India vs South Africa Live Scorecard

At the time of writing South Africa are priced at 6/4 to win the tournament. Although this could be considered a dead rubber, the Proteas will want to maintain their 100% record whilst India have plenty of pride to salvage after their agonising defeat to England put paid to their chances of retaining the title.

South Africa clinched a semi final place with a win over West Indies on Saturday. Wayne Parnell is rapidly becoming the most talked about bowler in the tournament. His 4 wickets for just 13 runs against WI increased his stock still further and he now has 8 wickets in the tournament and an amazing economy rate of 5.13. Kallis has taken over as the tournaments leading run scorer, averaging 58 with a strike rate of 125.

As for India, their failure to at least make the semi finals will not have gone down well. Although packed with talent, the have failed to handle the pressure of the Super 8’s against the better sides after they cruised past Ireland and Bangladesh in the first group stage. Both England and West Indies targeted their top order with some short pitched bowling and failure to handle it resulted in India’s undoing. With only pride to play for, they may well make a few changes and could still represent a threat to SA’s 100% record but the overall mood in the camp must be one of huge disappointment.

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Live Scorecard

Sri Lanka were made to work hard for a 9 run win over Ireland on Sunday and although it was their least impressive display, they remain unbeaten in the tournament. They posted 144/9 which will have disappointed but still looked enough thanks to Jayawardene 78 of 53 which rescued Sri Lanka from a poor start. Mendis, Murali and Malinga then kept the lid on the run rate in the Irish reply. Malinga is joint leading wicket taker with 10 and Dilshan is 1 run behind Kallis in the race to be leading run scorer in the tournament.

At the time of writing, a semi final place is not assured just yet for Sri Lanka and if they do lose here and Pakistan beat Ireland, it will all come down to net run rate. 

New Zealand have been inconsistent, wins over Scotland and Ireland, defeats against Pakistan and South Africa. Their batting will be of particular concern, they have had no problem in scoring heavily against the Associate members but have battled against the better attacks. The Black caps could only manage 127 against the Proteas and they were humbled against Pakistan when they posted only 99 when they failed to see out the 20 overs.

Though the Kiwis have been unlucky with injuries to key batsmen, they need their senior men such as McCullum, Styris and Oram to click if they are to have any chance of making the semi finals. They do not have a single batsmen in the leading 15 of run getters in the tournament whilst Butler is leading wicket taker with just 5 victims.

Sri Lanka vs West Indies Live Scorecard

Mission accomplished for Sri Lanka and West Indies in the 1st Group stage as both beat Australia to send Ponting off to lick his wounds and get some early preparation in for the Ashes.

Now it’s about plotting a route through the Super 8’s and onto the semi finals. On the evidence we have seen so far, both are more than capable.

The West Indies shrugged off their nightmare season in England thus far to dish out a hammering to the Aussies. Taylor and Edwards took early wickets and despite a recovery of sorts the Aussies were restricted to 169.

A few overs into the “chase” it was game over, Chris Gayle clicked into gear and caused havoc on his way to 88 off just 50 balls. Andre Fletcher, who opened with Gayle made 53 off 32 and by the time the first wicket had fallen in the 12th over with the score on 133 , WI were in cruise control and eventually ran out winners by 7 wickets.

Sri Lanka also impressed in beating the Aussies by 6 wickets at this ground on Monday. Ajantha Mendis claimed 3 wickets for just 20 runs in his 4 overs and he could be one the stars of the tournament. Australia posted 159 after being invited to bat by Sangakarra who’s 55 off 42 along with Dilshan’s 53 off 32 provided the platform for victory.

Sri Lanka could do with some runs from Jayasuria who fell early to a fine catch on Monday but the experience of Dilshan and Sangakarra saw them home. They also have Jayawardene but there are question marks about the strength of the batting order outside of the top 4.

Here are the key battles:

In the bowling department, we have the pace of Edwards and Taylor for West Indies against Malinga and the spin of Murali and Mendis for Sri Lanka.
 
Sangakarra showed he was not afraid to spring a surprise or two in mixing up his bowling and will need to have the right plan for Gayle. Malinga took 3 wickets against Australia but was expensive, will Sri Lanka back him as the man to get the prize west Indian wicket?

