ICC World Twenty20

The Final of T20 World Cup between Australia and England will be played on 16h May 2010 at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

Live Cricket Scores

Australia go into the match with sky-high confidence after chasing down a seemingly improbable 191 against Pakistan in the semifinals last night.

But it would hardly be a stroll in the park for Michael Clarke’s men as England have played some outstanding cricket in the championship and just like Australia, they have been unbeaten since the Super Eights stage.

England, who were hardly seen as title contenders before the start of the tournament, have been a revelation with an array of attacking batsmen and bowling all-rounders.

They bat deep and have bowled with purpose and discipline right through the competition. Their fielding has been good as well.

But Paul Collingwood’s men cannot match the Australians in talent and versality despite having the tenacity and confidence to take on their arch-rivals.

However, the fast and bouncy Kensington Oval wicket will pose a challenge to the English batsman, who haven’t faced the kind of pace which Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait generate, in this competition yet.

The tearaway Australian quicks have consistently bowled at over 145 kph and have extracted disconcerting bounce from the bone-hard surface.

But this being their first major championship final in six years, England would be as keen as Australia to take the title back home. But to achieve that, they would have to play their best cricket yet.

“The boys have been responding well every time. The batsmen on top of the order have been giving great starts. Sometimes we need to finish the pieces of jigsaw,” said Collingwood.

“We have very good players. We have selected players on potential and they have done fantastically well. We are confident they can deliver,” he added.

Clarke, meanwhile, also has his eyes firmly set on the elusive Cup.

“We have worked hard over the last 12 months to win the one cup that we haven’t. The boys are keen that we achieve what we had set out for. So we will come and play our best cricket,” said Clarke.

But the Australian captain admitted that England would be a hard team to beat and the one man they would have to watch out for is Kevin Pietersen, who is in excellent form.

The hard-hitting batsman, who recently became a father, has scores of 72 not out, 53 and 42 not out in the last three innings.

Clarke said the key to Australia’s success would be to get rid of Pietersen at the start of the innings.

“Kevin (Pietersen) is a wonderful player in each form of the game. He has been hitting the ball well here. To get him out early would be good for us,” averred Clarke.

Pietersen has dominated the bowlers, even stepping out and hitting the fast bowlers over the top with impunity. It will be interesting to watch how the Aussies tame his aggression.

“As this event has shown they are very competitive. They have great talent and have plenty of match-winners. It will not be easy to beat them,” said Clarke about the challenge awaiting his team.

Considering the form that Shane Watson, David Warner, Cameron White and Michael Hussey are in, Clarke has little to worry on the batting front. But the skipper would be slightly concerned about his own form as he is yet to strike big in the event.

England have a decent pace attack with Stuart Broad being the in-form strike bowler.

The two teams have ended the sub-continental supremacy in the event and given the history between the two rivals, the contest promises to be an exciting one but Australia go in as favourites as their team has the depth to deal with England’s tenacity.

Teams (from):

Australia: Michael Clarke (captain), David Warner, Daniel Christian, Cameron White, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson, Nathan Hauritz, Shaun Tait, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, David Hussey, Steven Smith, Dirk Nannes, Ryan Harris, Tim Paine

England: Paul Collingwood (captain), Graeme Swann, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Tim Bresnan, Michael Yardy, Stuart Broad, James Tredwell, Ajmal Shahzad, Michael Lumb, Craig Kieswetter.

Set a huge 192 to win, Australia collapsed to 62 for four.

But, initially through Cameron White, who made 43, and Hussey’s unbeaten 60, they recovered and will now face old rivals England in Sunday’s final at Barbados’s Kensington Oval.

Australia needed 18 to win off the last over, from off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.

Mitchell Johnson took a single off the first ball and then Hussey took over.

The left-hander pulled Ajmal for six, struck him over long-on for six more, brought the scores level with a four and thumped another six for good measure as Australia finished on 197 for seven in pursuit of 192.

The man-of-the-match faced just 24 balls, but hit six sixes and three fours.

Hussey had come in after brother David had fallen to leave Australia 105 for five in the 13th over.

But the elder Hussey refused to be cowed and together with Johnson, who made a mere five from three balls, put on an unbroken 53 in just 16 balls.

“This game of cricket just keeps amazing me every day,” Michael Hussey said.

“I can’t believe it, it’s one of the best feelings of my career.”

Cameron White sparked the initial revival, with 43 off 31 balls, including five sixes, and Michael Hussey said: “Cameron has batted really well all tournament, we needed someone to change the momentum and he did that really well.”

Elated Australia captain Michael Clarke said: “Michael Hussey is an absolute freak…Once Cameron got out I thought it was going to be really tough but with Hussey in you never know.”

