Kohli Takes India to Final

India 176 for 4 (Kohli 72*, Hendricks 2-31) beat South Africa172 for 4 (du Plessis 58*, Ashwin 3-22) by six wickets 

     It has been 14 years, five Champions Trophies, five World Cups and four World T20s since South Africa last won a knockout match at an ICC event and that has not changed. Neither has the fact that India have not lost a semi-final under MS Dhoni's captaincy. They marched into an all sub-continent final with a clinically cold-blooded chase against a South African team that put in one of their better performances in a crunch match but were still not good enough.

South Africa had never lost a T20 match after posting a 170-plus score before today and they would have thought they were halfway to breaking the hoodoo with that total. They were not overawed by India's spinners, apart from R Ashwin, their captain Faf du Plessis put runs on the board, he was supported by JP Duminy, with whom he shared the biggest partnership of the match, and they had big overs at the end.

But India matched them man for man and then outplayed them through one of them. The tournament's top run-scorer, Virat Kohli, went after the runs ruthlessly. He paced the chase perfectly, put on 56 runs with Yuvraj Singh, brought up his third half-century in four innings and then ushered India over the line with five balls to spare.

If India had reservations about how they would fare chasing a higher target than the most they have been presented with so far in this tournament -138 - the start they got would have put those to bed. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane raced to 33 after three overs, against some questionable South African strategies.

Faf du Plessis eased India into the task by using JP Duminy and Albie Morkel as his new-ball bowlers. India's comfort against offspin and the lack of a threat, despite his ability to take pace off the ball, Morkel posed allowed India's openers to settle. Dale Steyn bowled the third over, by which time Rohit had seen enough to upper-cut a short ball over the boundary.

South Africa continued to juggle their bowling with the relatively new left-armer Beuran Hendricks used before Wayne Parnell. Hendricks got the first wicket when Rohit launched him high but the shot had no distance on it and du Plessis took the catch running in from mid-off.

India would not have minded losing a man in the Powerplay because they posted 56 in the six-over period; the most they have ever put on against South Africa when the fielding restrictions are in operation. That was an early sign of how India were going to edge ahead of South Africa in every department. South Africa had scored 44 for 2 in their Powerplay, not a statistic worth mentioning except that it was the most runs scored against India in that period in this tournament.

Kohli and Rahane played Imran Tahir, the joint highest wicket-taker at this event, with the respect someone of that stature deserves. They milked him without hitting out and went through the next three overs content without boundaries. With a rising required run-rate, Rahane was the man to take the risk. He swung at a Parnell bouncer and was caught at deep mid-wicket by AB de Villiers.

With Kohli still out there, India did not have much to worry about. His response to losing his partner was lofting Duminy over long-on to start the second half of the Indian innings. Yuvraj Singh could not get the South Africans away with similar ease but played his part in rotating strike and leaving Kohli to do the big-hitting.

Du Plessis kept Steyn back until the last six overs, when India required sixty. Yuvraj had also found his groove by then and when Steyn pitched one up, Yuvraj met it with a pick-up over mid-off. Yuvraj was victim to another de Villiers catch, this time at long-off but for as long as Kohli remained, South Africa would have been uneasy.

That would have turned into despair when Parnell bowled the 17th over. India needed a big over, a 17-run over like South Africa had in their innings, and they got it. The runs came streakily - a six off a Suresh Raina top-edge, a four off an edge that went through third man and another off an inside-edge. India only needed 23 off the last three overs, Steyn was blunted and MS Dhoni even had enough time to block the final ball of the 19th over to allow Kohli to hit the winning runs.

South Africa could only dream of such luxury. They lacked it all tournament, with tense finishes underlining their campaign, and they lacked it again in the semi. Their innings started with the wicket of Quinton de Kock at the end of the first over and Hashim Amla and du Plessis had to start by rebuilding. Amla had some fortune early on, with an edge off Mohit Sharma flying through the vacant slip cordon, and was out as he found his touch. R Ashwin got one to turn in from outside legstump to peg back off and stun Amla.

Ashwin's first over and the two lbw appeals Ravindra Jadeja had off JP Duminy's failed attempts to sweep may have hinted at a raging turner but the surface was not that hostile. Duminy and du Plessis worked Raina and Jadeja around and dealt with Amit Mishra effectively. Du Plessis was particularly forceful, chipping Mishra over cover and slapping Raina for a one-handed six before bringing up his fifty with a lob over point.

He was eventually also bowled by Ashwin, with the ball coming off his body to hit the stumps. That brought de Villiers to the crease in the 14th over, leaving him with little time to make an impact. De Villiers scored just 10 but David Miller provided the late surge. South Africa took 38 runs off the last three overs of their innings but it was not enough.

Sri Lanka Make Final After Rain-Hit Game

Sri Lanka 160 for 6 (Thirimanne 44, Mathews 40) beat West Indies 80 for 4 (Bravo 30, Malinga 2-5) by 27 runs (D/L method)

West Indies banked on a frenetic finish, but Sri Lanka's bowlers had choked the chase to suffocation-point before heavy rain, then marble-sized hail, cut the innings short and sent Sri Lanka to yet another major final. When the heavens opened, West Indies had needed 81 from 37 balls, with six wickets remaining. The Duckworth-Lewis calculation had them 27 runs adrift.

It was always a dangerous ploy to begin the chase slowly, but doubly so with rain in the air, and against an attack that features better death bowlers than most in the competition. West Indies had actually scored 17 from the first, wayward over from Nuwan Kulasekara, but as an unambitious Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels hunkered down, they mustered only 17 from the next six.

Sri Lanka's spinners were allowed to settle, and soon, even the expansive shots were being mistimed. Dwayne Bravo tonked 30 for 19, as messages from the dugout implored Samuels to shift into overdrive, but when Bravo fell in the 14th over, West Indies' chances grew desperately slim.

Darren Sammy, who has been the finisher of the tournament, was about to face his first ball when the weather intruded. Two Lasith Malinga overs remained, however, and the required rate may have been beyond even Sammy's rapid blade.

