Poor Australia..all but one loss

One can imagine the fate of a team that wins all its games in the league stages of the tournament and loses the one important game that would have given it a champions tag if won. That was what happened to Australia yesterday when they lost their first match in the tournament as well as their last one. But, who is there to give more chance compared to the number of people who pity them? Australia are the team which deserved to win the trophy despite all odds when there was no team that even came close to beating Australia.

I remember South Africa winning all its five games in the 1996 world cup and losing to the West Indies in the quarter-finals by 19 runs. The same thing happened to South Africa in the last two editions of the world T20 in 2007 where they lost their first match to India and in 2009 against Pakistan in the semis to end their campaign. Like Australia, England too had not lost even a single match in this tournament and in 2007, Pakistan had not lost a single match until the finals against India. And last but not the least, Sri Lanka had not lost a game in 2009 until the finals.

But, those were fluke wins which came automatically but this time, Australia was a better team compared to England. Though England has beaten Pakistan in this world cup, they would not have done the same had they been in place of Australia in the second semi-finals. Australia not only defeated their opposition but literally thrashed them with Sri Lanka being bowled out for 87, West Indies for 105 and India for 135. England, though have won all their encounters in the super-eights, could not bowl out their opposition in all three games. They only managed to bowl out South Africa at Bridgetown for 129.

This is nothing but injustice done to Australia for which no one can he held responsible. Not even the Aussies can be held responsible for the same. After their loss to West Indies, England had to win against Ireland where chances of England winning were freak after they were bowled out for just 120 on the board. Had the game progressed, there was every chance for Ireland to upset their opposition. Had that been the case, England would not even make it to the super-eights let alone winning the trophy. But, I feel happy for England for winning their maiden world cup tournament.

Aussie tank misfires

They might have held their nerves tightly in that run chase of 197 against Pakistan when they were reeling at 105-5 at 3 overs prior to the winning shot. But, that match ended in those three hours itself when Australia made it to the finals of the world T20 tournament and Pakistan giving a grand exit. The past can never be the future in some cases like it happened yesterday when Australia surprisingly lost the finals against arch-rivals England by 6 wickets at Bridgeton. That was what a total of just 146 on the board can promise anyone let alone Australia.

The match was the finals barrier for the Aussies to cross which would have not only made them T20 champions but also would have stopped tongues from wagging towards them. Australia no matter what hey have they got to say in the other two formats of the game definitely lacked momentum in T20 game which one fine day forced Ricky Ponting to step down not only as a captain but also as a player. Yesterday was their rare chance to prove a point especially after their sweeping wins in the super eights where they had all three teams bowled out.

That was followed by a record run chase of 197 with the winning shot coming in the form of a six. In yesterday's game, the Aussies lost the plot in the beginning itself with the first three wickets falling when the scoreboard read 8 runs. That was followed by a series of wickets falling at regular intervals eventually ending their innings at a score of 146 on the board. With that initial blow, the batsmen coming in were confused when they had to think whether to go in for the kill or to stay at the crease and keep the scorecard ticking.

Still, all eyes would have been on the Aussies hoping that the pitch was a bowler's paradise and defending a total of 146 would not be tough. But, English batsmen had other plans when if not for Michael Lumb, no other batsmen had any sorts of trouble against seamers like Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait. England cruised to victory with as many as three overs to spare needless to be said en route to their first major title. England, until yesterday was the only cricketing nation which had no world titles against their name. Of course, one has to compromise with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and other non-test playing nations.

Who is the best among the best?

Both England and Australia had once met in the finals of the Reliance world cup in 1987 held in the sub-continent. Now, after a span of 23 years both teams are once again scheduled to play each other in the finals of the T20 world cup here in hours to come. Both teams have reached the finals after a lot of ups and downs not only in this tournament but elsewhere as well. Australia,though have made their opposition tremble with fear for so long are not the champions they were once upon a time. For that, you might have to refer past T20 world cups.

And, coming to England they have never been the favorites with hardly any team having their bet on them. Looking at that, one should not consider that England have reached the finals by chance and not by talent. They are yet to legally lose a match in this world cup like Australia. Though they have a loss against West Indies, that was due to rain and had the match gone ahead as per plan, there was more chance that England would win that game. England, needless to be said beat strong teams like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand.

No team can win all their games by fluke. And, nothing special needs to be said regarding Australia who, like England (and one step ahead of them) have won all their games since the tournament began. They just thrashed every opposition that came their way if not for their semi-final game against Pakistan where they had a tough run for their money. It is winning such games that makes a team have a fan following and betters having their bet against them. In case Australia lose the finals by any chance, that would be nothing but total injustice to them.

