Windies send England home,Enter semis…[icc wt20,Sup8,game 10]

Monday..the 15^th of june 2009… London…The 10^th match of the super8 stage at the icc wt20 championship was to be played between hosts England and the West indies.It was clear that the winner would find a place in the semi finals and the loser would pack their luggages.England,playing in front of their home crowd would have been in enormous pressure to perform and win in the do or die encounter.Meanwhile West Indies would play a fearless game as they always do.India were out of the competition and the Proteas had already qualified.Being a semi final qualifier,this match had an enormous importance.Battin first,England lost Wright withonly 8 on board,Pollard striking early for the Windies.Bopara and Pietersen made the recovery and repair act.They put on 56 vital runs for the 2^nd wicket,Kevin doing the bulk of scoring.KP hit 31 in 19 deliveries with 5 hits to the fence before being caught by Fletcher off Simmons.The other batsmen made small contributions without troubling the Windies bowlers with Shah making 18 in 15 balls.Collingwood,Foster and Swann made 11,13 and 10 runs respectively almost scoring run a ball.But it was Ravi Bopara who made the bulk of scoring at the other end before being adjudged leg before for Gayle.He made a 47 ball 55 with 5 fours.Rain played the spoil sport every now and then disturbing the momentum of the game.England would probably be cursing the rain god for playing a mischief which cost them the match and the championship chances too.When England were at 129 for 4 in the 17^th over,the showers came in and went away as quickly.The number of overs were not curtailed and England played their full quota of 20 overs finishing at 161 losing 6 wickets,thanks to the finishing touch given by Broad when he smashed a four and a six in the last two deliveries to take the score past 160.The Windies bowling was tidy.Bravo picked 2 giving away 30 runs.Gayle,Simmons,Pollard and Benn picked a wicket each.

The commencement of the second session was again delayed due to the rains,this time for a pretty long time.The DL calculations came into the scene as a curse in disguise for the English team,setting a winning and qualifying target of 80 runs in 9 overs for the Windies.Anderson dismissed Fletcher in the first over and got the necessary breakthrough for his team.Gayle blasted 3 boundaries in his short stay,where he scored a 8 ball 15.But Sidebottom bowled a beauty of a delivery to get Gayle,once again putting England on top.In the third over Simmons went without disturbing the scorers dismissed by Broad when the score read 16 for 3.Pollard and Bravo put on 25 runs for the 4th wicket to get some revival hopes in the Windies camp.Pollard hit a six and was bowled by Rashid for 9 when the score was 41.Everything seemed to be working in Englands way when Bravo who was playing well was outin the 6th over being stumpped wonderfully by Foster off Swann.He made a 13 ball 18 with a six and a four.That was the last time when England rejoiced.At that level Windies needed 35 runs to win in 22 balls with half their team back in the pillion.Then came the experience of the windies,with Sarwan and Chanderpaul joining hands at the crease.The senior players made sure that there were no more hiccupps.They took their team home with 4 balls to spare.This 5 wicket win took Windies into the semis while it was the end of the story for the host team.The dejected England team had to walk back home having lost to a better team.Chanderpaul made 17 in 10 balls with a four.Sarwan was adjudged the man of the match for his 9 ball 19 in pressure situation which guided the Windies to a win.He hit 3 boundaries in his knock.Good luck Windies…see you in semis….

South Africans rule England… [icc wt20, Sup8,match-2]

When the South Africans are on top,they make any team look an ordinary one and that was how they made the English team look in front of their own people on thursday,the 11th of june 2009,in the 2nd super 8 encounter of the t20 world cup at Nottingham.South Africa won the match which looked lie a one sided affair with 10 balls and their 7 wickets remaining.Earlier electing to bat having won the toss,England were struggling at 4 for the loss of 2 wickets with both their openers Bopara and Wright not troubling the scorers.Much was anticipated from Kevin Pietersen but the man who showed lots of guts and nerves against their must win match against Pakistan,didnt deliver goods this time.He was sent back by Morkel when he was looking good with a 17 ball 19 including 4 hits to the fence and the board read 25 for 3.But a partnership of 53 runs for the 4th wicket between captain Collingwood and Shaw gave hopes of rivival in the English camp.Collingwood made a run a ball 19 whereas Shah top scored for England with a 33 ball 38 including 3 hits to the fence and 2 clearing the wire.Kallis dismissed both of them in his impressive figures of 2 for 20 in 3 overs.The partnership didnt cause much worry to the Proteas as the wickets tumbled like a pack of cards once it was broken.They somehow managed to reach 111 runs after having lost their 8 wickets ahen the score was 92.England were allout at the Nelson score,much to their belief they lost the last two wickets before the score went past 111.Nelson is omnious……isnt it….atleast for the English….either the Nelson or the English team prove it true everytime.Parnell was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3 for 14 in 3.5 overs,well supported by tight and disciplined bowlin of Kallis and Merwe who took 2 wickets each and Steyn,Morkel and Botha chipping with a wicket each.