Only Tillakaratne Dilshan prospered out of Sri Lanka's senior batsmen, and even he scored only at a run-a-ball, running two batsmen out, including himself, in the process. Kusal Perera's bold 26 from 12 and Angelo Mathews' canny 40 from 23 gave the innings its flourishes, while Lahiru Thirimanne's 44 from 35 was its substance.

Perera had dealt powerfully to Krishmar Santokie through the leg side, to set Sri Lanka off at more than 10 an over in the first four, before Santokie had him playing on to a leg cutter. Mahela Jayawardene, so often Sri Lanka's big-game performer, was dismissed cruelly before he had had the chance to make an impact with the bat. Dilshan called him through after chopping one to point, but sharp work in the infield and a good throw over the stumps caught Jayawardene short, before he faced a ball. Kumar Sangakkara's demise for 1 from six balls was of his own making. He pushed out early against a slower Samuel Badree ball and lobbed a simple catch to the bowler.

Dilshan lacked fluency, as he has done throughout the tournament, but combined sagely with Thirimanne for 42 to lift Sri Lanka from 49 for 3. He would run himself out too, haring out of the crease when there was no run to be had, but Thirimanne completed the recovery, striking two sixes - including an uppercut over third man off Andre Russell. Thirimanne's innings was as secure as it was well-paced, setting the team up for a death-over spike, with wickets in the bank.

Mathews had been tentative against Sunil Narine early in his innings, often having his outside edge beaten as he prodded. But having been 13 from 14 balls, he gathered pace against Santokie in the penultimate over, to help deliver a furious finish worth 32 in the final two overs. Mathews slammed Santokie over long-on first ball, before collecting a four in the same spot. Then, when West Indies strengthened the on side, he made room to loft a length ball over cover for four. A flat, fast six over cover next over was the shot of the innings, and a hooked four sent Sri Lanka to 160, before Mathews was athletically caught at deep midwicket by an advancing Bravo, last ball.

Sri Lanka v West Indies, World T20, semi-final

Sri Lanka and West Indies won three matches and lost one each in the group stages of the World Twenty20, and their overall batting and bowling stats are fairly similar. West Indies have the marginally better batting numbers, with a slightly higher scoring rate and average, while Sri Lanka have a marginally better bowling average. Both teams have taken exactly 31 wickets, which shows there's little to separate the two teams.

Both teams have had one match in which they leaked more than 170 runs - West Indies conceded 178 against Australia (but still managed to win) while Sri Lanka went for 190 against England. Both have also had a couple of excellent bowling performances: Sri Lanka shot out Netherlands for 39 and New Zealand for 60, while West Indies bowled out Bangladesh for 98 and Pakistan for 82.

In terms of scoring patterns, though, there is some difference. West Indies have relied heavily on boundaries: they've struck almost twice as many sixes as Sri Lanka, and have scored almost 66% of their runs in fours and sixes. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, have played about 15% fewer dot balls than West Indies.

Overall stats for SL and WI in the World T20 2014

 

                     Batting                                                                          Bowling

         

                    Runs scored       Average      Run rate     Wkts taken       Average        Econ rate

Sri Lanka     513                 23.31         7.97                31               14.48           6.87

West Indies 645                 26.87 8.09                31               15.74           6.36

How SL and WI have scored their runs

Team              1s/ 2s/ 3s        Dot-ball %         4s/ 6s          Boundary %

Sri Lanka        134/ 36/ 0           40.26             49/ 14            57.61

West Indies     136/ 32/ 1           47.29             57/ 27           65.77

The bowling comparison

Spin has played a prominent role in the campaigns of both teams so far. West Indies have had Samuel Badree at the start of the innings, and Sunil Narine through the middle and end overs, while Sachitra Senanayake and Ajantha Mendis were Sri Lanka's spin options through much of the tournament, before Rangana Herath made his tournament debut against New Zealand and completely blew them away with figures of 5 for 3.

Overall, West Indies have been more reliant on their spinners: they've bowled more overs than the seamers, and have accounted for 19 of their 31 wickets. Badree is the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, while Narine's economy rate of 4.50 is second only Bhuvneshwar Kumar's, among bowlers who have bowled at least 10 overs in the tournament. And then there has been Krishmar Santokie, the unsung hero for West Indies: no one's talked much about him, but he has taken six wickets at an average of 13.83 and an economy rate of 5.59.

For Sri Lanka, Nuwan Kulasekara has been superb, taking six wickets at 11.67 and an economy rate of 5.83, but Lasith Malinga has had a relatively quiet tournament, taking three wickets in 12 overs.

Pace and spin stats for SL and WI

               
                          Spin                                                                       Pace

              Overs  Wkts Average    Econ rate   Overs Wkts      Average    Econ rate
Sri Lanka       25.0   13          12.76      6.64       40.2   13        21.07   6.79
West Indies     41.4   19          12.31      5.61       35.0    12        20.91         7.17

In terms of their bowling performances in different stages of an innings, both Sri Lanka and West Indies have been superb during the Powerplay overs, taking plenty of wickets and restricting the runs. Both teams have taken 11 wickets in the first six overs - the most by any team in the tournament - though Sri Lanka have a slightly better economy rate. There's little to choose between their stats in the middle overs too, but in the last five, West Indies have a better economy rate. Sri Lanka have conceded 9.55 per over in the last five, thanks to their games against England and South Africa, when they went for 48 off 26 balls and 45 off 30 in the last five overs.

WI and SL with the ball so far in the tournament

 
                                    First 6 overs                 6.1 to 15 overs               Last 5 overs

               Average Econ rate      Average Econ rate      Average Econ rate
Sri Lanka        10.45   4.79                21.81            7.61         10.44   9.55
West Indies      11.90         5.45                25.60            7.11         10.10   6.06

West Indies' last five overs blitz

As mentioned earlier, West Indies have been strong boundary hitters in the tournament, and they've been especially destructive in the last five overs of their innings. Their run rate in the last five is 12.55, a period during which they've scored 247 runs in 118 balls. Darren Sammy alone has caused immeasurable damage to the opposition bowling figures during this period, scoring 99 off 39 balls during this period, at a staggering run rate of 15.23 per over. Dwayne Bravo hasn't done badly either, scoring 54 from 24. Sri Lanka's run rate of 9.83 in the last five isn't too bad (141 runs from 86 balls), but this is clearly a period that has belonged to West Indies.