Defeated Pakistan captain Shahid Afrid added: “It was a very good (Pakistan) total but the way White and Hussey played, they played mature and good innings.

“We perhaps lost it in the last over but Ajmal has bowled really well in this tournament.”

Opener Kamran Akmal’s 50 and younger brother Umar’s even more rapid 56 not out came against an Australia side, yet to lose at this tournament, which had thrashed them by 34 runs in a first round group match.

Left-arm quick Mohammad Aamer, who led the attack with three wickets for 35 runs, removed Australia openers David Warner (nought) and Shane Watson (16).

And when wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal completed two neat stumpings off left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and leg-spinner Afridi to dismiss Brad Haddin and captain Michael Clarke respectively, Australia were 62 for four inside nine overs.

David Hussey and White staged a brief revival before the former was caught and bowled by Rehman.

White though kept swinging away but when he drove an Aamer full toss straight to Mohammad Hafeez, Australia were 139 for six in the 17th over.

Australia though, thanks to Michael Hussey, kept going to seal a superb come-from-behind win.

Pakistan, sent in by Clarke after rain delayed the start, saw their innings start with a Dirk Nannes maiden.

But Kamran Akmal and left-hander Salman Butt (32) shared a first-wicket stand of 82 as Australia’s pace trio of Nannes, Shaun Tait and Johnson failed to make an early breakthrough.

Nannes’s second over saw the match’s first boundaries when Kamran Akmal, stepping away to leg, lofted him high over the covers. Next ball he drove straight down the ground for another four.

Kamran Akmal was severe on Watson, driving the medium-pacer’s first ball back for a huge six.

Akmal then took two more boundaries off Watson to complete a fine fifty off just 32 balls with two sixes and six fours.

But he was out for 50 after Warner, running round from the extra-cover boundary, took a fine diving catch off Johnson.

Umar Akmal smashed Johnson for two enormous sixes, the second a crunching pull over midwicket that saw him to fifty in just 29 balls, with four sixes and two fours.

ICC World Twenty20

The 2nd Semi-Final of T20 World Cup between Australia and Pakistan will be played on 14h May 2010 at Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

Pakistan were pushed to the brink after their one-run defeat to New Zealand in their second Super Eight match but Shahid Afridi’s men bounced back to beat South Africa and with a stroke of luck sneaked into the semi-finals.

Australia, on the other hand, have crushed whosoever have come under their wheels and remains unbeaten in the tournament so far but that reputation won’t count when they take on an enigmatic Pakistan on Friday.

For Australia, their battery of lethal fast bowlers have knocked the stuffing out of the opponent batsman, While Pakistan have an array of spinners who have dominated on the slow wickets here.

Shaun Tait, who has been consistently generating speeds of over 145-150 kmph, and Dirk Nannes have been devastating as a fast bowling pair, as much as Shane Watson and David Warner have been with the bat for Australia and they will hold the key to Australia’s success on Friday.

For Pakistan, their spinners – Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal – could pose many questions to the free-scoring Aussie batsmen on this deck and it will be interesting to watch who calls the shots in this crucial game. Will it be the Aussies pacemen or the Pakistani spinners.

On a man-to-man basis, Australia are a superior lot. They can bat right up to number nine, which is something Pakistan lack. Their fielding too has been outstanding, something which Shahid Afridi’s men can’t match.

Given the depth and fire power in his side, Michael Clarke is confident of playing the final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on May 16.

“I would really love to get to Barbados because that wicket will be really beautiful for our fast bowlers. Our batters like a little bit pace to come on to the bat. So who we play will not bother me. I think this game on Friday is a huge game for us. It’s going to be tough for us,” said Clarke.

However, Clarke was wary of the defending champions and said they have to be at their best to beat Pakistan on Friday.

“They have a lot of spinners. They have a lot of class. They have guys who have played international cricket for a long time. We need to play like we have played throughout this tournament. We need to be at our best both physically and mentally to play against this team, because they are a very good team,” averred Clarke.

His counterpart, Afridi held Australia in high esteem but was confident that Pakistan would make it to the summit clash.

“Australia have now learnt how to play T20 cricket. They have a strong batting and bowling line-up. As we have played them at this ground in the first round, we know the areas where Shane Watson and David Warner play their shots. We have plans for them,” said Afridi.

“We will play to our strengths. We have three genuine spinners who could use the conditions here very well. Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal have been bowling well. We are confident that they will perform in this crucial game,” added Afridi.

Afridi took comfort from the fact that Pakistan were in a similar position last year from where they went on to win the coveted title in England.

“We were in the same situation in the last World Cup in England. But we went on to win the championship. If we could return home with the title, it will be great victory for the people of Pakistan who love cricket and want to see us play home and away,” said Afridi.

