South Africa won yet another one, West Indies demolished

South Africa won by 20 runs

Match Summary

South Africa 183-7 (H Gibbs 55)
West Indies 163-9 (LMP Simmons 77)
South Africa won by 20 runs.

Directed from crickifo.com,
There is only one team that can beat South Africa in this kind of form and at The Oval, it wasn’t West Indies. On a true, hard pitch, Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis led South Africa to 183 against an attack understandably drained from a second game in less than 24 hours. An unspectacular, solid bowling performance from Wayne Parnell and Roelof van der Merwe then spiked West Indies’ chase, rendering Lendl Simmons’ fine hand futile. Parnell picked up four wickets to leave West Indies short by 20 runs, South Africa with a record-breaking sixth consecutive T20I win and a semi-final spot all but sealed.

Apart from brief spells with bat and ball, South Africa’s frighteningly ruthless, well-rehearsed march to glory was rarely disturbed. All eyes are fixed firmly on the prize and distractions such as decent opposition teams barely make the equation. For 15 overs with the bat they barely broke sweat, humming along comfortably at over eight an over, wickets in hand, singles and doubles taking a back seat to a bucket-load of boundaries. Matters appeared ominous from the very off. As fierce as Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards had been against India, so they were meek today. Lengths in the first six overs were fuller, unnecessarily so. Graeme Smith and Kallis took toll in a quick fifty partnership. It didn’t feel quite like a flood of boundaries at first, more a steady, inevitable trickle; ten boundaries and sixes came during the Powerplay on an outfield with less friction than an ice-skating rink.

Kallis contributed, inevitably, to the inevitability of things, a fitting poster-boy for this side. Like someone on a first date, he never fully let himself go but impressed nonetheless. The range was there and shots correct, but none for the heart’s eye. Some streaky shots were thrown in, as if to prove that he can do this format. Until he fell for 45, having established himself as the tournament’s leading scorer, the performance had felt curiously like listening to Kraftwerk, the pioneering German electronica band: obviously admirable and very good but lacking soul, robotic even.

Thank god then for Gibbs, who brought a wonderfully uncontrolled contrast. Shots were manufactured and risks taken. As spin replaced pace, out came Gibbs’ dancing shoes, smashing Chris Gayle straight down the ground and scything Suleiman Benn over point. He brought up the hundred in only the 12th over, on one knee smashing straight down the ground. Two overs later, Simmons was lofted for six and inside out for four. But having reached a fifty the next over, just when his impishness was at a fair peak, he went for 55.

That wicket briefly let West Indies back into it. Taylor and Edwards returned to the ways of last night, mixing and matching pace and length. Runs were controlled, wickets taken; Taylor ended with three and a reasonable 45 came from the last five. Though Edwards bowled a poor last over, on this pitch, West Indies might have fancied the chase.

They didn’t. Within the first four overs, both openers had gone, Parnell’s Christmas coming early with two gifts. Simmons and Dwayne Bravo threatened an encore, first swiping 18 runs in Kallis’ first over; Simmons was particularly ferocious, really wanting to hurt the ball with each shot. Even though it was the penultimate over of the Powerplay, it sparked the West Indian counter.

Bravo spurred Simmons on until he fell, reprising another of those fabulous inside-out extra cover lofts, in the ninth over to van der Merwe. Thereafter the result rested purely on Simmons’ slim shoulders. He grabbed a brace of boundaries off Johan Botha and brought up fifty right after it. Shivnarine Chanderpaul came and went in a haze of reverse-sweeps but on Simmons went: in the 13th over, he lofted the difficult-to-loft van der Merwe for a fantastic six to bring up the team century.

Twelve came from the next over, from JP Duminy, and as Simmons hooked Kallis for another four, an improbable hero was emerging.

That, alas, was as close as it got, for the maddeningly mechanical van der Merwe finally got Simmons for a wonderful 77 and the game was up. The only team that can beat South Africa in this form? South Africa themselves.

India Lost the 1st one

West Indies chased down 154 with ease

Match Summary

India 153-7 (Y Singh 67)
West Indies 156-3 (D J Bravo 66*)
West Indies won by 7 wickets.