Sri Lanka's strength has been more in the middle overs, when they've scored at a brisk pace without losing too many wickets. Mahela Jayawardene has been at the forefront in this aspect, scoring 74 off 50 balls during this period (run rate 8.88) and getting out just once.

WI and SL scoring patterns in the tournament so far
             
                          First 6 overs                   6.1 to 15 overs                    Last 5 overs
Team    Average        Run rate      Average  Run rate      Average Run rate
Sri Lanka       24.00           7.30        40.80              7.55         14.10   9.83
West Indies     53.33            6.66        21.63              6.61         24.70  12.55

The Mirpur factor

West Indies also have the advantage of having played all their matches in Mirpur - which is the venue for the semi-final - while Sri Lanka have played in Chittagong. However, conditions in Mirpur have favoured spin more than in Chittagong, which should suit Sri Lanka as well: spinners have bowled twice as many overs in Mirpur compared to Chittagong in the main stage of the tournament, and achieved better economy rates.

The head-to-head history

Sri Lanka and West Indies have played five Twenty20 internationals so far, all of them in the World Twenty20. While Sri Lanka won the first four, West Indies beat them in the big game, the final of the 2012 edition, by 36 runs. Four of the five matches between them have been won by the team batting first.

In matches between these two teams, Jayawardene has been the top batsman, scoring 202 runs at a strike rate of 133.77; Tillakaratne Dilshan isn't far behind in terms of aggregate, scoring 187 at a strike rate touching 160. West Indies' batsmen have been relatively quiet, with Chris Gayle scoring only 73 in four innings.

Among the bowlers, Mendis has stunning stats: in 20 overs he has figures of 13 for 82, an average of 6.30 and an economy rate of 4.10. Malinga, though, has leaked almost 9.50 runs per over against West Indies. Narine has played only two games against Sri Lanka, but has been his usual self, taking 3 for 32 from 7.4 overs.

Dhaka pitch a fresh challenge for SL, SA

Mirpur will provide more grip and turn for the spinners than the surface in Chittagong, which held together through most of the Super 10 stage. South Africa and Sri Lanka, therefore, will need to adapt quickly

As South Africa and Sri Lanka tread back to Dhaka for the final stages of the World T20, a lot of the focus will be on how quickly these two teams adjust to the surface at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. They have been presented with a perceptibly different set of conditions in Chittagong, which were challenging in their own right but didn't resemble those in Dhaka all that closely.

Both sides will play evening matches, which means they may have to contend with a bit of dew, but they can only guess the extent. What they can be sure of is that the surface will be dry and will become drier as the three hours progress. The pitches in Mirpur have been kind to spinners, affording them the luxury of considerable turn and some bounce.

By contrast, the surface at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium was faster than expected, with little turn for the spinners. The brown clay differs from the soil used in Mirpur, where the clay constituent is black, and it keeps its character better throughout the day; during the evening, the behaviour of black clay can be quite changeable, as seen in how much the scores and results varied between the 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm starts.

In Chittagong, leaving on a layer of grass helped retain a little extra moisture and further protection from drying came from a hessian cover used during the main part of the day. There were up to seven pitches on the square, with two main ones rotated for the fixtures at ZACS. Dew was a problem in some of the evening games, and it was unclear whether use of an anti-dew spray had any effect.

Rain also whips in off the sea without much notice, in Chittagong. As summer arrives and temperatures rise - the extra heat and humidity are indicators of rain - brief storms, such as the one that curtailed the game between England and New Zealand, are fairly common. This also played some part in keeping the pitch fresh. The grass ensured the ball skidded on, generally aiding run-scoring.

From a local point of view, it was confusing to see how the Chittagong pitch behaved. It has traditionally been a bastion of batting, and is a favourite of many Bangladeshi batsmen looking for a quick fix in their form. The Bangladesh team have often stated privately, and publicly at times, that the Chittagong pitches make them feel more at home, particularly in Test cricket. Recently, they drew Tests against New Zealand and Sri Lanka there, and their comfort level was quite evident.

Sri Lanka and South Africa can still expect runs in Dhaka, though. There haven't been too many low-scoring games here, apart from Afghanistan getting blown away for 72 or Australia's 86 all out against India. There were ten 150-plus scores with Pakistan making 191 and 190 against Australia and Bangladesh. Five teams have won chasing in ten games, twice in the last over. But teams that have won batting first have mostly won by big margins - 16, 73, 50, 73 and 84 runs.

Three of the top five wicket-takers in Mirpur have been spinners - Amit Mishra, R Ashwin and Samuel Badree - and that was along expected lines. Umar Gul and Al-Amin Hossain were the seamers with most wickets, but that was more due to their variations and diligence than the pitch.

Teams batting second have made faster starts and hit more sixes (16 as opposed to 8) in powerplays than while batting first.

At the start of the Super 10 group stage, New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum perfectly summed up the difference between the two venues.

"In this set-up [Chittagong], I don't anticipate spin will play a great role from the point of seeing the ball turn and bounce past the bat," he said. "Good spinners still manage to play a vital role in T20 cricket but it just won't be quite the same role that we'll see up the road in Dhaka."

Only on the last day of competition at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury did the pitch begin slow and offer turn, as New Zealand finally lost out to the conditions. The absence of dew, possibly due to a spray used on the outfield, gave Sri Lanka the advantage, according to stand-in captain Lasith Malinga, and may have helped prepare them for the Dhaka leg of the competition.

"We were worried about the dew factor but fortunately for us there was no dew on that day and it worked to our advantage because the spinners managed to get a grip on the ball and take wickets," Malinga said.

When asked about the difference between the two venues, early in the tournament, Sri Lanka's regular captain Dinesh Chandimal had a succinct response. "We are looking forward to Dhaka."

