West Indies dismantles Sri Lanka to win the ICC T20I Cricket World Cup

As I wrote in one of my earlier posts that Sunday today was the day of finals - we had two finals at Beijing Open tennis tournament, in which Djokovic and Azarenka were crowned.

In the third final at Colombo, Sri Lanka, the West Indies dismantled hosts Sri Lanka  and won the ICC T20I Cricket World Cup, beating the Islanders by 36 runs.

The victory brings the first world cup to the West Indies after a dry spell of some 330 years, while for Sri Lanka, this was the fifth final in which the failed to win the cup.

Although, winning the toss, the West Indies deciding to bat got into a lot of trouble when Chris gayle, whom the Windies were banking and expecting the performance against Australia, was sent packing to pavillion for just three, while Charles was off for a duck. It was Samuels who stood to te field and scored 78 matching winning runs.  DJ Bravo (19) and captain Sammy (26) were the other top scorers.

From the Islanders, Mendis was the most deadly bowler who took 4/12. However, Malinga, the most dreaded bowler, could not take a wicket.

When Sri Lankans came to bat, they faced a fierce resistance from the Windies bowlers who restricted their score so tightly that instead of scoring, the wickets started to fall at a rapid pace. And except for Jayawardne (33), Sangakkara (22) and later Kulasekara (26) no other batsmen could score in double digits. S P Narine from the Windies took three valuable wickets for mere 9 runs.

-->

M N Samuels was declared player of the match for his impressive 78 runs and a wicket for 15. S R Watson from Australia was declared player of the series.

The match today is also the last match of Umpire S J A Taufel who bids farewell to umpiring and is off to his home to rest. His departure will rob the cricket from a very seasoned, professional and upright bold umpire. We wish him best of luck for the future.

There is yet another news that Jayawardne, the Sri Lankan captain for the T20I has announced that he has stepped down from the captaincy of the T20I squad of Sri Lanka.

West Indies thrash Kangaroos in the ICC T20I Cricket World Cup semi final

Those who watched the West Indians thrashing the Kangaroos, must have enjoyed watching almost a one sided battle at Colombo this evening.

Batting first, the West Indies simply outclassed the Aussies' bowlers who could not restrict the Windies till they reached 205 for four. And as expected by many, it was Gayle who was the centre of attraction and made the difference.  Even Australian captain Bailey had to admit after the match that they were absolutely outplayed. "Although Gayle was subdued for a while but while he's at the crease he's always in your mind. But we set ourselves to get to the semi-finals and I don't think there's one area specifically where we can improve on. But from tonight you can probably say all three!" said Bailey.

Gayle with his impressive 75 remained not out.

-->

When the Aussies came to bat, they got into trouble right from the outset as their wickets started falling at much rapid pace they would have ever imagined. Warner and Watson were bowled by Badree for 1 and 7 - openers that Aussies were banking on. It was Bailey who tried to save the team who scored 63, but it was too late as they could make only 131 in stipulated 20 overs.

So the Sammy's XI march into the finals taking on the hosts Sri Lanka in the final being played Sunday evening. Don't miss to watch the finals - it sure is gonna be fun.

Sri Lanka storms into ICC T20I Final - beat Pakistan by 16 Runs

Well, the Islanders did it - and did it superbly, beating Pakistan by 16 runs and stormed into the ICC T20I World Cup final.

Winning the toss, the Sri Lankans decided to bat first. But were restricted by the Pakistani bowlers to give any meaningful target till the last two overs, when they were in the 120s range. But thereafter, the hit hard and played aggressively to take the score to 139, giving a target of 140 to Pakistan. Jayawardne was the most successful batsman who scored 42 till he was bowled by Afridi.

Coming to bat, Pakistan's batsmen did not look like playing for an entry into the final - and even the Islanders bowlers did not let them do so either. Except for captain Hafeez who added 42, followed by 29 by Umar Akmal and 20 by Imran, none of the batsmen could stand in front of aggressive Sri Lankan bowlers. 

Herath was the most deadliest for taking three wickets - three important wickets of Hafeez, Shaoib Malik and ............. boom boom Afridi. When everyone expected Afridi to play well and responsible at a time when Pakistan badly needed runs, Afridi's steam was taken out by Herath right in his first ball to Afridi and bowled him.

So it is congatulations Sri Lanka for storming into the final and best of luck.

As for Pakistan, there has to be some serious thinking about retaining Afridi in the team and ponder over why Tanvir was preferred over Razaq.

Pakistan 'almost' ousted Australia from the Semis

Oh boy what a day it is and what a cricket match that the world and we witnessed. The match between Australia and Pakistan was a classic display of nerves and spin.

