Cricket Chitralu Unlimited

Cricket Highlights: India v South Africa - 1st ODI

2010-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

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Wins literally don't come closer than this. India managed to hold their nerve with a thrilling one-run victory over South Africa at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, as the visitors almost upstaged a difficult target of 299. Jacques Kallis' all-round brilliance seemed to be in vain until an astonishing rearguard assault from Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn almost embarrassed India. The pair blasted 65 in 38 balls and fell marginally short of the target, with Parnell run out off the final ball off the innings. A breathless encounter saw India's lineup contribute whole-heartedly to a total of 298.

South Africa's innings, by contrast, seemed to be a largely one-man show until the barnstorming tail-end thrash. But India should be disappointed with their bowlers, particularly S Sreesanth, who regularly slip up in defense of big totals. The sad truth is that Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar, both with economies of over 5 an over, are two of India's most economical pacers. But it would be churlish to overlook a magnificent encounter under lights. Herschelle Gibbs and Loots Bosman survived a working-over by Nehra, who should have had Gibbs caught behind, before launching into the lesser bowlers. Gibbs greeted Sreesanth with a 17-run over, and Bosman hit 29 off just 23 before swinging and missing off a wicket-to-wicket Kumar delivery (58 for 1).

The pick of the bowlers, though, was left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, combining parsimony with probing areas in a ten-over return of 2 for 29. He started off with a maiden to Gibbs, and then had him caught at long-off (64 for 2). AB de Villiers played a typically rapid hand, before cutting and missing at a Jadeja arm-ball that castled the stumps. The middle order subsided with causing trouble, Yusuf Pathan also bowling a useful spell, and Kallis, playing superbly to score a 60-ball fifty, was in danger of being stranded.

India vs Sri Lanka 4th ODI Highlights | Kolkata

2009-12-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

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Sri Lanka vs India 3rd ODI Highlights | Cuttack

2009-12-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

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Watch cricket highlights: Sri Lanka vs India 3rd ODI at Cuttack played on December 21, 2009.

SL 239 all out Dilshan 41 (18), Tharanga 73 (81), Sangakkara 46 (41) | Ravindra Jadeja 4, Ishanth Nehra 2 each
India win in the 43rd over: Sachin Tendulkar 96 no (104), Sehwag 44 (28), Gambhir 32 (52), Karthik 36 (32)

A minor personal victory for Sangakkara in denying Tendulkar a hundred. This has some history going back to the 1st Test where Sanga appeared upset at Sachin and VVS batting on (despite offering a draw) so that Tendulkar could reach his hundred. Doubt if Sachin gave a damn though today – he’s got too many hundreds to care and the game was won by then. Sanga counted on the eccentricities of Karthik to come to the fore by bringing in the field and if there was anyone in the Indian team he could count on to do his will it had to be Dinesh. The funniest bit was Karthik’s guilty look after the six; almost like he couldn’t help himself and then regretted it. A friend of mine keeps saying “a hundred is a hundred” but a hundred is a hundred only if there is a fair bit of the game left, in the sense that a 90-out could have been a big-hundred-notout.

Cricket Highlights: Sri Lanka v India - 1st ODI

2009-12-15T14:18:00.000-08:00

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Live Cricket: Sri Lanka v India - 1st ODI

2009-12-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

Australia vs India 6th ODI Highlights

2009-11-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

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Sachin Tendulkar 175 vs Australia | Hyderabad 2009

2009-11-07T08:48:00.001-08:00

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Cricket Highlights: India v Australia - 5th ODI

2009-11-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

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Watch cricket highlights: India vs Australia, the 5th ODI played on November 5, 2009 at Hyderabad

Haven’t felt this downed by a match since France lost the football World Cup, and a decade earlier – the Chennai game vs Pakistan. But I shall have my vengeance – over the next few days, will be putting out some Tendulkar specials.