Australia have knocked off England in the 1987 world cup and the ICC champions trophy 2009 while England have done that only once to Australia when they beat them in the semi-finals of the ICC champions trophy 2004. If Australia win this contest, they will become the first team to win all three major titles namely world cup, ICC champions trophy and T20 world cup. Likewise, in case England win, that will be their first major title after three losses in the finals of world cups and one loss in the ICC champions trophy 2004. Whatever, right now please Control your mind

Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat

Yesterday's game between Australia and Pakistan in the second semi-finals of the T20 world cup was something different than reading some freeta's blog when a total of 191 was not only chased down successfully by the Aussies but also ended with the winning runs being scored in the form of a six. Aussies nevertheless were at one stage reeling at 105/5 from 12.3 over with their top five batsmen heading back towards the dressing room. Still, Mike Hussey had different things in mind when the wickets tumbling at the other end never seemed to bother him and he continued to sail with ease.

In yesterday's match, Mike Hussey was a T20 version of Michael Beaven who is famous for Australia's wins in the semi-finals of the 1996 and 1999 world cups. Whatsoever, no one can ever blame the Pakistani batsmen or their bowlers for their loss. The Pakistani batsmen got everything right with all of their top order batsmen barring Afridi contributing with the bat. And, a total of 191 on the board speaks for itself. Despite the score ticking for Pakistan, Dirk Nannes got an over maiden which was a highlight of Aussie bowling. It was just impossible for part time bowler to stop the flow of runs.

After the top bowlers namely Johnson, Nannes and Tait finished their spells, Clarke had no option but to toss the ball to Watson, Smith and David Hussey who added fuel to the Pakistani fire. The Aussies needless to be said kept on losing wickets at regular intervals with the scoreboard at one stage reading 105/5 as mentioned with Australia needing 87 runs from 45 balls at a rate of 2.00 runs every ball on an average. Though it has not happened for Australia in the past, this time the Aussie batsmen have been flawless with their approach to the T20 game.

Aussies have been unbeaten in this world cup when no one expected them to do so. Aussies have dominated the other two formats of the game for nearly decades which need not be cited specially but they had a problem with T20 format which forced Ponting to call it a day. With the T20 being the shortest version of the game, one has to give hats-off to Mike Hussey for bringing back Australia into the game. There is little time left in T20 game unlike in ODIs and tests. Hussey's innings gives rise to a new saying "Fast and steady wins the race".

England on a roll

I was just thinking about Sri Lanka having a chance this time with their other two counterparts namely Pakistan and India having their share in 2009 and 2007 respectively. But, Sri Lanka spoiled all my hopes by getting defeated effortlessly to England. It was as though Sri Lanka were battling an ordinary league stage match when they piled up just 128 runs on the board. There should have been a tough fight between the teams in the semi-finals of a world cup needless to be said. All I would like to say after seeing this match is stay at home moms.

Hardly anyone would have expected to enter the finals of a world cup tournament. England did this after a span of 6 years when they were last seen making it to the finals of a world cup tournament in the ICC champions trophy 2004 after beating Australia in the semis. Once again, Sanath Jayasuriya was not only included in the playing XI but was also seen disappointing his fans. One has to wonder what sort of pressure is there on the Sri Lanka cricket board to not only include Jayasuriya but also feature him in the playing eleven. May be the selectors have gone sick.

I wish Sri Lanka has to learn from the BCCI who have not included Sachin Tendulkar in T20 matches despite him being fit and form before including an unfit batsman. The only notable score from the Sri Lankan batting chart was Angelo Mathews who scored a brilliant 58. He was the only batsman who could manage to hi a six as well. One need not give hats-off to Mathews for his work, because, Mathews or Sri Lanka were not under any sort of pressure whatsoever. Sri Lanka had already accepted defeat with both hands when winning was totally out of question.

Selfishness can be evident from the way the Sri Lankan batsmen played when neither did they go for big ones nor did they lose their wicket instead continued to play at a snail's pace in a format which expects quickfire knocks. The England bowlers never had any sorts of trouble with such a batting approach and stuck to a 5 bowler formula. One can see Sanath Jayasuriya getting belted for 15 runs of his lone over from the scorecard. Else, the top three batsmen from England sealed it for them and all that the Sri Lankans could do was to congratulate them for winning the game.

A series of surprises

If the ongoing world T20 tournament is given a close look at, one can sense that since the qualifying round, all groups have similar run-ups. The was a team in each of the four groups which had won both games in the pool stages namely India, Australia and New Zealand with England missing out. England have reached the semi-finals without a win in their league stages. However, England managed to win all the three matches in the super-eights stage when they were termed as the first team to head back home. Another team to surprise was India but this time it is for the wrong reasons.