Match Review

Directed from Sky Sports,

India were restricted to a total of 153-7 after opting to bat first on a quick Lord’s wicket, despite Yuvraj Singh’s 67 off 43 balls.

It could have been much worse for the defending champions, who stumbled to 66-4 in the 13th over before Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan revived the innings.

The big-hitting fifth-wicket pair put on 64 in just 5.3 overs to ensure their side reached a competitive total.

And India looked favourites when Yusuf removed dangerman Chris Gayle for 22 to leave West Indies 42-2 in the eighth over of their run chase.

But Bravo, promoted up the order to number four, shared rapid half-century partnerships with Lendl Simmons and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as West Indies completed victory with eight balls to spare.

The Trinidad all-rounder sealed the result by lofting Zaheer Khan over long-off for the third six of his innings.

Gayle returns

Gayle, who returned to West Indies’ line-up in place of Xavier Marshall in the only change to the side that lost to Sri Lanka last Wednesday, failed to fire at the top of the order as India’s bowlers initially dried up the runs.

His opening partner Andre Fletcher picked out mid-off for a duck in the second over of the run chase.

Gayle found the boundary four times but was otherwise becalmed on his way to 22 off 28 balls and the Jamaican’s departure, caught off a top-edged pull by Zaheer at fine-leg off Yusuf’s medium pace, left West Indies in trouble with the required rate spiralling.

But Bravo’s ability to manipulate the ball all around the wicket, married to his awesome striking, turned things around.

The match was finished in a hurry as Bravo and veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul (18no) blitzed 47 runs in the final 3.4 overs.

Having set up that late dash in a cunning alliance with Simmons, Bravo made the most of being afforded a life on 27 moments before his third-wicket partner holed out for 44.

A mix-up should have resulted in Bravo being run out by Mahendra Singh Dhoni but the India wicketkeeper’s failure to gather with the stumps at his mercy proved crucial.

Later in the same over, Bravo lofted the first of his three sixes and the second, a steepler over long-off in the 17th over, sent down by fast bowler Ishant Sharma, virtually sealed the contest.

A total of 16 runs came off that Ishant over and Harbhajan Singh - who bowled a maiden in the powerplay period - was taken for 15 in the next to leave eight required from the final two overs.

Only four further deliveries were required as Bravo went big for thr third time to finish proceedings in style.

Yuvraj assault

Earlier, Yuvraj’s blistering late assault had allowed India to recover from a poor start.

The fall of three wickets inside the powerplay overs forced Dhoni’s men to readjust their sights on a pitch which Sri Lanka and Pakistan also struggled to score fluently on earlier in the day.

Openers Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir were both undone by miscued pulls - the latter to a brilliant running catch, taken over his head, by Simmons.

When captain Dhoni drilled straight to deep cover, West Indies would have harboured hopes of chasing something closer to a run-a-ball.

But Yuvraj opened his shoulders to stunning effect during a quickfire half-century stand with Yusuf.

The most audacious stroke came off Jerome Taylor when Yuvraj whipped a full delivery off the stumps over the rope at deep midwicket.

Yusuf, whose own cameo reaped three fours and a six, perished in the final over when he picked out Simmons in the deep for 31.

But Harbhajan finished the innings in style by finding the boundary with the final three deliveries.

West Indies face South Africa on Saturday with the winner guaranteed a place in the semi-final, while India’s next assignment is against England on Sunday with both sides needing to win after losing their respective Group E openers.

Winning start for Sri Lanka

Pakistan Down in their very 1st super 8 match, Malinga and Dilshan taking it to Pakistan

Match Summary

Sri Lanka 150-7 (Tillakaratne Dilshan 46)
Pakistan 131-9 (Younus Khan 50)
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 19 runs

Match Review

directed from sky sports,
Sri Lanka got their Super Eight campaign off to a winning start and maintained their 100 per cent record in the ICC World Twenty20 with a 19-run victory over Pakistan at Lord’s.

