh (67 runs of 43 balls) played another of his gems to take them to a fighting total.

Yusuf Pathan (31 runs of 23 balls) also played well supporting role with Yuvraj and put on 64 runs of just 34 balls for the fifth wicket to put India right back into the game. While Yuvraj Singh at the crease Indian were looking to reach the score of 170 but F.Edwards removed him in the 18^th over of Indian innings with short bouncer.

Now with the first game lost, defending world champions have real battle in their hand against England and South Africa. In 2007 world cup also they lost their first game to New Zealand by 10 runs and then bounce back to beat England and South Africa to reach the Semi Final of twenty20 world cup 2007.

One win can also do the trick for India from their last two remaining Super Eights game if other results will go like this:

If West Indies lost to South Africa badly on 13^th June and then India beat England by big margin on 14^th June and hopes that England will beat West Indies on 15^th June. In such scenario England and West Indies will have one win from their three games and India still have one more game to play against South Africa on 16^th of June and they know what they need to do to qualify for the Semi Finals of ICC World twenty20 2009.

But let’s hope that India will win their remaining two matches and will not depend on outcomes of other games.

D.Bravo was declared Player-of-the-Match for his brilliant all-round performance.

Match Summary (West Indies won by 7 Wickets)

India – 153/7 in 20 Overs

Yuvraj Singh- 67 Yusuf Pathan –31

D.Bravo– 4-0-38-4 F.Edwards- 4-0-24-3

West Indies– 156/3 in 18.4 Overs

D.Bravo- 66* L.Simmons–44

I.Pathan – 2-0-9-1 Y.Pathan- 4-0-27-1

India

v West Indies highlights – Yuvraj Singh 67 runs knock

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 19 runs in Super 8 Match

2009-06-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka relied on a clinical bowling display to script a comfortable 19-run victory over Pakistan in their first Super Eight match of the Twenty20 World Cup.

Sri Lankan bowlers performed exceptional well to defend the total of 150 against Pakistan and in the end hand over Sri Lanka an easy win by 19 runs in their first Super Eights game.

At one stage Pakistan looks like achieving the target with ease when Younish Khan (50 runs of 37 balls) and Mis-bah-ul-Haq (21 runs of 28 balls) put on 66 runs for the fourth wicket in just 60 deliveries. But M.Muralitharan turn the game in Sri Lanka favour with two wickets of Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq in two consecutive balls in the 16^th over of Pakistan innings.

Earlier Sri Lanka after put into bat first got off to flyer with Dilshan (46 runs of 39 balls) and S.Jayasurya (26 runs of 24 balls). Both batsmen put on 81 runs for the first wicket in just 54 balls. However Pakistan bounce right back into the game with the help of their spinners Afridi, Ajmal and Shoiab Mallik.

After putting up a competitive 150 for seven largely bult around Tilakaratne Dilshan's 46, the islanders stopped Pakistan at 131 for nine to garner full points from the encounter at the historic Lord's.

Except for a 66-run run pertnership for the fourth wicket between captain captain Younis Khan, who top-scored with a 37-ball 50, and his deputy Misbah-ul Haq, Pakistan were never really in the run chase of 151.

They had a fumbling start with their opener Salman Butt out in the third ball and were in back foot losing two wickets in the sixth over before Younis and Misbah revived the innings.

But, once Younis was out in the 17th over wickets fell in a heap at the death and the last edition's runners-up side only tried to narrow down the margin of defeat.

For Sri Lanka, fast bowler Lasith Malinga was the wrecker in chief with a fine spell of 3 for 17 from his four overs.

Muttiah Muralitharan returned with 2/28 from his four overs while Angelo Mathew and Nuwan Kulasekara took a wicket apiece.

Earlier, electing to bat, Sri Lanka opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan took the opposition bowlers to the cleaners by sharing an 81-run stand from nine overs before slow bowlers Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal brought Pakistan back into the match.

Sri Lanka were threatening to post a huge total by scoring 86 for one at the half-way mark and 120 for four at the end of the 15th over largely due to the contributions of Jayasuriya (26 off 24 balls) and top scorer Dilshan (46 off 39 balls).

But once Afridi and Ajmal started bowling in tandem, Sri Lanka found it difficult to find the runs and with the pressure building on they lost wickets in a heap in the death overs.

In fact, Sri Lanka could add just 30 runs from the last five overs while losing four wickets in the process.

For Pakistan, Afridi, Ajmal and Umar Gul took two wickets apiece conceding 23, 26 and 34 runs respectively.