India lost all three games in the super eights of the tournament unlike England and Australia who won all three games. England beat Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa while Australia needless to be said beat India, Sri Lanka and West Indies. However, the remaining two teams that would make it to the semis was in a toss in both the groups. In one group, Pakistan lost both their games to England (obviously) and New Zealand while on the other hand, South Africa lost their game against England and had a last chance with the game against Pakistan yet to go.

Luckily, Pakistan could make that one count with New Zealand losing to England on the same day, hours after Pakistan registered a win over South Africa. So, Pakistan will be reaching the semis with just one win in the super-eights. On the other hand, Sri Lanka should consider themselves lucky to be in the semis with India failing to put up a better game plan in their must win match against Sri Lanka. At the same time, Sri Lanka were are found wasting a space in their playing XI by having Jayasuriya playing especially at number 6 when the batsman has been opening the innings for decades altogether.

This has happened for the first time in a T20 world cup that a team makes it to the semi-finals after winning just one game in the super-eights. Meanwhile, predicting the finalists could be partially with Australia and England being more of a probability. However, Pakistan are a more decent team compared to Sri Lanka and it would come in as no surprise in case Pakistan beat Australia. And on the other hand, Sri Lanka can tackle England with their spin bowling. But, it doesn't look like England are in for any compromise looking at the way they have handled teams in this tournament. Check out if this is ur best blog.

Indians drop the game

There is nothing left to say about India's chances at least in this edition of the world T20 where India lost their third and final match against Sri Lanka yesterday at Gros Islet by 3 wickets. India should have taken this match seriously for, a huge win in this match would have seen them sail over to the semi-finals of the world cup with West Indies later that day losing to Australia by 6 wickets. With this, India have lost all three matches in a world T20 for the second time in a row. One has to pity their fans back home.

However, the match was a must win game for Sri Lanka as well with them losing to Australia and having a win against the West Indies. They would have still made it to the semis in case they had lost by a small margin. But, a victory would stop all tongues that say Sri Lanka gained their entry ino the semi-finals on the cost of India and West Indies which would have let their heads low. India did take thir game against Sri Lanka seriously when all batsmen barring Yuvraj Singh contributed to the score of 163 which was a decent score on the board.

There have been cases where a total of 163 have been defended successfully. For a change, Sanath Jayasuriya was made to open the innings and much to everyone's surprise; all he was able to do was to get out on a duck. Scorecard suggests that the Indians have not learnt from the past when they just stuck to their four bowler theory when 4 bowlers bowled their quota and Yousuf Pathan was given to bowl three overs. Yuvraj Singh could have bowled another over or two when he was the successful bowler giving away just 6.00 runs from his lone over.

On the other hand, Sri Lankan captain used 7 of his bowlers which saw a little drop in runs being scored. One interesting fact is that the Indian bowlers never bowled an extra delivery. Coming to the Sri Lankan batting, if not for their openers, all the batsmen from Sri Lanka who made it to the crease scored a contributing and promising knocks. However, one cannot figure out why Mathews was given the MoM award when Sangakkara scored equal number of runs at a better strike rate. Kapugedra score a quickfire 37 who would have justified the award being given to him.

South Africa exit yet again

For the third consecutive time, South Africa have given a grand exit from the world cup after losing to Pakistan at Gros Islet by 11 runs. The margin of victory for Pakistan might not seem to be that good but, the match against the Proteas was worth wining for both teams one, for South Africa to make it to the semis and second for Pakistan to keep their hopes alive in making it to the semis. Pakistan has lost both their earlier games to England and New Zealand while South Africa have a win against New Zealand and a loss to England.

With all gates being close for South Africa, Pakistan has a chance of making it to the semi-finals in case England happen to win over New Zealand. In case New Zealand win, the semi-finalists would be the two teams which beat Pakistan in the super eight stage. Coming to the match, the pitch never seemed to favor the batsmen when both Pakistan and South Africa had a bowler in their team who could scalp 4 wickets. Or else, a total of 147 is hard to defend. This is for the 2^nd time that Pakistan have ousted South Africa from T20 world cup.

Last time year, Pakistan had knocked off South Africa (who were until then unbeaten) in the semi-finals of the tournament en route to their successful campaign in England. Looking at the scorecard, After Kamran Akmal's stint at the top, Pakistan had to wait until the entry of Umar Akmal to see their scoreboard ticking once again. It was Umar Akmal's 51 runs along with a 61 run partnership with Shahid Afridi which laid the platform for a decent score on a bowler friendly pitch which went on to become a winning total for them. Shahid Afridi's 30 runs from 16 balls should also not go unnoticed.