West Indies dish out thashing to enter semis

Pakistan v West Indies, World T20, Group 2, Mirpur
West Indies 166 for 6 (Bravo 46, Sammy 42*) beat Pakistan 82 (Badree 3-10, Narine 3-16) by 84 runs

West Indies scored 84 runs in their first 15 overs. They nearly doubled their total after that, smashing 82 off the last 30 balls of the innings. No Full Member team had ever conceded so many in the last five overs of a Twenty20 game.

It remained to be seen which part of West Indies' innings, the first three-quarters or the final quarter, would make a bigger impact on the result as Pakistan began their chase, in a knockout game to determine who would take on Sri Lanka in the first semi-final on Thursday. In the end, West Indies could have declared after 15 overs and still won.

The timing of the assault by Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy - they put on 71 in 32 balls, having come together at 81 for 5 in the 14th over - was a knockout blow to Pakistan. You could tell by the way Sammy pumped his fists after pounding Saeed Ajmal for a straight six in the 19th over. It wasn't arrogance or bravado. It was adrenaline.

It surged through the entire West Indies team, and some of it was still coursing through Krishmar Santokie's blood when he pinged Ahmed Shehzad's front toe plumb in front of middle stump with an inswinging yorker, first ball of the chase.

Shehzad, an unbeaten centurion in his previous game, was out for a duck. Pakistan never recovered. They were yet to take a run off the bat when Kamran Akmal faced up to Samuel Badree for the start of the second over, and two more dot balls provoked a scoop straight into wide mid-off's hands.

The pressure, in Badree's next two overs, got to Umar Akmal and Shoaib Malik as well. Both were stumped, one foxed by a googly, one getting nowhere near the pitch of a legbreak. Pakistan were 13 for 4, and slipping to a painful defeat.

It had started so well for Pakistan. Their bowlers were on target, their fielders were buzzing, and West Indies were barely switched on. As usual, they weren't rotating the strike.

Before this match, singles and twos - they hadn't yet taken a three - had constituted 32% of West Indies' runs in the tournament. Their percentage wasn't just the lowest among all the Super 10 sides, but an outlier as well. Eight of the teams had scored 40% or more of their runs by actually running them.

The Powerplay brought West Indies the first three of their tournament, and four singles. Not all of their 24 dot balls, though, were the result of hitting to fielders. Some of them came via Sohail Tanvir's awkward angle across the right-handers, exaggerated by some late away-swing.

Having been beaten three times in a row - the last two balls of the second over and the fourth ball of the fourth, when he came back on strike - Dwayne Smith tried to run the ball to third man and only managed an edge to the keeper.

By then, West Indies had already lost Chris Gayle, who came hesitantly down the pitch and thrust a hesitant bat at an offbreak from Mohammad Hafeez. After that stumping, Hafeez's T20 record against Gayle looked like this: six balls, one run, three wickets.

At some points, it appeared as though West Indies were better off not taking the singles. Lendl Simmons, who kept the innings going in the early stages with a 29-ball 31, was out twice to the same ball. He wasn't given when he was struck on the back pad trying to cut a skidder from Shahid Afridi, but the third umpire had an easier decision to make when Umar Gul's direct hit caught him short as he tried to sneak a leg bye.

Gul nearly had another run-out when Bravo cut Afridi straight to him and took off for a quick single. His throw just missed the stumps at the bowlers' end. Either side of that, West Indies had lost Marlon Samuels and Ramdin. West Indies were five down, Pakistan were on top, and their spinners were rushing through the overs.

West Indies took 23 from the 16th and 17th overs, but their run rate had only just gone above six an over. Pakistan were still in control. When Bravo hit the first two balls of the 18th over for six, though, something seemed to change. Gul had sent down two poor balls - length and back-of-a-length - and followed up with a wide as he tried to compensate with the yorker. That over went for 21.

Even Ajmal was rattled. The pair in the middle was powerful and seemingly irresistible, but Ajmal, trying to hurry them by bowling quicker and flatter, completely lost his length. Bravo smashed him for two big sixes, and Sammy hit him over his head for another before drilling one surgically between extra cover and the sweeper for four.

Four years ago in Gros Islet, Michael Hussey had taken 23 runs off five balls from Ajmal to send Pakistan hurtling out of the 2010 World T20. This over cost Ajmal one more run, and sealed Pakistan's fate in the same way.

Hafeez apologises for Pakistan performance

Muhammed Hafeez was asked pretty direct questions after Pakistan failed to make the World T20 semi-finals with a heavy defeat to West Indies.

He was asked if he was considering resigning as T20 captain and if he was the No. 3 batsman the side needed. He was asked why Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik were persevered with. He was asked if the Pakistan team management was good enough. In reply, Hafeez apologized to the people of Pakistan for his team's unsuccessful campaign and said that the entire team was collectively responsible.

"After a loss, such things come up," Hafeez said. "But you have to keep in mind that no team wins because of any one individual or loses because of any one individual. It was a good display overall, but in this match, we didn't play well. We take collective responsibility. It's not one person's responsibility. The entire management, all the players, are equally responsible.

"The management has worked hard with the players. All the plans, they were able to reach the players, gave us all the practice. At the end of the day, the players have to deliver, they have to execute the plans. In this tournament, especially in this match, if the execution wasn't good, then the responsibility lies with the players, not the management. But as a team, we didn't do well. All of us have to accept it.

"I apologise to the people of Pakistan as captain and on behalf of the team that we couldn't live up to their expectations. But these things happen in cricket. You are the same person who plays good and bad cricket. But it is important that you take the good things going forward and maintain that."

There were few good things for Pakistan against West Indies. They gave away too many runs at the death, lost too many early wickets, and could not get going in the chase at all. Hafeez said his batsmen's shot selection had been wrong. "The plans were in place but once the pressure got on to them, our best bowlers Saeed Ajmal and Umar Gul didn't do the basics right. They leaked too many runs towards the end. We didn't get the momentum in our favour.

"We played some of the shots which were not there and losing too many wickets in the first six overs really cost the game. The batsmen have to take the responsibility. There was never any one innings that came forward. When the momentum is not with you, you get to see this kind of cricket where even good teams can collapse."