Cricket Highlights: India v Australia - 4th ODI

2009-11-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

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And they prove it again! Team India is indeed capable of surprising everyone with their brilliance and insipidness, alike! After having a perfect day at office in Delhi, the Indian batsmen lost their way completely at Mohali and handed a 24 run victory to Australia. The batting was a total contrast of their effort in the field. Neither were there any significant partnerships nor a big score by any individual. Sachin Tendulkar top-scored with 40. As a result, India were dismissed for 226 inside 47 overs. Things looked pretty easy in the beginning, as Sehwag set the PCA stadium on fire straight away. He started the innings off with a lofted smash over the covers off a Johnson half-volley. The fireworks continued unabated, as the ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ slaughtered Mitchell Johnson, punishing him ruthlessly for his line outside the off-stump. He slashed the ball in every possible direction hitting seven boundaries in no time. But the Sehwag blitzkrieg came to a tame end as he got held out in the deep after scoring scintillating 30 runs of just 19 balls.

Tendulkar too, treated the Mohali crowd with his sheer genius- be it his trademark back-foot punch past the point boundary, a powerful pull through the fine-leg fence or a gorgeous, perfect cover-drive- and all they could do was gasp for more. But that was not to be, as the Master Blaster fell prey to a rough LBW decision by umpire Asoka de Silva. Virat Kohli, who came in for injured Gambhir, couldn’t make the most of the opportunity as he fell caught behind to Bollinger. The onus was yet again on the Dhoni-Yuvraj duo after Sachin’s dismissal but just when their partnership was looking to settle down, Ricky Ponting affected a lightening fast direct-hit to send Yuvraj packing. India were now in trouble, with four men gone for 113 and still a long way to go. At 7 down for 177, requiring slightly more than a run-a-ball, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar got together, with all of India hoping for a repeat performance from their first match, when they shared an 84 run stand to bring India to the brink of victory.

However, this was not to be, as Harbhajan was unable to repeat his previous heroics, though he did hit a few trademark shots to score 31 off 25 balls, before being brilliantly caught and bowled by Shane Watson. The wicket would have been particularly sweet for Watson, since he was at the receiving end of Bhajji's blade in the first match. Watson then added a cherry to his cake by scalping Praveen Kumar too. Praveen had also tried to mount a challenge, scoring 16 off 19 balls, but when he was ninth out with India at 217, the writing was on the wall for India. Australia duly completed their victory as India were all out for 226 in 46.4 overs. Doug Bollinger was the bowling hero for Australia with 3 top order wickets to return with figures of 9-2-28-3, while Watson had 3/29 from 7.4 overs. The highest partnership in the Indian innings was just 40 runs, which was for the first wicket. That India managed to get close to the target in spite of that was because the target was low, and the tail contributed. Had the top-order strung together even one good partnership, India would have been looking at 3-1 rather than 2-2.

India vs Australia 3rd ODI Highlights 2009

2009-10-31T09:05:00.001-07:00

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Cricket Highlights: India v Australia - 2nd ODI

2009-10-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

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Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the charge with a power-packed century in the home team's 99-run victory over Australia in the second One-day international here Wednesday. The Indian top order set a massive 355-run target for Australia to chase, and their bowlers bundled the visitors out for 255 in 48.3 overs. India thus drew level in the seven-match series. Dhoni (124 off 107 balls) knocked his fifth century, while Gautam Gambhir (76) and Suresh Raina (62) played perfect foil to him. Dhoni added 119 runs with Gambhir for the fourth wicket and then 136 with Raina as India piled on a massive 354 for seven, their highest total against Australia. Australia floundered in the chase right from the beginning as Praveen Kumar (2-37) and Ishant Sharma (2-34) removed the top three with only 45 runs on the board. Ravindra Jadeja bowled a tight economical spell in the middle overs, claiming three wickets in 6.3 overs to put it beyond Australia.

Kumar got the new ball to swing and the Australian openers were clearly uncomfortable facing him, playing and missing on ocassion. He crashed through the defences of Tim Paine and then trapped Ricky Ponting lbw. Shane Watson was surprised by a Ishant deivery that bounced on him akwardly and carried an edge to Sachin Tendulkar at first slip. Cameron White (23) and Michael Hussey (53) led a brief revival before Jadeja bowled intelligently to leave the Australians rattled. Harbhajan Singh broke the partnership, dismissing White. Jadeja turned one sharply to hit Hussey's stumps and then cleaned up Shaun Marsh (21) and Adam Voges (36). The Australians were on the top of their game in the first match at Vadodara, but India bounced back to dicate terms here. Australia were missing Brett Lee and James Hope due to injuries and it showed in their bowling. Indian top order made Ricky Ponting pay for asking them to take strike on a batting wicket.

