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.

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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 Super Eights Watch Live India vs South Africa Free Streaming | 2 October

The second match of the day is being played in the Group 2 of the Super Eights between India and South Africa at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Tuesday, 2 October.

India and Pakistan have come close to crossing the thin line for the semis as both have a vert narrow NRR and any upset today can change the destiny of the teams in the ongoing ICC T20I World Cup 2012.

For both India and Pakistan there matches today are important. If India concede 160 and lose by more than three runs, their NRR will slip below that of South Africa. If India and Pakistan both win their matches, the margins of those results will decide which team goes through.

As for the South Africans, they will be praying hard for Pakistan to lose against Australia - for if they win, it will mean curtains for South Africa. But if Pakistan lose, South Africa will have a fair chance to sasil on since both Pakistan and India have a poor NRR.

But can South Africa win over India in the first place? That is a hard question to answer. We shall see if the South Africans can make a genuine effort to win or ...

The opposing squads are as under:

India:

MS Dhoni*†, G Gambhir, R Ashwin, L Balaji, PP Chawla, AB Dinda, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, V Kohli, IK Pathan, SK Raina, V Sehwag, RG Sharma, MK Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh

South Africa:

AB de Villiers*†, HM Amla, F Behardien, J Botha, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, JH Kallis, RE Levi, JA Morkel, M Morkel, JL Ontong, WD Parnell, RJ Peterson, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe

The match is scheduled for Tuesday, 2 October 2012 at 14:00 GMT at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

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Watch Live Australia vs Pakistan Free Streaming | ICC T20I Super Eights - 2nd October 2012

The Super Eights of the ICC T20I 2012 World Cup gets tougher as teams are now to be decided for sailing into the semi final stage. In this regard  two important matches are scheduled for Tuesday today: Australia vs Pakistan and India vs South Africa.

Australia from Group 1 has already qualified for the semi final. In the Group 2, it is Pakistan and India who are struggling for the semi final inclusion  Pakistan and India will have to win their matches by around 40 runs (if they bat first and score 160).

Pakistan has already lost a golden opportunity to walk straight into the semis by losing to India. Now if they lose to Australia and India wins over the South Africans, Pakistan will be out of the race. Pakistan which has NRR of -0.426, just marginally better than the Indians, will have to put up a brave and aggressive show against the Australians to be still in the race.

In my reckoning, Pakistan needs to bring in Abdul Razzaq instead of Yasir Arafat, since the cool and composed Razzak is generally a match winner player and that is what Pakistan needs. And Shahid Afridi - well would someone tell him to play responsibly and not to hit high trajectory shots since these always bring him back to pavilion.

The opposing squads are as under:

Australia:

GJ Bailey*, SR Watson, DT Christian, PJ Cummins, XJ Doherty, BW Hilfenhaus, GB Hogg, DJ Hussey, MEK Hussey, CJ McKay, GJ Maxwell, MA Starc, MS Wade†, DA Warner, CL White

Pakistan:

Mohammad Hafeez*, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal†, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Jamshed, Raza Hasan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat

So what is it going to be today? Australia has emerged as one of the strong contender for the world cup and wrestling with Pakistan may not be a difficult preposition for the Aussies. If at all Pakistan wins over the Kangaroos, their entry into semis will be dependent on how India beats the South Africans. If it is not by a big margin, Pakistan has a chance. So let us watch Pakistan 'taking on' Australia for a meaningful victory to still stay on course for the semis.

The match is scheduled for Tuesday, 2 October, 2012 at 10:00 GMT at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

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:

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Pakistan wins over South Africa in a sensational Super Eights match of ICC T20I

Those who saw the ICC T20I cricket match between Pakistan and South Africa Friday today at Colombo, Sri Lanka would remember it for their lives, for it was such a hair raising match that came to be finished by a combination of a lone warrior from batting side and the bowlers.

The Umers Square: Umer Akmal (left) and Umer Gul (right) brought victory yo Pakistan

Having restricted the South Africans to mere 131 runs, Pakistan looked confidant to chase the target comfortable and with much ease. And they started off pretty well, till Imran Nazir was caught fro 14. And from then on, there was no ending. The uncertain batsmen crumbled one after the other and at the start of 12 th over, most of the Pakistan batting order had crumbled for 63/5. And then came Afridi, who everyone thought would play for victory. But he lived to his traditional uncertainity and was caugth just in front of the ropes for a big ZERO.