Coming to the batting of the South Africans, initial blows from Asif and Abdul Razzaq was more than enough for viewers to come to conclusion of the match. If not for AB deVilliars, no other batsmen really had something to talk about. In the end, South Africa lost equal number of wickets as Pakistan but fell 11 runs short of what Pakistan could put up on the scoreboard. Now, all that Pakistan would want to happen is that England win thrashes the Kiwis which will see Pakistan making to the semis of a T20 world cup for the third consecutive time.

Gates not yet closed for India

It is confusing as to how come it happens only against India that a batsman can hit sixes at will. In their last game against Australia as well, there were 13 sixes scored by Shane Watson and David Warner between them. That was not the case for Australia against either Pakistan or Bangladesh. Yesterday, even against the West Indies, Chris Gayle had 6 hits out of the ground. Had it not been for Gayle, West Indies would not have won or even come close to winning the match. On can go through the scorecard to see no other score other than Gayle's being a highlight.

The series of scores from West Indies were 23 from Chandrapaul, 19 from Darren Sammy and 17 from Pollard. If Gayle's knock is removed from the list, the total would drop down to 71 from 9 overs at a rate of close to 8.00 runs an over. One thing that made the difference between the two teams was the way both the captains handled their bowlers. The Indian captain used only 6 bowlers with four of them bowling their complete quota with the remaining two bowling half of that. Of course, one had to Ashish Nehra 4 overs when he took three wickets.

On the other hand, the West Indian captain bought in 7 of his bowlers to bowl with every change accompanying a reduction in run rate and an increase in the run rate required to secure a win. One fascinating aspect was that every bowler from the West Indies had a wicket against his name. There was almost every Indian batsman who contributed with the bat but that was simply just not enough. Except Murali Vijay and Rohith Sharma, there were similar scores until Harbhajan Singh. Putting it simple, the Indian innings saw more of their batsmen making it to the crease with limited bowlers taking the ball.

Whatever, though India have lost both their games in the super eights, they still have a freak chance to make it to the semi-finals of the world cup with a match yet to go against Sri Lanka. In case India manage to win against Sri Lanka and both West Indies and Sri Lanka lose to Australia (which has a greater probability) then India's run-rate might be the qualifying factor to enter the semis. But, as mentioned, that would be a tough fight for India with both Sri Lanka and West Indies also being in the same phase that India are in.

Second land that beat Pakistan

It was just a couple of days back that England beat Pakistan by 6 wickets after they had a successful run chase of 148. Yesterday, Pakistan had a close encounter against New Zealand which Pakistan lost by a margin of just 1 run. According to me, this match is one of the foolish way to lose a match with top batsmen in their side. New Zealand were never in the race for victory and on the other hand, Pakistan never had problems evident from the match. All that Pakistan lacked was a good game planning for which they paid the price.

There was no superb or an outstanding batting performance from the Kiwi batsmen. The highest score by a New Zealand batsman was 38 which was scored by the captain Daniel Vettori at number 5. usually, in any game, 4 bowlers bowl their quota of four overs but yesterday, four of the Pakistani bowlers were found bowling just three overs. I wish the reason for such a decision was that like Australia, New Zealand are also bad players of spin bowling and keeping that in mind, Shahid Afridi used Saeed Ajmal and himself to the maximum extent, bowling their complete quota of four overs.

But, wih the batsmen struggling, it would not have been a bad decision had Afridi gone in for fast bowlers as well. Even Mohammad Asif and others could have made much of the Kiwi batsmen. Whatever, keeping in mind the total of 133 which Pakistan could not chase, Afridi's decision might not go applauded. If not for Salman Butt, no other batsman from Pakistan showed any sort of courage. Salman Butt stayed at the crease despite 7 wickets falling from the other end. I wish Pakistan needs to be taught that cricket is a team sport unlike badminton and tennis.

Hats-off to the Kiwi bowlers who did not lose their rhythm despite showing a dismal performance with their bat. Once they came to know that they had a chance of winning the game, the Kiwi fielders and bowlers didn't leave any stone unturned. At the same time, the Pakistan team kept on losing wickets one after the other as mentioned. Ian Butler stands apart in his bowling which had an over maiden along with three batsmen to his credit. That was the over which made the difference. But, with the pitch hardly assisting the batsmen, it would not have been a bad choice had Butt been jointly awarded the man of the match.