Opener Tillakaratne Dilshan once again led the way with the bat with 46 off 39 balls, however it was the pace and accuracy of Lasith Malinga that ultimately proved the difference.

The Sri Lankan paceman finished with figures of 3-17 and, despite a battling 50 off 37 balls from captain Younus Khan, Pakistan finished 19 runs short of their 151 target.

Pakistan must now beat New Zealand at the Oval on Saturday to avoid being eliminated from the competition.

Subdued

---

After winning the toss and opting to bat, destructive openers Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya once again got their side off to a flyer, however they were aided by some wayward bowling from Pakistan seamer Sohail Tanvir.

The unorthodox left-armer conceded 29 off his two overs in a spell which included six wides and three no-balls. The charitable bowling helped Sri Lanka surge to 81-0 inside nine overs.

Jayasuriya made an uncharacteristically subdued 26 off 24 balls before he holed out to Younus at midwicket off the leg-spin of Shahid Afridi.

Dilshan struck eight fours either side of the wicket, and over his head, before he departed nine runs later and four short of his half-century - clean bowled by Afridi.

The Pakistan spin partnership of Afridi and Saeed Ajmal pegged Sri Lanka back and the latter claimed the prize scalps of Kumar Sangakkara (15) and Mahela Jayawardene (19) to reduce Sri Lanka to 110-4 after 14 overs.

The momentum at this point was well and truly with Pakistan and Sri Lanka added just 40 more runs off the final six overs to finish on a below-par 150-7.

Pressure

---

Pakistan’s run chase got off to an abysmal start when Angelo Mathews clean bowled opener Salman Butt in the first over without scoring.

Former captain Shoaib Malik added some impetus to the innings with 28 off 23 balls, however when he and Kamran Akmal fell in the space of three deliveries, Pakistan were forced to rebuild.

Younus and Misbah-Ul-Haq came to the middle and forged a 66-run stand, however the pace in which they did so ultimately put pressure on the incoming batsman.

Misbah (21) and Afridi were dismissed in successive Muttiah Muralitharan deliveries and when Younus edged through to Sangakkara off the bowling of Malinga next over, the game was all but over.

Fawad Alam (12) and Umar Gul (9 not out) added late runs at the death, however Sri Lanka comfortably held on to kick their Super Eight campaign off with a win.

ICC T20 World Cup, Today’s matches are as follow

12:30 GMT, 13:30 local - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
Lord’s, London
16:30 GMT, 17:30 local - India vs West Indies
Lord’s, London

After a fine victory over Pakistan in the groups, England was looking forward to reproduce the same persformance against South Africa in the Super8.

But for England it was not to be, as one of the favs. to win the T20 World Cup. South Africa had a comfortable victory over them with 10 balls to spare.

It leaves England needing to beat holders India at Lord’s on Sunday to remain in the competition and a vast improvement in their performance after registering their lowest ever total in 18 Twenty20 internationals, eclipsing the 121 they were dismissed for in Trinidad earlier this year.

South Africa were dominant in every department, frustrating England’s top order with accurate and economic bowling, delivering the most outstanding fielding display of the tournament so far and then completed their triumph in style with man-of-the-match Jacques Kallis finishing unbeaten on 57 from 49 balls.

Encouraged by the success of both Ireland’s and New Zealand’s spinners earlier in the day on a slow wicket being used for the fourth time, both sides chose unchanged line-ups hoping their slow bowlers could turn the match in their favour.

By the time South Africa’s two spinners were utilised in tandem, however, England had recorded the lowest total of the tournament after the six overs of fielding restrictions - 25 for three - and become the first side to bat out a maiden over at the event.

Having decided to bat first in the hope the pitch would get slower and harder to score quickly on, England’s hopes of gaining an early impetus was ended when they lost openers Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright inside the first two overs.

The responsibility of taking advantage of the fielding restrictions fell to Kevin Pietersen, who responded with fours from the first two balls he faced although he survived a strong lbw appeal on eight from fast bowler Dale Steyn.