Hafeez had a disappointing World T20 personally as well, making 55 runs from four innings at a strike-rate of 72.36. While admitting that he could not perform in this tournament, Hafeez felt that overall, he had done alright in the position. "From the last one and a half years, I have been doing this for the team, playing at No. 3 because the management want me to do this and I have been doing very well at this. Unfortunately, in this tournament, I couldn't get the runs I wanted to. It happens sometimes in cricket - you try your level best but things don't work for you. This is one such tournament. I am disappointed with my own form, I couldn't score runs for the team. You have to accept it, you have to move forward from here."

When asked if moving forward meant dropping those who had not performed, Hafeez said that was the domain of the selectors. "Good and bad, you must take them together and look to the future. The selectors will look at it, they will see who are the players that need to be replaced. That is their job. The team is selected by the selection committee, but the responsibility is not any one individual's. If the players haven't played well, then they must take the responsibility."

Malik and Akmal had a poor World T20 as well, making 52 and 48 runs respectively in four innings each. Hafeez acknowledged that they had fallen short of expectations. "They will also be sad. The selectors have trusted and picked them for a big tournament like this. But they didn't live up to those expectations. They are good players, they have played well for Pakistan but you are right, in this tournament there were not good performances from them. But Kamran's keeping is a positive. He has kept well, there have always been question marks over his keeping. Unfortunately, as an opener, he didn't bat as well. As for Shoaib Malik, he is a senior player, both haven't done very well."

West Indies bring back their fear factor

The ultimate entertainers, West Indies now have the batting power to match the threat their fast bowlers brought in the 1980s

West Indies may have a formula for T20, or they may just let it flow through them. Modern players often talk about going out on the field and expressing themselves but it appears to be only the West Indies team that truly do so, at least in this format of the game.

Whether dancing to calypso, Korean pop or some local folk number, West Indies' style has proved just as catchy as it was two years ago. The energy levels as they celebrated a sensational torpedoing of Pakistan were a little down on the party-hard reaction to beating Australia a few days ago, with just a few perfunctory giddy-ups for the cameras, but West Indies emanate conviction that their method is as sound as their arms are strong. With or without all the carry on, they are the World T20 entertainers.

Darren Sammy has become as powerful a symbol of this as Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, stars of their triumphant 2012 World T20. Tony Cozier has written about his resurgence in the finisher's role - innings in Auckland and Antigua, Barbados and Mirpur over the last few months underscore the point with all the emphasis of one of Sammy's flat sixes - and here the captain gave another tingling display of his dead-eye death batting.

As Saeed Ajmal, the premier spinner in this format, was crunched back down the ground in the 19th over, Sammy celebrated banishing the ball from his presence by pumping his fist back and forth, as if ramming home the metaphorical advantage. Ajmal had already gone the distance twice before, at the hands of Dwayne Bravo, who also belaboured Umar Gul - the second-most successful T20 bowler around - for consecutive sixes. Bravo was run out at the start of the final over but Sammy drove remorselessly on, thumping and jiving.

Darren Sammy has proved to be a brutal force

Asked previously about West Indies preference for dots over dash, sixes over singles, Sammy said it was just a natural inclination as to how to play the game. Suresh Raina belittled the approach, to which Sammy responded: "If he thinks we are only six-hitters, then stop us from hitting sixes." India managed it, convincingly; Pakistan did not. Of West Indies' 166 for 6, 51 came in singles, twos and a three; 106 flowed in boundaries.

"In those situations, the best of them all go for runs," Bravo said of the disdain with which Ajmal and Gul were treated. "We had nothing to lose, we were under pressure. So I said to Sammy, as long as we stay still, don't worry about picking Ajmal or trying to rotate, just stay still, keep our eyes on the ball, we're powerful enough if we get close to the ball to hit it over the ropes. Our aim was to get at least 135 to 140 with the start we got but the self-belief we have, the form and the power we have, the momentum went with us, we finished positive and got to 160."

The power of West Indies' T20 batting - missing Kieron Pollard, too - has replaced the fear factor of their fast bowling in Tests 30 years ago. They use it to bludgeon opponents, intimidate them, shrugging off the chance to run ones and twos in favour of full-frontal assault. As with Samuels' tinderbox innings in the final of the last World T20, this match reinforced the sense that they are rarely ever out of a game.

From 84 for 5 at the end of the 15th over, Bravo and Sammy ran amok for another 82 runs from 30 balls. Perhaps the only way they could get better (other than jogging just a couple more singles) would be to implement a pre-War Test trick and reverse the batting order, somehow convincing Sammy to play each five-over block as if it were the last five overs - with the fall back of Gayle, Samuels and the rest to come in if he failed. Bradman would surely approve.

"This is the first game that we lost wickets in the first six overs, so we were trying to consolidate but at the same time whenever we got a boundary we keep losing a wicket again," Bravo said. "So in the middle overs, it calmed down. We've proved ourselves, in Twenty20 cricket we know how the game plays, if you take the game right down to the end anything is possible, as long as we don't give up and keep faith and have that self-belief that if we bat 20 overs we're going to get a decent total.

"But we have to bat 20 overs, so at no point can we let what happens in the middle overs get the better of us, that comes with experience and self-belief. We still had Andre Russell and Sunil Narine to bat. It's good we did not panic at 84 for 5 and take the game all the way down to the end. We showed in the Australia game what the difference can make as long as we have clean hitters at the wicket, so that's our aim, that's our strong point and we use it to the best of our ability."

Bravo, who is enjoying a purple patch in West Indies maroon, spoke of the team's passion and enjoyment for the game, something else that Twenty20 has helped to resurrect in the Caribbean. "All West Indians are like that, we just want to entertain our fans, most of all the people of Bangladesh come out every game and support the tournament so it's important that we give them their money's worth," he said. If West Indies' manage to carry off the title again, it will be in the manner of all great entertainers: leaving us wanting more.