India breakdown into peices against Australia

Anyone who would have watched yesterday's match between India and Australia would have just declared Australia as the winners of the world T20 even before the semi-finals of the tournament is decided. India was the only opposition that had a chance to beat Australia with the West Indies and Sri Lanka being underdogs in the tournament. The moment Australia secured a win against India, all would have just crossed their fingers. India was one of the teams to have won both their league stage games. of course, even Australia have won both their league stage games against Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The only difference between the Indian fielders and the ball boys was that the fielders were inside the boundary while the ball boys were outside it. There were more instances where the ball boys collected the ball and handed it over to the fielders than the fielders themselves stopping. The ball full-tossed itself 13 times in the duration when Shane Watson and David Warner were at the crease. The Aussies had more number of sixes than the number of fours which happens rarely and the case stands even more rare with India being the opposition. Putting it simple, Indian bowlers were tired of trying too many things.

Despite the score being too high, Harbhajan Singh could manage one over maiden which is definitely a feather in his cap. Though Harbhajan Singh went wicketless, he was the pick of the bowlers when he gave away runs at a rate of 3.75 runs an over. It was evident that Australia are poor players of spin bowling when a part time spinner like Yuvraj Singh scalped two wickets though he gave away runs at a rate of 10.00 runs an over. But, the frontline bowlers like Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan were completely failures with the ball who were among the major run donors.

If that was what happened when the Aussies were batting, here comes Indian batting which saw only one face that was Rohith Sharma. One can go through the scorecard to see only Rohith Sharma scoring 79 runs which was the only score more than 20. There were the likes of Murali Vijay, Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh but could only walk back disappointed. Harbhajan Singh was found to score 13 runs which was more than any other batsman barring Rohith Sharma. One has to thank God for the Aussie bowlers finishing the match in 17.4 overs which saved the viewers 10 minutes.

Sensational victory for England

One would have hardly expected England to win against Pakistan at Bridgetown yesterday when they couldn't win even a single encounter in the league stages of the tournament. Whatever, there is no reason why England should not win against any team. But, looking at the way they played against Ireland, speaks of their caliber to take on Pakistan. Of course, one should not forget they way bad fortune stuck them in the match against West Indies when they scored 191 and still lost with rain interfering and forcing the second innings to just 5 overs. Had the match progressed, England would have definitely won.

However, in the match against Ireland, England could manage only 120 on the board which cannot be a winning total even in today's one dayers. In yesterday's game, Pakistani batsmen are themselves to blame for having put a low total with most of them scoring more or less the same number of runs. Batsmen who comparatively stood apart were Salman Butt and Umar Akmal who scored in thirties. But, that could have been a score only in cases where rain interrupts and a D-L method gets enforced and the match gets reduced to five overs. A strike rate of less than 150 by top batsmen is useless in T20 cricket.

It is confusing to read the mindset of the Pakistani batsmen who took such a different approach. Otherwise, the Pakistani batsmen are known for their blind slogging needless to be said. That was the main reason why the Pakistani batsmen got flattered here yesterday. There were four bowlers from England who bowled their complete quota while Paul Collingwood unnecessarily got one over which went for ten runs.With a total of just 147 on the board, there was nothing much that the Pakistani bowlers could do. There was not even a single bowler who stood apart and tried to control the flow of runs.

Keeping in mind England's problem against spin bowling, Saeed Ajmal had a say when he scalped 2 wickets and gave away runs at a rate of just over 5.00 runs an over and was given to bowl 4 overs which made him the most economical bowler of the lot. So was the case with Shahid Afridi who got the wicket of Collingwood. There didn't seem to be any pressure on the English batsmen though they took the game until the last over to secure a win. Mistake lied in allowing Mohammad Asif to bowl 4 overs despite going in for 10.00 runs an over.

What can you say about Australia?

Well Australia's performance against Bangladesh in yesterday's match of the world T20 was very much below par compared to what was expected out of them and against the opposition they were facing. Australia's score against Bangladesh at Bridgetown was 141 which was too less for reasons mentioned above. The total should have been a minimum of 180. But, one can hardly criticize the Aussies for having won their major battle against Pakistan earlier this week at Gros Islet by 34 runs. There should have been a thrashing by Australia and not just a formal reply. A total of 141 was something which even Bangladesh would have chased.

Bangladesh has a history of chasing down a total in excess of 160 against West Indies in the inaugural edition of the world T20 in 2007. Anyways, coming to the match, a thorough look at the scorecard suggests that the notable score from Australia happened to be from a number 7 batsman in Mike Hussey who scored 47. One can guess that the pitch favored the bowlers where batting was definitely a challenge and then, there were the likes of David Warner, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke who could have done much with the bat. But, all that they could do was not score above 16 runs.

The second highest score from the Australian innings was from Warner and Clarke who scored 16. Rest of the batsmen who made it to the crease got out scoring single digit scores. The Bangladesh captain - Shakib Al Hasan did not try more than 5 bowlers when he got all of them bowl their complete quota. As said above, the pitch never seemed to give any room to the batsmen, as a result of which the Bangladeshi innings saw two wickets fall with a score of 4 on the board with their openers getting out for a duck and the third batsman getting out for a score which was the next best thing to a duck.