It was in the 14th over that Umar Gul joined Umar Akmal when Pakistan was down 76/7 and everyone in the arena was getting up to leave, and perhaps so many viewers watching TV too. But then both Umer combination clicked. Umer Gul hit three mighty sixes to bring life and sensation to a losing match for Pakistan. Umer Gul's valuable 32 runs by the end ogf 19th over had brought total to 125/8. 

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The last over saw another six from Akmal and an unbelievable four from Saeed Ajmal that brought victory to Pakistan. What a sensational ending and what a superb performance by Umar Akmal and Gul that made the difference. Pakistan won by two wickets with just two balls remaining.

Naturally, Gul deserved to be the man of the match who took out Pakistan from a crisis situation by his magnifiencet performance. "I must thank to my coach. I told Akmal that we should stay at the crease, the flick is my favourite shot," said Gul afterwards.

But for the remaining matches, Pakistan batsmen need to play responsibly lest their uncertain performance harm Pakistan.

ICC T20I Super Eights Watch Live India vs Australia Free Streaming | 28 September

In the second match of the Group 2 of the ICC T20I Super Eights, Australia meets India at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Friday today.

India is likelyy to field 'five specialist bowlers' as indicated by the Indian captain Dhoni, a move which may restrict the Australian batsmen, but at the same time denudes India of its otherwise  long batting line. The same combination however worked against England in the earlier group matche, which India won. However, the Australian batsman Michael Hussey on Wednesday said the team is chalking out an appropriate strategy to cope with the variety of spinners Indians are depending on.

As for the Aussies, they have all rounder Shane Watson, who has not only batted well so far but has been a good boweler too. However, Austalian captain Bailey does not want to entirely depend on watson. The opening pair of Watson and Warner are Aussies strength. 

The opposing squads are as under:

Australia

GJ Bailey*, SR Watson, DT Christian, PJ Cummins, XJ Doherty, BW Hilfenhaus, GB Hogg, DJ Hussey, MEK Hussey, CJ McKay, GJ Maxwell, MA Starc, MS Wade†, DA Warner, CL White

India

MS Dhoni*†, G Gambhir, R Ashwin, L Balaji, PP Chawla, AB Dinda, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, V Kohli, IK Pathan, SK Raina, V Sehwag, RG Sharma, MK Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh

The match is between two cricket giants, both in good form and playing aggressively so far. The match will be interesting to watch. Let us see which startegy the Aussies adopt as hinted by Hussey to counter the Indian five bowlers combination

The match is scheduled for Friday, 28 September 2012 at 14:00 GMT at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

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Watch Live Pakistan vs South Africa Free Streaming | ICC T20I Super Eights Group 2 - 28 September

After the opening round of the Super Eights on Thursday, in which Sri Lanka beat New Zealand and West Indies beat England in a sensational macth of Group 1, the second day dawns with Pakistan playing against South Africa in the Group 2 Friday today morning at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

Pakistan and South Africa are two leading teams of the tournament and the spectators and viewers around the world should be able to watch an exciting and interesting match when the two teams enter the at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo today.

In the third match of the Super Eights, Pakistan will have to concentrate on its rather uncertain batting side, which however clicked positively when Imran Nazir, otherwise dormant, palyed rather aggressively against New Zealand and scored impressive 72. With a good bowling side consisting of Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat and Gul, Pakistan's match against South Africa will be their biggest challenge so far though and the Asian giants will need to be on top of their game to upstage the South Africans.

As for the South Africans, their seven overs match against Sri Lanka was not worth the practice they needed to get into the cricket mood. Richard Levi and Hashim Amla however can be a threat to Pakistan as they would open their side. They have a long batting line besides ominous bowlers like Morkel and Steyn.

The opposing squads are as under:
Pakistan
Mohammad Hafeez*, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal†, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Jamshed, Raza Hasan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat

South Africa
AB de Villiers*†, HM Amla, F Behardien, J Botha, JP Duminy, F du Plessis, JH Kallis, RE Levi, JA Morkel, M Morkel, JL Ontong, WD Parnell, RJ Peterson, DW Steyn, LL Tsotsobe

So let us all watch this interesting match, which Pakistan can win if it remains composed in its batting with a sense of responsibility. It may be added that Pakistan has met South Africa in T20I world cups twice before and won, while in the five T20I played between the two countries, the South Africans have an edge of 3-2 over Pakistan.