Jayasuriya and Dilshan gave Sri Lanka a flying start and to make matters worse for Pakistan, Sohail Tanvir was wayward in his opening spell of two overs, which ended up with 20 balls being bowled instead of 12.

The duo had a sort of competition to outscore each other before Jayasuriya was out to Afridi in the last ball of the ninth over holing out to Younis Khan after making a 24-ball 26 which included two fours and a six.

Dilshan, who outscored his senior opening partner, was clean bowled by Afridi while trying for a cut shot two balls before the half-way mark and with it Pakistan recovered some lost ground.

The two twin blows brought down the Sri Lankan run rate and built pressure on Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene before the experienced duo separated in the 14th over.

Sangakkara (15) perished as he stepped out of the crease for a big hit off Ajmal only to miss the line and Kamran Akmal doing an easy stumping job, leaving Sri Lanka at 110 for three.

Sri Lanka could not just get going in the late overs as they fell in a heap. Chamara Silva (8) was foxed by an Umar Gul slow ball as he walked down the track only to get the edge for Akmal to finish the job in the 17th over.

Next over, Jayawardene (19) perished while trying for an inside-out shot holing out to Afridi at extra cover. Jehan Mubarak (5) was run out while Nuwan Kulasekara (2) was LBW to Gul, both in the last over.

Redmond blistering knock demolish Ireland

2009-06-11T23:57:00.000-07:00

A.Redmond played a brilliant knock of 63 runs in just 30 balls to help New Zealand to register an easy win in their Super Eights game against Ireland. Initially Redmond was not in the squad but due to Jesse Ryder injury he is called as replacement for explosive opener.

He justified his selection as he smashed the Irish bowler’s right from the start. Aaron Redmond made a memorable return to international cricket with a blistering knock as New Zealand won over Ireland by 83 runs.

New Zealand first rattled up a healthy 198/5 in their 20 overs with the help of flourish start given by Redmond and then bundle out Ireland for just 115 runs in 16.4 overs to register an easy win.

A.Botha (28 runs of 17 balls) and opener G.Wilson (23 runs of 28 balls) were the only two Irish players who could hang around for some time while most of the other batsmen folded up without much of a fight.

A.Redmond was declared Player-of-the-Match.

Match Summary (New Zealand won by 83 runs)

New Zealand – 198/5 in 20 Overs

A.Redmond- 63 M.Guptill –45*

W.McCallan– 4-0-33-2 A.Cusack- 4-0-43-2

Ireland– 111/10 in 16.4 Overs

A.Botha- 28 G.Wilson–23

N.McCullum – 3-0-15-3 K.Mills- 2.4-0-12-2

Check Ireland v New Zealand Super Eights T20 World Cup Photographs

Jaques Kallis gives South Africa an easy win over England

2009-06-11T23:47:00.000-07:00

An all-round performance by veteran Jaques Kallis gives South Africa an easy win over England in their first Super Eights game. Kallis first picks up two crucial wickets with ball to help South Africa to restrict them to 111 runs in 20 overs and then J.Kallis scored an unbeaten 57 in just 49 balls to chase down the score without any pressure.

By the todays performance against England, South Africa showed that they are getting better game-by-game and is side to beat for any team at the moment. Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell set the tone with wickets in their opening overs and were backed up by impressive spin and fine catching, particularly RE van der Merwe's effort to remove Kevin Pietersen.

After electing to bat first England got off to worst start as they lost three quick wickets inside first six overs including the wicket of K.Pietersen and they never recover from that. Their run-rates always hover around 5.5 and 6 runs per over. Only O.Shah made a significant contribution for England as he made 38 off 33 with two sixes, but it was a forlorn effort as wickets fell regularly.

At the end of six over England score was looking 25/3 and from then onwards South African twin spinner not allowed English batsman to get away what they would liked. In the end young lad Parnell finished the job brilliantly by picking up two wickets in two balls to bowl out England in 19.5 overs for 111.

South Africa started their run chase with cautiously but they never allow required run rate to jump over six and in the end they chase down the score quite easily with 10 balls to spare.

Now South Africa will take on West Indies on Saturday while England will take on India on Sunday.

Jaques Kallis was declared Player-of-the-Match for his all-round performance.