But, though Bangladesh lost the game eventually, their team effort was better than that of Australia. There were four players who scored above ten and two of them above 20 unlike Australia where only Hussey scored above 20. Nannes had a ball when he had four wickets and was the most successful bowler of the match. But, with no prizes for bowlers in that game, the obvious choice for the man of the match award was none other than Mike Hussey who stood there at the crease with 6 batsmen leaving him single. With this, Australia for the 1^st time have won both matches in the pool stage.

Rain fond of Zimbabwe

For the second time in the world T20 2010, Zimbabwe have lost out with the D-L method coming in. This does not mean that Zimbabwe would have won the game in case the D-L method had not been enforced. But, this would instead help the Zimbabwe team when it can take excuse saying that the loss was a result of rains pouring in and with it the D-L method being enforced to its cricket board. With that apart, the sole loser in this case would be New Zealand for having to compromise with a victory margin of only 7 runs.

It is really unfortunate that rain pours in those games involving minnows where in case of abandonment of the game and dividing of points that follows might just turn out to be a misfortune for the stronger like it happened to the West Indies in the 2003 world cup where their league stage match against Bangladesh got washed away due to rain and points were divided. This forced Kenya to move ahead of West Indies in the points table and with it to the super sixes of that world cup. Yesterday, had the match went on smoothly, New Zealand would have won the game by more than 7 runs.

It is just ridiculous that the shortest version of the game gets reduced to one fourth of its size due to rain. In the earlier encounter between sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe were supposed to reach a certain target in only five overs foiling the Sri Lankan effort which took them to bat for nearly 20 overs. Zimbabwe, with ten wickets in hand could have easily reached the target luckily which did not happen. Yesterday, looking at the batting of the Zimbabwe team, the highest individual score happened to be a mere 21 runs from Tatenda Taibu at the top.

There were no sixes in the entire Zimbabwean innings and the last boundary came from the blades of Andy Blignaut who scored 8 runs. This was absolutely not expected from a team that has a history of playing test cricket for decades altogether. The Zimbabwean innings got over in just 15.1 overs which made New Zealand bat for 8 overs. Had the Kiwis batted first, they would have obviously played for 20 overs and the second innings would have lasted for only 3.1 overs. Whatsoever, rain has been found to play as a thirteenth player with extras being the twelfth man.

Poor Sri Lanka

One has to regret the fact that rain spoiled Sri Lanka's chances yesterday at Providence when they would have simply wiped out Zimbabwe from the tournament had the D-L method not come to their rescue. No doubt that Sri Lanka did win that encounter against Zimbabwe but, the introduction of the D-L method made matters worse by denying the viewers a chance to watch out for the bowling of Muralitharan and co. Scorecard suggests that even the Sri Lankan batsmen didn't have an easy going when only Jayawardane 's score of 100 spoke. There were only two other batsmen who scored more than 10 runs.

The second best score in the Sri Lankan innings was Thisara Perera's 23 and the other batsman who could cross the double figure mark was the number 7 batsman Kapugedra who scored 13. There is no doubt over Sri Lanka winning the match whether rain interrupted the game or not. But, looking at the performance of the Sri Lankan batsmen, that should certainly worry them with big games to come in the next week. One cannot find the reason for Jayasuriya making it to the playing XI at number 6. It was just a waste of space having Jayasuriya in at number 6.

Speaking about the bowling or batting of Zimbabwe team would be another waste of time needless to be said. However, a quick glance suggests that the bowling of the Zimbabwean team was pretty decent with runs equally given by all bowlers with Chigumbura being the top run donor when he gave away runs at 10.50 runs an over. The rest of the bowlers maintained almost the same run rate. But the real enemy of the game was rain which almost threatened to abandon the game. Had the match sailed on smoothly, the margin of victory would have been more than 14 runs.

There is nothing much to write about the batting of Zimbabwe otherwise as well and this time the batting has been swallowed by rain forcing the match to be declared to Sri Lanka. However, one thing that was obvious from the match was that the man of the match could have been none other than Mahela Jayawardane who scored a hundred. That was the only highlight of the Sri Lankan innings with no other batsman from Sri Lanka making it count. One thing that needs to be reconsidered for Sri Lanka is their batting and the second one is the inclusion of Sanath Jayasuriya.

No2 for India

For the third consecutive time, India have got into the super eights stage of a world T20 tournament without losing a single game in its league stage. In 2007, India had beaten Scotland (taken for granted) and Pakistan while in 2009 India beat Bangladesh and Ireland to reach the super eights of the tournament. Now, as expected by all, India beat Afghanistan a couple of days back and yesterday they beat South Africa to keep the tempo moving. It was interesting too India battle Afghanistan today and face South Africa tomorrow. The games involving India were held back to back.