The match is scheduled for Friday, 28September 2012 at 10:00 GMT at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.

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:

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Watch Live England vs West Indies Free Streaming | ICC T20I Super Eights - 27 September

While the first match of the Super Eights of Group 1, ICC T20I gets played between the hosts Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the second match of the Super Eights of Group 1 and the 14th match of the ongoing tournament is being played between England and West Indies Thursday afternoon today at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.

However, before the two teams meet today, the West Indies captain Darren Sammy has already 'warned' England that his team can play "unbeatable" World Twenty20 cricket. "When we left the Caribbean, we left with one goal - to win the World T20," he further added. For the defending champion England, this is quite a strong statement, which I am sure the Englishmen will take seriously and try not to let the West Indies dominate them in the very first match of the Super Eights.

The opposing squads are as under:

England

SCJ Broad*, JM Bairstow, RS Bopara, TT Bresnan, DR Briggs, JC Buttler, JW Dernbach, ST Finn, AD Hales, C Kieswetter†, MJ Lumb, EJG Morgan, SR Patel, GP Swann, LJ Wright

West Indies

DJG Sammy*, DJ Bravo, S Badree, DM Bravo, J Charles, FH Edwards, CH Gayle, SP Narine, KA Pollard, D Ramdin†, R Rampaul, AD Russell, MN Samuels, LMP Simmons, DR Smith

Well let us whether the West Indians live up to their challenege when the meet England today afternoon at Pallekele. 

The match is scheduled for Thursday, 27 September 2012 at 10:00 GMT at Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy.

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:

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ICC T20I Super Eights Watch Live Sri Lanka vs New Zealand Free Streaming | 27 September

From Thursday today, the second phase of the ongoing ICC T20I Cricket World Cup gets under way at Sri Lanka with hosts Sri Lanka playing against New Zealand in the first match of the Super Eights at  Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Thursday morning, today.

While this would be the 13th match of the tournament, this is the first match of the Super Eights in Group 1.

Sri Lanka from Group C were runners up to South Africa, while New Zealand finished second to Pakistan in Group D. Both teams have one win and one lost match in the group matches and would definately be looking for an edge over the other to have a top ranking slot in the Group 1 of the Super Eights.

The opposing squads are as under:

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

New Zealand

LRPL Taylor*, DAJ Bracewell, JEC Franklin, MJ Guptill, RM Hira, BB McCullum†, NL McCullum, KD Mills, AF Milne, RJ Nicol, JDP Oram, TG Southee, DL Vettori, BJ Watling, KS Williamson

Who wins today, we shall soon witness as the match gets under way around 10:00 GMT. But of the nine matches of T20Is played by both countries, New Zealand has an upper edge of 5-4 over the Islanders.

The match is scheduled for Thursday, 27 September 2012 at 10:00 GMT at Pallekele Cricket Stadium, Kandy.

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:

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Pakistan tames the Bengal Tigers - Qualifies for the Super Eights

Pakistan Tuesday evening today beat Bangladesh in the Group D match by eight wickets with eight balls remaining and qualified for the Super Eights of the ongoing ICC T20I World Cup 2012 at Kendy, Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh batting first gave a target of 177 for Pakistan to chase. From Pakistan's side Yasir Arafat took three wickets, while Shahid Afridi and Sohail Tanvir took one each. Shakib ul Hassan was the top scorer with 84 runs in 54 balls, ousted by Yasir Arafat.

Player of the match: Imran Nazir 72 off 36 balls [Photo: Cricinfo]

Even if Pakistan had lost to the Bengal Tigers by any score lesser than 36, it would still qualified for the Super Eights. But Pakistan played with its cools and moved confidently to reach the target with much ease. 

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Pakistan's opener Imran Nazir played magnificently and scored an impressive 72 - paving the way for Pakistan's victory. He made 72 in 36 balls. He was also declared player of the match.

The Super Eights matches will start from 27 September and will continue till October 2. Pakistan take its place alongside India, Australia and South Africa in Colombo.