Umpire Tony Hill’s decision to deny the appeal could have been significant had he gone and taken advantage, but instead he fell three overs later after being brilliantly caught by Roelof van der Merwe at mid-on to earn all-rounder Albie Morkel the notable achievement of the first wicket-maiden of the tournament.

Yet it was not Pietersen’s demise which effectively ended England’s hopes of remaining competitive in the match, but a middle-order collapse of five wickets for 14 runs in just 20 balls that settled the outcome.

Captain Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah had carefully attempted to rebuild the innings - much to the annoyance of a sell-out 17,000 crowd who began booing every dot ball - when Kallis was re-introduced into the attack to spark the collapse.

Bowling at speeds of around 90mph, Kallis shattered Collingwood’s stumps as he backed away to attempt a drive through extra cover, just as England seemed set to set a competitive total.

That breakthrough was followed in the next over with James Foster and Dimitri Mascarenhas falling in the space of four balls from Van der Merwe before Shah, who had taken 21 balls to register his first boundary, edged Kallis behind in his next over after top-scoring with 38 off 33 balls.

England’s last seven wickets fell for 33 runs in only 7.2 overs with seamer Wayne Parnell completing their demise by demolishing last man James Anderson’s stumps with a fast yorker.

Facing such a lowly target, South Africa could afford to progress at a leisurely pace and did not panic despite reaching just 28 for one at the end of the fielding restrictions.

Captain Graeme Smith fell early but Kallis teamed up with Herschelle Gibbs in a 74-run stand spanning 11 overs which had all but settled the issue by the time England struck to claim their second wicket.

Gibbs fell for an energetic 30 off as many balls when he was bowled by off-spinner Graeme Swann and leg-spinner Adil Rashid followed that by having AB de Villiers caught at slip by Collingwood just four runs short of victory.

But South Africa did not have to wait long to seal their win with Kallis ruthlessly cutting Anderson for four in the next over to complete an emphatic win to put England’s challenge firmly in perspective and establish South Africa as the team to fear in the race to the June 21 final at Lord’s.

Match Statistics
England v South Africa, 14th Match
Trent Bridge
11 Jun 2009
Umpires: SJ Davis , AL Hill
Toss won by England, Elected to bat
Player of the Match: JH Kallis
South Africa won by 7 wickets

Score Summary
England 111 all out (in 19.5 overs)
South Africa 114/3 (in 18.2 overs)

Finaly the much shocking group stages are over with all the twists and turns following the major upset of Aussies being out of the cup race and teams like Holand, Ireland, and Scotland putting up a show, we are into the next round.

Super 8 matches will be played among top 8 teams from the group matches. There are four groups in the T20 World Cup 2009, Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D.

Each group consists of three teams and they are as follows. From group A the teams are named A1, A2, A3, from group B they are B1, B2, B3, from group C they are named C1, C2, C3 and from group D they are D1, D2 and D3.

Two top teams from each group of T20 world cup 2009 will be picked based on their performance in the group matches and they will play the T20 SUPER 8 matches following the below given schedule.

and now since the group stages are done we are left with following teams and here is the schedule of the super8 round of T20 WC 2009

Following are the teams

Schedual

June 2009

Thu 11
12:30 GMT, 13:30 local - New Zealand vs Ireland
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
16:30 GMT, 17:30 local - England vs South Africa
Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Fri 12
12:30 GMT, 13:30 local - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka
Lord’s, London
16:30 GMT, 17:30 local - India vs West Indies
Lord’s, London

Sat 13
12:30 GMT, 13:30 local - West Indies vs South Africa
Kennington Oval, London
16:30 GMT, 17:30 local - Pakistan vs New Zealand
Kennington Oval, London

Sun 14
12:30 GMT, 13:30 local - Ireland vs Sri Lanka
Lord’s, London
16:30 GMT, 17:30 local - India vs England
Lord’s, London

Mon 15
12:30 GMT, 13:30 local - England vs West Indies
Kennington Oval, London
16:30 GMT, 17:30 local - Ireland vs Pakistan
Kennington Oval, London

Tue 16
12:30 GMT, 13:30 local - Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
16:30 GMT, 17:30 local - India vs South Africa
Trent Bridge, Nottingham