With the strong South African batting lineup in terrific form,the chase was never difficult unless some unlucky twist came in their way.But that was never to happen as the fortune favours the brave.The early loss  of skipper Smith when the score was on 17,might have got some relief in the English camp,but that was neither to affect the intentions of the Proteas nor the result of the match.A 80 run partnership for the 2nd wicket between the man in form Kallis(59 runs,49 balls, 5 fours and a six) and the man who was trying to come along the runs,Gibbs(run a ball 30, 2 fours and a 6) took the game away from England.Swann bowled Gibbs when the total was 91,but all the work had already been done by then.AB de Villiers didnt stay long.Duminy joined Kallis to finish of the proceedings and took their team to a comfortable win.English bowlers bowled tightly,but their batsmen had not given them plenty of runs to defend.Kallis was adjudged the man of the match for his all round performance with the ball and the bat.South Africa have crossed one hurdle and have two to come in their way in the form of West Indies and India.But i dont think they will mind much,especially the form in which they are in they can be considered unbeatable.But it gives an impression that they will take the matches as they come and for now its party time for them…let them enjoy their success……

England’s “Do or Die” Mission…. [Icc T20 World cup - 09, Day 3]

Sunday…the 8th of june…the Oval is all set to witness an all important encounter between their home team England and team Pakistan. It was a do or die scenario for the English team having lost their first match to Netherlands. Day 3 of the icc T20 world cup also had another match in the going before the England – Pakistan one and that was to be played between South Africa and Scotland at the same venue.

South Africa vs Scotland: No prizes for guessing who would win the match.It was a total domination by the Proteas who never allowed the Scotts to show any of their talents if anything like that persisted at all.It was a professional display of disciplined cricket which should be a lesson for many a big teams so as to win convincingly,never ever allowing the weaker opposition to dominate,especially when the team is in the top ranks of the game.A solid start provided by a good support by the middle order was the secret of the success,not to forget the accurate bowling attack and a perfect field setup. Batting first South Africa put on a total of 211 for the loss of 5 wickets,the first 200 plus total in the ongoing series.Smith and Kallis put on 87 runs for the first wicket.Gibbs and Morkel chipped in with useful contributions. But it was the man in form AB de Villiers who stole the show and frustrated the Scotts. He made 79 runs off just 34 deliveries with 5 fours and 6 huge sixes.In reply the Scotland team played elementary cricket and had lost the match when they were crumbled to 13 for 4 within 3 overs.They lost the way and the match in the context.Except Coetzer none of the batsmen came to the party.He made an impressive 42 off 32 balls which was more than half of their teams total. The Scotts surendered cheaply and were all out for a meagre 81 in 15.4 overs, the 7 th lowest total in 20-20 internationals.Steyn, Botha,Merwe and Morkel shared the bowling honours for the Proteas with 2 scalps a piece.The verdict was – South Africa progress into the next stage and for Scotland…..it was the end of their dreams and journey…

England vs Pakistan: Having lost badly to the Netherlands team in their opening encounter,this match became a must win condition for the hosts England to remain in the race.It was an acid test which they had to pass through and more importantly they were playing against Pakistan.Batting first,England lost the wicket of Bopara very early.But after that nothing went wrong for the hosts.A consolidating 2nd wicket partnership of 53 runs between Wright and Pietersen kept the momento going and the runs were gathered at a quick pace. Wright made a breezy 34 off just 16 balls with 1 six and 6 fours out of which 5 were scored back to back.Shah, Collingwood, Masccarenhas and Foster chipped in with useful contributions which strengthened the scoreboard.But the person who stole the limelite of the match was Kevin Pietersen.England team would have thanked their stars,with this strong come back of Mr Reliable to the team.Welcome Kevin.He looked in perfect knick and it seemed that nothing could stop him when it is his day.He carried the assault into the Pakistani camp and smashed a 38 ball 58 with 5 boundaries and 3 handsome sixes. This innings became a match winning effort for England.The Englis attack led by Kevin saw a challenging total with the board showing 185 for 5.For Pakistan Gul and Ajmal took 2 wickets each.Ajmal looked impressive among the other lot.

A deadly reply was what one would have expected from Pakistan,but that was not to be so.It never looked that Pakistan were there to play a T20 world cup. They were playing ease at will and gave an impression that they were never interested to win. The match looked like a one sided affair wherein only one team is desperate to win.Never to take credit from the wounded English boys. They had done their home work well.Except Butt at the start and Younis in the middle of the proceedings,every one came in and went out just like that.Younis top scored for Pakistan with 46 runs. But that was never enough. A team effort and some one to carry on the innings till the end was required and that was what was lacking in the pathetic performance of Pakistan. They lost the match without even giving a fight. On the other side a disciplined performance all round guided England to march ahead towards the Super 8 stage. Bowling and fielding of England too were of high quality as required for a team who are on a ‘Do or Die’ mission.Broad was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 wickets for just 17 runs in his 3 overs. He should have been a relieved man and this performance would have helped him to forget his nightmare run,the other night against Netherlands. Any how past is past and good players learn with experiences immaterial they are good or bad.Pakistan managed 137 runs losing 7 wickets in 20 overs, enabling England to win convincingly with a margin of 48 runs.Now Pakistan stand in the same position as England were at the beginning of the match. They have to come up strongly and play a disciplined cricket against Netherlands on tuesday,if they have to stay in competition. They have to beat the Dutch team convincingly with a better run rate.Whether Pakistan can do it or will Netherlands are upto effecting another major upset is what we are going to wait and watch.But any how….Well done England…. Keep going Kevin…..