However, no one complains with India winning both the matches effectively and with it being a T20 game, even if two games involving one team is held on the same day doesn't matter. Indian batsmen never had problems of any sort when Suresh Raina did most of the scoring becoming the first Indian to score a century in a T20 international. Of course, there is no Sachin Tendulkar playing T20 cricket to score a century there. Anyways, with that apart, the match had only notable contributions from Yuvraj Singh and Raina who with the rest only filling the vacancies that were relevant.

It is not anybody's fault with Dhoni hardly getting anything to play and his score was an unbeaten 16 runs off 6 balls with one six and a boundary. Raina and Yuvraj together played 90 balls which was 75% of the match. It shouldn't matter who played with every batsman having his day. Whatever, it was foolish for Smith to stick to the six bowler formula when four bowlers bowled their quota. Whatever, chasing 187 is a tough job though Kallis on the top had the Indian bowlers running for cover when he struck 73 from 54 balls. May be that was too slow for T20 cricket especially when chasing.

Kallis stood for nine overs scoring at less than 9 runs an over which is quintessential in T20 cricket. Guys who came in later namely AB deVilliers, Morkel and Boucher scored quick runs but not enough ones to secure a victory. It was because of those batsmen that South Africa crossed the 170 run mark with the margin of victory limited to 14 runs. Towards, as there would be a man of the match who is responsible for his team's victory, there would also be a man who would be solely responsible for his team's defeat and it was Kallis in yesterday's match.

Caught Dhoni bowled Nehra

Well though the result of yesterday's match between Afghanistan and India didn't have any takers, the match was fun to see the opening batsman of Afghanistan scoring a half century. However, batsmen who followed didn't have anything to say with their bat going completely dumb. That was Noor Ali Zadran for you who scored 50 runs from 48 balls to see Afghanistan score a total in excess of hundred.

There was nothing to feel surprised about Afghanistan ending their batting with 115 on the board and one has to applaud them for playing their complete quota of 20 overs which most of the lesser known teams don't. If not for the 50 scored by Noor Ali Zadran, the next major score came from the number 5 batsman in Asghar Stanikzai who scored 30 runs together which constituted about 70% of the total of Afghanistan. Going through the scorecard of the match would reveal nothing but only a series of single digit scores if not for those two mentioned above.

It is really tough to write something about such games whose results are well known to one and all even before the match has been started announced. But, once in a while there would be surprises and a little bit of decent performances from batsmen from these teams as well. It was evident from this match regarding the wonderful pair Dhoni and Ashish Nehra make when Dhoni had three consecutive catches off the bowling off Nehra. This was the game where a captain can try experimenting with his players and Dhoni executed this very well by handing the ball to Yuvraj Singh and Yousuf Pathan.

Murali Vijay's knock at the top of the order speaks about Dhoni's use of such games as a platform to bring in new faces on the international arena. With the total being only 115, Dhoni experimenting new talent should be praiseworthy. I wish Ravindra Jadeja should have come in at number 3 instead of Yuvraj, when Yuvraj has a lot to prove in the matches to come. India would be facing South Africa shortly in the next few days by which time players like Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay and Praveen Kumar should be ready to take some evasive actions with the bat in case their team needs it.

Unbelievable from New Zealand

Well it was unbelievable for New Zealand to beat Sri Lanka first of all for being the underdogs prior to going into the match and secondly for losing quick wickets with time and overs following suit and thirdly with spinners like Muralitharan and Jayasuriya haunting their team like devils. But, in the end New Zealand had a last gasp for victory when they eventually won the game by 2 wickets with one ball to spare. New Zealand have always been losing to Sri Lanka in all three formats of the game. Since 2007, New Zealand have lost to Sri Lanka in T20 world cups.

This time, it was not Jayasuriya who did the damage either with the bat or with the ball. For a change, one can see Jayasuriya taking to the crease in the 7^th position after the sixth wicket fell. May be that was the reason why Sri Lanka had to end their innings with such a small total on the board. With someone like Jayasuriya on the top, either there would be a wicket fallen or else there would be a steady rise in the scoreboard with Jayasuriya smashing every bowlers at will. Yesterday, Jayasuriya never got to face the ball with the 6^th wicket falling in the 120^th legal delivery.

Main batsmen like Sangakkara, Chandimal and Dilshan failed with the bat leaving Jayawardene with the tough task which he accomplished well. Jayawardene was at the crease with the top three wickets of top batsmen falling at a wrong time. Whatever, the batting of Sri Lankan team was a complete failure. One can see the devastating spell of Shane Bond who scalped two important wickets of Kapugedra and Mathews in back to back deliveries failing which the Sri Lankan score would have well passed 150. On the other hand, Shane Bond was the most successful bowler in terms of runs given.