The battle of the big hitters is between Gayle and Dilshan, both only have one gear with the willow. If one comes off and the other fails, it could go a long way to deciding the game. If both fire, it will be a cracking match.

India vs Ireland Live Scorecard

Ireland sprang a surprise when they beat Bangladesh in their opening game of the tournament on Monday. Their 6 wicket win has propelled them into the Super 8’s and tough they will remain huge underdogs, they should gain tremendous benefit from the experience and it’s potentially a real adventure for the little known cricket team of a great sporting nation.

The O’ Brien’s, Niall (40) and Kevin (39) were largely responsible for overhauling Bangladesh’s 137/8 and they eventually got home with 10 balls remaining. As India had also beaten Bangladesh in their opener, Ireland’s win was enough to see them through to the next stage regardless of what happens here.

India were pre-tournament favourites. They also disposed of Bangladesh in their opening game, successfully defending 180 to win by 25 runs. Sehwag missed the game through injury though he may no longer be an automatic choice to return if Dhoni sticks with Rohit Sharma as Gambhir’s opening partner.

Spinner Pragyan Ojha was the pick of the Indian bowlers against Bangladesh when he weighed in with 4 wickets for 21 runs in his 4 overs. Harbhajan failed to pick up a wicket but was also economical and with 3 other spinners in the side plus the pace of Ishant Sharma, Zaher Khan and Irfan Pathan, Dhoni is never short of options.

Bangladesh vs Ireland  Live Scorecard

Bangladesh lost the toss and found themselves fielding first against the joint favourites for the tournament. India posted 180 with a flurry of runs at the end and although Bangladesh managed to keep in touch with the run rate in the first half of their innings, they lost wickets at key stages and came up 25 runs short.

Opening bat Siddique top scored with 41 and Hossain who came in at #9 managed 28. Hossain may well be promoted up the order on the back of his display but the fact he came in so far down suggests Bangladesh do have strength in their batting line up. The India game was also played at Trent Bridge so Bangladesh may benefit from the experience of having played this venue in competitive conditions. 

As for Ireland, it’s a bit puzzling that Eoin Morgan, one of their more talented players to have come through the ranks recently now dons the England jersey.

Australia vs Sri Lanka Live Scorecard

Ponting won the toss and elected to bat first against the West Indies at Trent bridge on Saturday. Just 3.3 overs later he must have been regretting it as they slid to 15/3 with Shane Watson and Ponting himself, both having been removed without scoring.

David Warner repaired much of the damage with his 63 off 53 balls and the Aussies eventually posted 169. The target looked competitive though perhaps 15 or so short of what Ponting would have wanted. As it turned out, it was a stroll in the park for West Indies openers Chris Gayle and Andre Fletcher who blasted their way through the first 11overs and had taken the opening stand to 133 before Fletcher fell. It was a fierce display of hitting, especially from Gayle and you seldom see the Aussies so deflated in the field as it was game over a long way out. West Indies got home with 4.1 overs to spare for a 7 wicket win.

The impact of the opening result is illustrated in the net run rate of the Aussies which stands at -2.4. This could be critical as even a win over the Sri Lankan’s would not guarantee progress to the next group stage as net run is the first criteria used if teams finish level on points.

This is Sri Lanka’s first game of the tournament and though they looked out of sorts in their warm up against the Proteas, they have a talented squad with some experienced and dangerous campaigners in this format. Dilshan, Sangakkara, Murali, Jayawardene, Jayasuria, Malinga, Mendis and Kulasekara will be a real handful and are more than capable of leaving the Aussies kicking their heels waiting for the Ashes to begin.

India vs Bangladesh Live Scorecard

This is the first ICC Twenty20 game at Trent Bridge and at the time of writing, the forecasts suggests there could be some light rain around. 

India is favorites to win this group which also includes Ireland. Bangladesh will see anything they can get here as a bonus, the key match for them will be when they meet Ireland at this venue on Monday.

The Indians are packed with talent and have so many options that competition for places will be fierce so the XI that start this game will need to deliver. The likes of Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir provide the experience but you have to love the next generation.  Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina look to be future Indian cricket legends in the making. Both are very dangerous batsmen but also more than useful spin options and Raina is electric in the field.