Set just 129 to win, after tight bowling restricted Sri Lanka — last year’s losing finalists — to 128 for six, England finished on 132 for three as they won with four overs to spare.

Kevin Pietersen, on his return to the side after he attended the birth of his son in London, finished on 42 not out and ended the match in style with a six and a four in successive balls off fast bowler Lasith Malinga.

England, who have never won a major one-day international tournament, are now through to their first final since hosting the 2004 Champions Trophy.

They will face the winners of Friday’s second semi-final here between defending champions Pakistan and Australia in Sunday’s final at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Only Angelo Mathews, with 58, offered much resistance against England’s bowlers before he was run out of the penultimate ball.

Sri Lanka’s next best score was 16, achieved by both captain Kumar Sangakkara, who won the toss, and Chamara Kapugedera.

Paceman Stuart Broad led the attack with two wickets for 21 runs off his four permitted overs. Both left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom and Broad took a wicket first ball as Sri Lanka collapsed to 26 for three.

Spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy then ensured runs remained hard to come by with a combined eight overs that cost just 41 runs.

At the start of their run chase, England were confronted by a trio of spinners as Sri Lanka looked to exploit their supposed vulnerability against slow bowling on a pitch offering some turn.

But Craig Kieswetter, driving strongly, and left-hander Michael Lumb settled any lingering nerves with an opening stand of 68.

However, that partnership should have ended on 40 when Kieswetter cut the ball to backward point and Lumb set off for a non-existent single.

Lumb was almost at the other end of the pitch before he was sent back but Ajantha Mendis fumbled the return to the bowler’s end stumps, with Lumb yards out, and the chance had gone.

Two balls later Kieswetter struck unorthodox spinner Mendis straight back over his head for four and ended the over with another boundary, a fine leg-glance.

Kieswetter was eventually yorked by Malinga for 39 and Lumb bowled for 33, walking across his stumps, by seamer Thissara Perera.

But the damage had already been done.

Sri Lanka collapsed to 26 for three against England seamers Tim Bresnan, Sidebottom and Broad.

They were seven for one at the start of the second over when left-arm quick Sidebottom removed Jayasuriya for just one after the veteran fended outside off stump and edged straight to England captain Paul Collingwood at second slip.

New batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan on nine then miscued a hook off Bresnan and was well caught by a diving Luke Wright, running in from deep backward square leg, to leave Sri Lanka 20 for two at the end of the third over.

Sri Lanka’s collapse continued when Broad, as Sidebottom had done, took a wicket first ball.

Mahela Jayawardene, the tournament’s leading scorer with 302 runs, including a century against Zimbabwe, fell for just 10 when he edged a well pitched up ball outside off stump and was caught by wicketkeeper Kieswetter.

Swann and Yardy kept the pressure on and Sri Lanka couldn’t break free.

ICC World Twenty20

The 1st Semi-Final match of T20 World Cup between Australia and Sri Lanka will be played on 13th May 2010 at Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.

ICC World Twenty20 2010 Live Cricket Scores

The ICC World Twenty20 2010 will be held in West Indies from 30th April 2010 to 16th May 2010, with the very best players in the world representing their countries, showcasing Twenty20 cricket on a global stage. The tournament will take place in four venues across Caribbean  archipelago. There are 12 teams participating in the tournament including 10 test playing nations and 2 associative member counties: Ireland and Afghanistan, who were qualified through ICC world twenty20 qualifier.

Live Cricket Scores

England’s display in the tournament has been a revelation of sorts with Paul Collingwood and his men winning all three Super Eight stage matches with consummate ease.

With their maverick top order batsman Kevin Pietersen returning to the ranks after a brief break to watch the birth of his first child, England’s batting order would have a formidable look about it.

Pietersen has been in sensational form but even without him, England hardly broke a sweat as they upended New Zealand to prove that they don’t rely on an individual or two to see them through.

In Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb, England have an opening pair which scores at a brisk rate and with Pietersen, set to return at Ravi Bopara’s expense, and Collingwood to follow, their batting line-up is quite capable of laying the foundation for a big total.

In the middle order, the exciting Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright and all-rounder Tim Bresnan have the penchant to assert themselves early which suits the team.

Their bowling department also has the necessary variety.

Bresnan and his new-ball colleague Ryan Sidebottom have more often than not given the early breakthrough while Stuart Broad has been among the wickets as well.

In the slow bowling department, Michael Yardy has been parsimony personified while Graeme Swann has struck regularly.

England’s might notwithstanding, it is not going to be a cakewalk against the Sri Lankans who are high on confidence after sneaking through to the last four stage.

Unlike England, consistency has not been Sri Lanka’s strong point in the tournament and even after beating India, they had to wait for an Australian triumph over the West Indies before a semifinal berth could be theirs.