Likewise, New Zealand's run chase didn't start on a high when they lost their first wicket of Brendon McCullum even before the scoreboard had something on it. Similar to Jayawardene, Jesse Ryder held his nerve in staying on the crease despite wickets falling from the other end. Ryder was the second one to go and there followed a series of wickets falling with hardly any individual scores making news. It was Nathan McCullum's quickfire 16 which sealed the game for the Kiwis. But, the man of the match should have been either Jayawardene or Jesse Ryder. McCullum's efforts can hardly be seen.

Sad that Kenya misses out from World T20

For the second time in a world T20 tournament, the stunners in world cricket- Kenya are found missing from the world T20. Kenya last made their appearance in the inaugural edition of the same in 2007 when they were grouped with New Zealand and Sri Lanka. Kenya as expected missed out by losing to both the teams it was grouped with. Much to anyone's amazement, Kenya didn't even make it to the ICC Champions trophy played in South Africa last year. Of course, there were just 8 teams which participated in that trophy with even Bangladesh and Zimbabwe missing out.

If the statistics of the Kenyan team is given a close look at, they should have by now been awarded the test status similar to Bangladesh. Even Bangladesh doesn't deserve to play test cricket which is a different issue here. And, coming back to Kenya, they were the first non test playing nations to make the cricketing world stunned when they not only beat the West Indies in their inaugural world cup in 1996 but also were successful in getting the West Indian team that in a couple of weeks from then onwards made it to the semi finals of the same for a score less than 100.

In that edition, Kenya defeated the West Indian team which defeated South Africa for the first time in the quarter finals after South Africa were fresh from 5 consecutive wins against Pakistan, New Zealand and England in the league stages. In the world cup 1999 which was played in England after 16 years, though Kenya failed to win even a single match, they were seen crossing the 200 runs mark in 5 out of the six games that they played, with the 198 which they scored against Sri Lanka being the only exception. Kenya is the only non test playing team to have defeated India on two occasions.

The best from the Kenyans came in the 2003 world cup when they beat Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe which saw them become the first non test playing nation to make it to the semi finals of a world cup. Perhaps! Kenya were also the first non test playing nation to make it to the super sixes of a world in 2003. In the same edition of the world cup Kenya defeated three test playing nations in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh which is a unique record shared by Ireland when they did it in 2007 and if the word defeated is replaced by unbeaten. And, with such a Kenyan team failing to make it to the world T20 on two successive occasions is need a bad fortune for cricket lovers.

Wht is Sri Lanka so fond of India?

Well news on cricinfo reveals that Sri Lanka is planning to host India for test series involving three matches following the same with a one day triangular series that involves New Zealand as the third team. The feat is likely to take place somewhere in the month of July-August. It has been less that a month after the two and a half month long tournament involving India and Sri Lanka is over. It was on 24^th of December last year that the fifth one dayer at Firoz Shah Kotla was abandoned with just 23 overs bowled. That was followed by a tri series involving Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

That was the third series, be it bilateral or a triangular series, that involved India and Sri Lanka. There was a bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka in the early 2009s that needless to be said India won 4-1. And in the month of September, there was the Compaq cup that featured New Zealand, Sri Lanka and India once again. One has to think as to why does Sri Lanka always opt for India. It has been almost two years since Sri Lanka has played a full fledged series (that involved test, one day and T20 matches) against Austrlia. Sri Lanka last played a full fledged series against Australia somewhere in 2008 that involved 2 tests followed by the Commonwealth Bank series that too involving India as the third team.

Sri Lanka could have hosted any one of the 7 other teams leaving India and Australia (as mentioned above). One possibility of Sri Lanka inviting India to play the series mentioned above would be that no other team in the world has any time left to consider Sri Lanka's request to tour their nation. But, ICC's schedules for 2010 suggests that during the month of July-August, New Zealand- which Sri Lanka plans to host for the tri series as mentioned, is free of any international commitments. Moreover, there is an Asia cup to be scheduled in the same period that obviously features India & Sri Lanka, the venue yet to be decided.

Recently, news made that India and Sri Lanka, have played 122 matches between each other which is the highest number of matches between any two teams, beating the previous record that was held between Australia and West Indies who have played 120 matches involving each other. So, it looks like Sri Lanka fears that this record might be overtaken by Australia and West Indies who are scheduled to play a 5 match ODI bilateral series next month in Australia. And as far as India is concerned, a nod by them should not be a surprise because, India have always been record hunters.