New Zealand blindsided as spin takes hold

After removing Sri Lanka for 119 it all looked set for New Zealand to book a semi-final place, but things were a little different in Chittagong's final match of the tournament

When Brendon McCullum skipped towards Rangana Herath and aimed a scything blow down the ground, it carried the intent of a team's star player embossing his mark on the game. What followed certainly set the tone. Unfortunately for New Zealand, it was Herath who turned out to be the match-winner.

Herath had already executed a run-out off his own bowling when McCullum arrived at the crease. New Zealand's captain defended a couple before Herath's fifth delivery went on with the arm to strike the pad, resulting in an excited lbw appeal. The next was tossed up and this time it dipped, gripped and slipped past McCullum's outside edge, leaving him short of his ground. New Zealand had been struck a blow they would not recover from.

In Herath's following over, still having not conceded a run, three consecutive deliveries thudded into Ross Taylor's pad, the last of which no umpire could deny. With a short leg and a slip in place, his next ball insinuated its way through a befuddled Jimmy Neesham and New Zealand were four down, pinned likes flies on a windshield by the dawning realisation that this was the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury pitch, Jim, but not as we know it.

Two tracks have been in rotation in Chittagong, with four matchdays apiece. The pace and bounce had encouraged McCullum to suggest New Zealand, South Africa and England would prefer the conditions, particularly in the evening when dew helped the ball zip on. Sri Lanka were spectacularly burned by England and Alex Hales on Thursday but, after two weeks of competition, the ground suddenly shifted under New Zealand's feet. Their misfortune, perhaps, was to face a must-win game on a worn pitch against the only subcontinental side in the group.

McCullum certainly felt a little blindsided, though he stressed that the better team on the night had won. Winning the toss and then bowling out Sri Lanka for 119 seemed to have given New Zealand a brightly lit path to the semi-finals but the ball held up a lot more than previously, while the absence of dew meant Sri Lanka's spinners were not handicapped in the same way they were against England.

"The wicket was completely different," McCullum said. "We anticipated it to skid on as it has done right throughout every game that has been played here and every team that has won the toss has wanted to chase at night. We expected that to happen but it was really dry, almost a little bit underprepared, the way it played towards the end, and we didn't adapt our games quick enough.

"There were some soft dismissals, poor options, myself included and we couldn't find the balance between being aggressive enough to get us a start chasing a small total, and conserving wickets and trying to stem the flow of their momentum. In the end the team that won and qualified for the semi-finals is a far better team than us."

The groundstaff had been using a spray to try and reduce the effect of dew but this appeared to be the first evening match on which it had any affect. "We found out midway through the game that the outfield was sprayed for anti-dew, which obviously hasn't been done throughout the rest of the tournament, so that was a bit of a surprise as well," McCullum said.

"I think as long as the conditions are consistent throughout, so the teams can get a strategy and an understanding - it's disappointing to see them change so much in one game but we should have been better than that as well. Certainly no sour grapes from our point of view, we certainly should have chased down 120 and only getting halfway is nowhere near good enough."

With Herath barking out time like an army drill instructor, McCullum's side were whirled into oblivion, bowled out for the lowest total by a Full Member side in T20 internationals, despite Kane Williamson making 42 - more than two thirds of their runs. Williamson was New Zealand's leading batsman at the tournament, as more explosive team-mates such as Martin Guptill, Corey Anderson - who did not bat against Sri Lanka after dislocating his finger - and to a lesser extent McCullum failed to fire.

"Batting at No.3 and the role that I've played for us for a period of time, we rely on me to make contributions and running down the wicket and getting stumped for nought trying to create some intensity in that first six overs was not ideal," McCullum said. "At two down, I still thought we were going to chase 120 but I'm disappointed not to make a contribution and to get out like that as well. I still thought we should have chased it... at least got a lot closer."

Defeat revived memories of New Zealand's recent troubles in Bangladesh, where they were whitewashed in ODIs for the second time late last year. They were not among the World T20 favourites, nor were they the side a majority of the crowd came to cheer on. The dreaded presence of the Mexican wave rippling around the stands suggested how easy Sri Lanka had made look what should have been a difficult game.

Having stumbled short of the winning post against South Africa earlier in the group, when they only need seven off the final over with five wickets in hand, McCullum acknowledged that improvements would be required if New Zealand are to produce the desired challenge on home soil at the 2015 World Cup.

"I said right at the outset that we were going to have to play well, right from the start of the tournament. We're not good enough to only play at 80%. There's been some things that irked me throughout the tournament and I'll be addressing those later. But I thought our cricket smarts weren't there, when you're playing on these surfaces that are foreign to what we're used to and the nature of T20, you've got to be very smart and decisive with your decision-making as well.

"You can't afford to be lacking in cricket intelligence. That's what I think we lacked in this tournament and hence we coughed up some opportunities to win games that we should have. Something is going to have to change at some stage, otherwise we'll keep turning up a tournaments, winning a couple, losing a couple and never claiming any silver. That's not what we play for and something's going to have to change if New Zealand's going to start winning major tournaments."

Today's match: India vs Australia

India

   

Australia

                                     WHO IS GOING TO WIN......!

Teams:

India (From): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny



Australia (From): David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, George Bailey(c), Brad Hodge, Brad Haddin(w), James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc, Doug Bollinger, James Muirhead, Daniel Christian, Brad Hogg, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron White

Venue:

Mirpur on Mar 30, 2014 from 19:30 Local | 13:30 GMT

          India would take on Australia in the 28th T20 match of the T20 World Cup Schedule tournament. The match will be hosted at Mirpur. Schedule time for T20 match is 19:30 Local Time (13:30 GMT). The match of AUS vs IND is schedule to be played in the month of March 2014. The schedule match between IND vs AUS would be Day/Night and will be played under flood light condition at Mirpur. 