The islanders, however, would take heart from their success against India, especially with Tillakaratne Dilshan returning to form and youngsters like Angelo Matthews and Chamara Kapugedera coming to the party.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara also looked in fine touch against India and he would hope Mahela Jayawardene, who had a brilliant run in the tournament before it was punctuated by two poor outings, to hit form tomorrow.

In Lasith Malinga, Thissara Perera and Angelo Mathews, they have quite a potent attack and Sangakkara would expect them to trouble the English batsmen on Thursday.

“We can use the short ball but at the same time we have to be careful because it (the Kensington Oval) is a small ground and they have quality batters who can make adjustments. But it’s certainly something we will put into our plans,” Gayle said.

Indians were handed a 49-run drubbing by Australia yesterday with pacers Dirk Nannes and Shaun Tait sharing six wickets between them.

The same day, West Indies also succumbed to a loss as they went down by 57 runs against Sri Lanka and Gayle said his team would have to improve considerably to remain in the hunt for semifinals.

“We’ll discuss what happened and it’s back to the drawing board. It’s a must-win for both teams and it should be a good game,” Gayle said.

“We are still confident we can win the two games and move onto the semi-final,” the opener asserted.

“It’s a disappointing start but we had our chances and we let it slip away. We can’t take away the fact they batted really well but those missed chances hurt us,” he said

ICC World Twenty20

Handed a sound thrashing by Australia in their opening Super Eight match, India will have to quickly sort out their batting woes as they take on the West Indies in a do-or-die contest in the ICC World Twenty20 at the Kensington Oval here on Sunday.

Like the Indians, West Indies are also faced with a must-win situation, as another defeat would virtually put them out of contention for a place in the semifinals.

Fortunately for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, the islanders do not have a lethal pace battery like the Australians. Kemar Roach may have troubled Ricky Ponting on bone-hard wicket Down Under, but he is not accurate like Dirk Nannes or Shaun Tait.

So the element of pace and bounce will not impact the Indian batsmen who had surrendered meekly to the Aussies’ pace quartet.

Bounce there will be in this lively deck, but if the West Indian quicks – Roach and Jerome Taylor — don’t execute their skills, it will not frazzle the Indian top order.

India would have certainly learnt a lesson or two from their embarrassing 49-run drubbing on Friday.

Dhoni conceded that India had sought to fight fire with fire and had consequently paid for the imprudence.

The urge to play the pull shot, without getting inside the line of the ball, must have probably been flushed out of their psyche when they take the field.

Also, they would have worked on their bowling inadequacies, which was ruthlessly exposed by Shane Watson and David Warner during their hurricane 106-run partnership.

It is a comfort to play an extra batsman as an exigency against a collapse. But then, India can’t compromise on their bowling.

Part-time spinners or batting all-rounders could win them one game in ten. But it is the regular bowlers who can provide the breaks to gain momentum consistently.

This is one aspect that the Indian team management, which is sorely missing Virender Sehwag, would have taken into consideration before penning down the names for the bash against West Indies.

Without another opener in the 15-man squad, India would be forced to play Murali Vijay, who has struggled against the rising ball, bowled in the corridor of uncertainty.

No doubt he is technically sound, but in his aspiration to play shots on the up, he has failed miserably.

On the other hand, Chris Gayle’s boys would be determined to do well in front of their home crowd, especially after being mauled by 57 runs by Sri Lanka.

“We will definitely have a discussion about our performance and go back to the drawing board to get ourselves sorted out. As it is a must win game for both the sides, it will be a good battle at the square,” said Gayle.

Having watched the Indians made a hash of their chase against a hostile attack, West Indies could pepper their sub-continental rivals with short-pitched bowling, though they don’t really have the class and pace of the Australian counterparts.

“We watched the India-Australia game. We will look at that option. At the same time you have bowl according to plan to achieve the desired results. I think India have quality batsmen who can make adjustments, according to the situation,” said Gayle.

Considering that Kieron Pollard batted low down the order and could not get going against the Sri Lankan bowlers, West Indies have an option of sending their most devastating batsman up the order.

“He is the kind of guy you can go in and start hitting the ball straightaway. So we are holding him aback a bit. But if needed, we can send him in early,” said Gayle.

With Australia and Sri Lanka sitting pretty with two points under their belt, India would have to play their best cricket to get the better of the West Indians.

Dhoni’s men have the potential but they need to convert that potential into runs and wickets to keep the tri-colour flying aloft.

Teams From:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav.

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wavell Hinds, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Ravi Rampaul, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Narsingh Deonarine, Denesh Ramdin, Kieron Pollard, Sulieman Benn, Kemar Roach, Nikita Miller, Andre Fletcher.

Match starts 1900 hrs (IST).