Pakistan's spinner almost ousted Australia from moving to semis - Hafeez [top], Saeed Ajmal [left], Raza [right]

Pakistan batting first gave a target of 149 runs to Australia to chase. But in it was a catch that Australia had to to score at least 112 to qualify for the semis. And Pakistan really made it difficult for Australia to reach 112 and Australia was in a danger to be ousted as it was finding difficult to reach 112, what to talk of 150 to win, at the hands of the spinners Pakistan had unleashed against them. The Kangaroos could only make 117 in 20 overs, 32 short of the target they were given to chase by Pakistan.

And even Bailey confessed at the end of the match that Pakistan really did outplay them. Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal (3-17), Hassan Raza (2-14) and captain Hafeez (2-22) really did the magic to contain the Aussies, who found them stuck in a quagmire, finding ways to reach 112.  Raza was declared man of the match.

Aussies when fielding, did restrict Pakistani batsmen, and Starc took 3-20, claiming wickets of Pakistani captain Hafeez, Kamran Akmal and the most dreaded Shahid Afridi, who though has have waned nerves as a batsman he once used to have. Pakistan's Jamshed played superbly and scored 55. Ushering in Razzaq today was a good decision as he hit valuable 22.

-->

Aussies had troubles right from the start when young Raza took Watson in the third over for 8. In the next over, Hafeez struck and sent back Warner for 8. Aussies captain Bailey succumbed to Saeed Ajmal in the 9th over for 15. 18th over was the deadliest as Saeed Ajmal sent back Wade for 13 and Cummins for nil.

Although Australia are in for the semis, they suffered a huge defeat at the hands of Pakistan spinners.

Now what are Pakistan's chances for the semis? This will depend on the match being played between India and South Africa. If India score 160, they need to win by 32 runs; if they score 140, the margin needs to be at least 31. If they do not or win by lesser margins, they too will have to go out with the South Africans.

Let us watch the match and see who qualifies for the semis: Pakistan or India?

ICC T20I World Cup: Saeed Ajmal dashes Kiwis' hopes to win over Pakistan

What an exciting and thrilling match it turned out to be in the end when Kiwis chose to bat on Pakistan's first match of the ICC T20I world cup played Sunday evening.

Saeed Ajmal dashed Kiwis' hopes to win over Pakistan [Photo: Cricinfo]

Pakistan batting first scored 177 and for a change Pakistani batsmen played responsibly and each scored well except Kamran Akmal. Nasir Jamshed scored 56 with an impressive array of fours and sixes. The faset scoring game made Pakistan's 100 the fastest of the ongoing T20I World Cup in just about 10 overs.

When it came to Pakistan to field, the match got interesting in the last four overs. It seemed that Kiwis would overcome Pakistan and change the 5-3 equation to 5-4 of the matches won by Pakistan in the last eight T20I played by the two countries.

But it was not to be so. Saeed Ajmal struck with his superb bowling dismantling four Kiwis for just 30 runs and turning the tide that was going in the Kiwis' direction. Pakistan won the match by 13 runs.

Although Saeed deseerved to be the man of the match for it was he who made the Kiwis retire to the pavillion in the end in toto, but the award went to Jamshed whose superb 56 made Pakistan give a hnadsome target for the Kiwis to chase.

Pakistan now plays its second and the 12th match of the cup against Bangladesh on Tuesday, 25 Septemebr at Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy.

Sri Lanka Inaugurates ICC T20I Championship 2012 agianst Zimbabwe 18 September | Watch Free Live Streaming

Hosts Sri Lanka formally inagurate the ICC T20I 2012 championship by playing their Group C match against Zimbabwe, Tuesday 18 Septemebr at Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

Zimbabwe does not seem to be in good shape as they have not played any cricket in the last eight months and went down against Ireland and Bangladesh in practrice matches.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka are one of the favourites fore finals despite history of losses in the finals. It may also be added that a host nation has never won a T20I ever before, which superstitiously casts balck clouds over Sri Lanka. But this time, the Islanders vow to change the course of T20I history. Would they?

The opposing teams for the inagural match are as under:

Team Sri Lanka:

DPMD Jayawardene*, AD Mathews, LD Chandimal†, TM Dilshan, RMS Eranga, HMRKB Herath, KMDN Kulasekara, SL Malinga, BAW Mendis, BMAJ Mendis, EMDY Munaweera, MKPAD Perera, NLTC Perera, KC Sangakkara†, HDRL Thirimanne

Team Zimbabwe:

BRM Taylor*†, E Chigumbura, AG Cremer, CR Ervine, KM Jarvis, H Masakadza, S Matsikenyeri, CB Mpofu, F Mutizwa, R Muzhange, RW Price, V Sibanda, P Utseya, BV Vitori, MN Waller

The match is scheduled for Tuesday, 18 September 2012 at 14:00 GMT at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Sooriyawewa, Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

If you are one of the fans located at different destination and miss the chance to visit the stadium to watch your favorite team, You can now watch the match live on your laptop or desktop computer, FREE, provided you have an internet connection, from the links given below:

-->

Link#1    Link#2    Link#3    Link#4    Link#5

* Please read our Disclaimer Policy with regard to free live streaming