De villiers lead South Africa into Semis

South Africa 196 for 5 (De Villiers 69, Amla 56) beat England (Hales 38, Parnell 3-31) by three runs

AB de Villiers smacked an unbeaten 69 off 28 balls as South Africa beat England by three runs to enter the semi-finals of the World T20

Smart stats

• AB de Villiers reached his 50 off 23 balls, the fastest by a South African in T20Is. The previous record was 24 balls, by Morne van Wyk against India in 2011. The fastest in all T20Is is 12 balls, by Yuvraj Singh.
• The last 14 balls of de Villiers' innings brought him 48 runs; the first 14 fetched 21. Before this match, de Villiers had scored 81 from eight innings against England in T20Is.
• The 54-run partnership between de Villiers and David Miller came off 4.1 overs, South Africa's fourth-fastest partnership of 50 or more runs in T20Is.
• Hashim Amla's 56 is his first half-century in 25 innings in T20Is.
• The opening stand of 90 between Amla and Quinton de Kock is the third-highest by any team in this tournament, and South Africa's fifth-best in all T20Is.
• South Africa's total of 196 for 5 is the highest of this tournament.
• South Africa conceded more than 60 in the Powerplay overs for the second time in successive games in Chittagong: after going for 63 against Netherlands, they leaked 62 in this match, which is the fourth highest in this tournament. The highest is 91 by Netherlands against Ireland.

AB de Villiers returned to South Africa's Twenty20 captaincy in inspirational fashion by producing his country's fastest fifty and assuring his side of a place in the semi-finals of World T20. England were eliminated, foundering in the face of the biggest total of the tournament, their batsmen never really threatening to win it but doing well to take the game so close.

The highest successful chase against South Africa in any T20 was only 169, by New Zealand in East London, the additional 28 runs needed here a powerful indication of England's task. It did not matter how decent the pitch, how much a wet ball hampered the bowlers or skidded past the fielders, this was a demand too far for an England batting side that had already rescued victory against Sri Lanka and could not quite find a repeat.

As for De Villiers, he can rarely have looked more combative. Forced to assume the captaincy because of a one-game ban for Faf du Plessis for over-rate violations, he lost the toss but hardly put a foot wrong after that. His half-century came in 23 balls, in all he made 69 not out from 28, dropped only once, in the final over, when Moeen Ali seemed to lose the ball momentarily in the floodlights.

South Africa, who lost headway in the third quarter of the innings, racked up 55 from the last three overs, with de Villiers' innings increasingly characterised by decisive moves across his stumps and flays through the leg side. Bowlers, stringently punished for too much width, were not blessed with options.

South Africa had not just been disrupted by du Plessis's absence, Wayne Parnell had also been summoned by a Mumbai court with the tournament in full swing to answer drug-related charges occurring during his 2012 IPL campaign. "Unfortunate, but we must respect the law," had been South Africa's measured response, but they will have delighted at how Parnell returned with figures of 3 for 31, and no allegations of artificial stimulation in sight. Alex Hales and Moeen Ali were dismissed in successive balls.

Hales, who had registered England's first T20 hundred in the victory against Sri Lanka, had attacked the huge target with a stately disdain, reaching 38 from 22 balls before slicing to deep cover. By the time that Eoin Morgan fell cutting Imran Tahir, England were sorely in need of a big over. They found it with 17 off an over from Beuran Hendricks, Buttler's straight six beginning to find its range, but his reverse sweep against Tahir fell obligingly to Albie Morkel at backward point.

Tahir's return of 2 for 27 was a masterly display of legspin in defiance of the wet ball. Morkel dislocated a finger in taking the catch and his yelp of pain minutes later as the physio popped it back in the viewing area was not quite drowned out by South Africa's excited anticipation of an impending victory.

England were ahead of South Africa's rate almost throughout their innings, but they lacked for a de Villiers finale. Suitably, their chase was all but lost with the captain's running catch from mid off to dismiss Chris Jordan. Ravi Bopara clipped the rate to 22 off the final over, but the bowler was Steyn, with a fearsome Mohican haircut to boot, Bopara mis-hit his first ball skywards and that was about that.

The match was billed, essentially, as a quarterfinal, although that assessment was slightly insulting to Netherlands as it assumed England would beat them in their final match. As likely as that might be, Netherlands have had their moments in Bangladesh.

For all de Villiers' brilliance, and all the closeness of the result, it was an unsatisfying, disjointed affair, the impetus of the game disturbed by two brief floodlight failures in South Africa's innings and periodic ball changes and outfield drying on another humid, dew-ridden night. The saving grace was that the ball came onto the bat so the cricket, when it happened, was entertaining, but it all took more than four hours to conclude.

England's focus will rest on an accident-prone over from Jade Dernbach, the 18th, which cost 26 and gave South Africa the propulsion they needed. He began badly with two overpitched gifts for David Miller, almost had Miller caught down the leg side by Buttler, bowled a beamer with a wet ball (the ball was immediately changed), delivered three wides, one of which de Villiers made contact with but was wrongly called by umpire Rod Tucker. To round things off, a slower ball was planted out of the ground by de Villiers to bring up his fifty.

South Africa's other innings of note came from Hashim Amla. Extraordinarily, it was his first T20I half-century in his 25th match. For England, who still have memories of his serene Test triple-century at The Oval two years ago, the statistic was impossible to comprehend.

Buttler rued it more than most. There had been over-excitable talk in England that he might even press for a Test wicketkeeping spot this summer if Matt Prior did not rediscover his form of old. For all Buttler's promise, such talk is premature. He missed a simple stumping off Moeen Ali, who drew Amla down the pitch and beat his attempted whip over long on, only for Buttler to fumble the opportunity.

As Amla already had 19 from 12 balls, having flicked Dernbach imperiously over square leg for six, Buttler needed no elucidation on his error, but he got one anyway as Amla repeated the shot, this time perfectly, and plopped the ball into the crowd. By the time Amla swung Stuart Broad to deep midwicket, South Africa's opening stand was worth 90 in 10.5 overs. Buttler gained some recompense by stumping Quinton de Kock.

Duminy's exit was careless; comical even. He hacked Jordan into the leg side where the catch fell short of Ravi Bopara, but Bopara threw swiftly to the keeper's end and Duminy, who had dropped his bat as he evaded Jordan while turning for a second, was a yard short as he dived hopelessly for the crease. De Villiers was at the other end though, and his defining innings had barely begun.