Match Summary (South Africa won by 7 Wickets)

England – 111/10 in 19.5 Overs

O.Shah- 38 K.Pietersen –19

W.Parnell– 3.5-0-14-3 J.Kallis- 3-0-20-2

South Africa– 114/3 in 18.2 Overs

J.Kallis- 57* H.Gibbs–30

S.Broad – 3-0-14-1 A.Rashid- 4-0-24-1

Click to view England v South Africa Super Eights T20 World Cup Photographs

2009 World Cup T20 Super Eight stage Match Schedule

2009-06-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

2009 World Tweenty20 cricket match schedule & timings for the Super Eight stage of the competition is as follows:

SUPER EIGHT MATCHES

DATE	TIME (IST)	VENUE	MATCH
June 11	6pm	Trent Bridge	NZ vs Ire
June 11	10pm	Trent Bridge	Eng vs SA
June 12	6pm	Lord's	Pak vs SL
June 12	10pm	Lord's	Ind vs WI
June 13	6pm	Oval	WI vs SA
June 13	10pm	Oval	NZ vs Pak
June 14	6pm	Lord's	Ire vs SL
June 14	10pm	Lord's	Ind vs Eng
June 15	6pm	Oval	Pak vs Ire
June 15	10pm	Oval	Eng vs WI
June 16	6pm	Trent Bridge	NZ vs SL
June 16	10pm	Trent Bridge	SA vs Ind

The top four teams from the Super Eight qualify for the finals:

Semi Final 1 - 18th June, Trent Bridge, E1 vs. F2Semi Final 2 - 19th June, Oval, E2 vs. F1

Final - 21st June at Lord's

Twenty20 World Cup 2009 Points so far

2009-06-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sehwag ruled out of T20 World Cup due to Shoulder injury

2009-06-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Trent Bridge: In a major blow to India's world cup fortunes, explosive batsman Virender Sehwag is ruled out of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2009 due to a shoulder injury.

According to the reports coming from England, a final decision on his fitness would be taken today and he might be referred to a South African doctor for surgery that would leave him out of the T20 action in England.

Sehwag was one of the key members of the Indian team which won the first T20 world cup which was held at South Africa, his absence will surely be a major jolt to the team’s campaign in the current tourney.

Sehwag, who came with the team, neither took part in the first two practice match nor played India`s first match of T20 WC against Bangladesh which India won by 25 runs. n his absence Rohit Sharma opened for India along with Gautam Gambhir.

However, Rohit who replaced Sehwag as the opener did not disappoint in the two outings as an opener. He first slammed a fine 80 against Pakistan in the practice match and made a quickfire 36 against Bangladesh.

Zaheer is definitely a match winner

2009-06-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

India fast bowler Zaheer Khan was more relieved than happy after his match-winning performance against Ireland, in Trent Bridge, Nottingham, on Wednesday.

The left-arm fast bowler injured his shoulder during the Indian Premier League and only made it back to the Indian team for the ICC World Twenty20 warm-up game against Pakistan.

Zaheer quashed all doubts his fitness with a magnificent performance with the ball against Ireland, claiming four for 19 in three overs to help India win by eight wickets.

"It was a narrow escape for me. It could have been worse. I was lucky to get away with just four weeks. I worked really hard on strengthening the shoulder and still some work needs to be done. The good thing is that there is nothing major, no danger to the shoulder which is a good thing. It could have been worse and I am happy to be back after just four weeks," Zaheer said on Wednesday.

It was at this very venue two years back that the left-armer had carried India to a famous in a Test match against England [Images].

And he admitted that he relishes bowling on this wicket, which offers the fast bowlers a bit of assistance.

"I really enjoy bowling in England especially this wicket. There is always something for fast bowlers here. It is one of things that you have favourites grounds, you have good memories of the ground and it helps you perform more and more on the ground," he said.

The 30-year-old said it is a big confidence booster to come up with a match-winning performance after coming back from an injury.

"It feels great. I am playing after a long time and I am enjoying every bit of it. This was the second game for me and it was important that I pick upsome wickets. I think wickets at any level boosts your confidence so I have definitely gained a lot of confidence from this performance," he said.

Zaheer also credited the Indian Premier League for helping the young Indian team take a big step forward in this format.

"It has definitely helped players. You see someone like Rohit Sharma [Images], the kind of form he is in. It is good that we have been playing Twenty20 format for the last five weeks coming into the Twenty20 World Cup. It has definitely helped us.

"As I said earlier playing IPL before the T20 World Cup definitely helped because we have been playing a lot of T20 games," he added.

He also revealed that he would be looking to get the dangerous Chris Gayle out early in their Super Eights match against West Indies on Friday.

"It will be good to take his wicket early because it will be helpful for the team. He is definitely a match winner. If we can get him out early it will be a great help for Team India," said Zaheer.