India crush Bangladesh to qualify for semis

On paper, it will be a `David versus Goliath` contest as Bangladesh are no match for an Indian team who are now being considered as serious contenders for the title.

But the fickleness of the shortest format means that a gritty fight from the Tigers can`t be ruled out against some of the biggest names in world cricket. On current form too, there has been a big difference between the two teams as they get ready to lock horns at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

The Indian team`s confidence has certainly shot up after their wins against quality opposition like Pakistan and defending champions West Indies. In both matches, it was only one team that was in total control and that was Team India.

 For Bangladesh, the campaign has gone haywire since their loss to Hong Kong in Chittagong in the qualifying phase. The batsmen haven`t been able to score runs and the fielding had been awful at times. In such a situation, it becomes all the more difficult for a team to just go ahead and compete.

India board chief on brink after court drubbing

NEW DELHI: India's beleaguered cricket chief N. Srinivasan faced growing calls to resign from within his own ranks Wednesday after the Supreme Court warned that they would otherwise order him to quit. The day after a panel of judges slammed Srinivasan's "nauseating" refusal to resign as cricket board president while allegations of illegal betting and spot-fixing are investigated, commentators said the man regarded as the most powerful in world cricket had suffered a "sledgehammer" blow.
Srinivasan, who takes over in July as head of the International Cricket Council, has yet to make a statement on the judges' comments over investigations into a scandal which involves his son-in-law. But in a sign that his iron grip is dramatically loosening, a vice president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) described Srinivasan's position as "untenable". "Mr Srinivasan's position may have become untenable as the BCCI president following the observations made by the Supreme Court," vice president Ravi Savant said. "He should step down, else the BCCI and Indian cricket will lose credibility."
Another vice president, Shivlal Yadav, also hinted that Srinivasan's days were numbered, saying the BCCI would decide how to proceed once the court issues a firm order, possibly as early as Thursday. "BCCI will wait for the top court's order to decide its future course of action," Yadav, who has already indicated that he is willing to step up, told the NDTV network. During Tuesday's hearing in New Delhi, Justice A.K. Patnaik said there could be "no fair investigation" into the betting scandal while Srinivasan remained at the helm of the board. "If you don't step down, then we will pass an order," added Patnaik, who heads the two-judge panel. The bench is looking at a damning report that it commissioned last year into wrongdoing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) following a betting and spot-fixing scandal that rocked the Twenty20 tournament. Released in February, the report concluded that Srinivasan's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan could be guilty of illegal betting on IPL games.
The report, by a panel headed by retired judge Mukul Mudgal, suggested Meiyappan may have passed on team information to outsiders for illegal betting, but did not specify what information or to whom. "There are no definite findings by the Mudgal committee but the allegations are of a very serious nature," Patnaik told the court. Meiyappan was the team principal of Chennai Super Kings, an IPL franchise owned by Srinivasan's India Cements company and captained by national skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The scandal has generated huge media coverage in the cricket-crazy country, dominating some newspaper frontpages less than a fortnight before a general election. "SC tongue-lashing sets stage for Srini's exit" was the front-page headline of The Times of India, while the Mail Today said Srinivasan had been "given out" by the court.
Several leading cricketers have piled in to demand Srinivasan's resignation, including the World Cup-winning former Test star Mohinder Amarnath who said no one was "bigger than the game" . "He must respect the law and do what the Supreme Court wants him to do," Amarnath told AFP. "He needs to step down."
Sharda Ugra, a senior editor with the influential Cricinfo website, said there appeared no way out for Srinivasan. "His position has been untenable for a while," Ugra told AFP. "The court has come down with a sledgehammer. I am not sure there can be a way out. The BCCI cannot afford to annoy the Supreme Court anymore." The court was due to reconvene on Thursday although it was not clear whether the judges would carry through their threat to impose an order for Srinivasan's resignation then. India is the most powerful country in world cricket due to its vast television audience, which enables the board to generate almost 70 percent of the game's revenues. But the BCCI has often found itself at the centre of controversy, with Srinivasan's predecessor Lalit Modi now living in exile in London as he battles corruption charges.

History of Cricket

    Cricket is one of the oldest games in the world and it continues to thrive today. The game is said to have originated in the 16th century with international matches being played since 1844. There is really no official documentation as to when Cricket started or even where it started. Much of the information that has been piece together has state that Cricket was a game that was thought up in the Saxon or Norman times by children living in the Weal, this is a thick area of woos an clearings in the South East area of England that is across Kent an Sussex.
Cricket started out as a child's game but the adult version of the game was said to have started in the 17th century. Some speculate that Cricket is a take off of a games called Bowls or lawn bowling with the slight variation that a bat is use to keep the ball from reaching the target almost similar to baseball. The basic tools use to play Cricket were thought to be matte lump of sheep's wool to be use as the ball and a stick, crook or farm too was use as the bat.
The very first mention of the games was in a 1598 court case where ownership of a plot of land was being contested in Surrey. An older man ha testified that he and his friends has played a game called creckett on the land over 50 years prior when they attended school there. In 1611, was the first time that an adult had mentioned playing the game rather than attending a church mass. Since then there has been many mentioned of the game in the English Civil War and then after the war ended a new Puritan Government had put a stop to more active sports like Cricket and Football.
Cricket began to grow after the Restoration of 1660 and this is when the game first attracted gamblers to the game. In 1664, the Gaming Act was passed and it put a limit on the stakes of a game to 100 pounds. By the end of the 17th century Cricket was a game that was betted on daily. In the 17th Century, North America was introduced to the game through the English Colonies. By the 18th century it had passed through other parts of the world.

Today, Cricket is still a major sport that still attracts players, spectators and even media interest as well. The ICC or the International Cricket Conference has over time expanded the development of the game and it hopes to produce more national teams that are capable of competing at the Test level. In June of 2001, the ICC has brought the Test Championship Table and in October 2002, the One Day International Championship Table was introduced.
The newest addition to Cricket is the Twenty20, this a style of Cricket that was first seen in England for professional inter county teams and it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board. If you have never seen a game of Cricket, go see one; it really is very fun and exciting....