It was a compact performance by the Indian batsmen who fumbled while chasing 293 in Vadodara and missed out the target by a mere four runs. At Nagpur Wednesday, Sachin Tendulkar (4) was out early, edging one to the slip off Peter Siddle while going for an expansive drive. Virender Sehwag laid the foundation with a blistering 40 off 31 balls with the help of six fours and one six. Sehwag looked in ominous touch as he clobbered the new ball in his inimitable style, raising 46 runs with Gambhir, before being dismissed by Mitchell Johnson (3-75). Yuvraj Singh, coming back to international cricket after missing the Champions Trophy, kept the momentum going, scoring 23 off 24 balls. Yuvraj was out after striking two fours and a six and India were three down for 97 runs. Dhoni and Gambhir then scored at a rapid pace. The duo were quick on their feet and rotated the strike with ease, their running between the wickets was the highlight of the innings.

Delhi Daredevils vs Wayamba Highlights

2009-10-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: Delhi Daredevils vs Wayamba from the 2009 T20 Champions League.

Scoreline: Delhi Daredevils 170/5 Sehwag 66 (42), Dinesh Kartik 61 (41)
Wayamba 120 Mahela 53 (40) | Dirk Nannes 4, McGrath 2

The Butcher of Najafgarh in cleaving mode, and this time around, finding support in Kartik who appeared to take malicious pleasure in going after Mendis, considering he’d fallen out of the Indian team in embarrassing fashion during the 2008 tour of SL. McGrath came in for Sangwan who hadn’t bowled in the last game (in which Delhi fielded just 3 overseas players) while no one turned up alongside Mahela for Wayamba.

New South Wales vs Sussex Highlights

2009-10-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: New South Wales vs Sussex from the 2009 Champions League.

NSW 130/2 Moises Henriques 51, Phil Hughes 62
Sussex 95/8 Brett Lee 4-1-8-1, Henriques 3 wickets

Hold on to your knickers, the Aussies have landed and pitched tent.

Disappointing to watch Piyush Chawla bowl 2 overs and get a first ball duck, but Steven Smith looks quite cool even without his Arshavin-like looks

Deccan Chargers vs Somerset Highlights

2009-10-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: Deccan Chargers vs Somerset from the 2009 T20 Champions League.

Preplay: Personally looking forward to a miracle and Laxman actually playing a game alongside his current version – Rohit Sharma.

More T20 Champions League Highlights

Cape Cobras vs Otago Highlights Champions League

2009-10-10T14:33:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: Cape Cobras vs Otago from the Champions League.

Scoreline: Cape Cobras 193/4 Andrew Puttick 104 no (62), Justin Ontong 39 (14) | Mascarenhas 4-1-20-2
Otago 139 all out Nathan McCullum 38 (21)

A more all round game from the Cobras compared to the one vs Bangalore. You look at Graeme Smith’s replacement – Puttick – and he looks the sort of player that’ll have you scratching the nethers idly when he’s in the middle. What a shocker.

For Otago, two of the bowlers you’d expect to have decent if not good outings – Nathan and Butler – had poor ones, though Nathan did pull out a mini show later on. Well, does set up a good game with Bangalore for a place in the next round.

More Champions T20 League 2009

Champions League Twenty20:3rd Match Delhi Daredevils vs.Victoria Bushrangers

2009-10-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: Delhi Daredevils vs Victoria from the 2009 Champions League played on October 9, 2009.
More Champions League Cricket Highlights

Champions League Highlights: 1st T20 - Bangalore RC v Cape Cobras

2009-10-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

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Champions League T20 2009 Highlights

2009-10-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2009

Champions League Twenty20:3rd Match Delhi Daredevils vs.Victoria Bushrangers

Champions League Highlights: 2nd T20 - Eagles v NSW

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2009

Champions League Highlights: 1st T20 - Bangalore RC v Cape Cobras

Champions League Highlights: 2nd T20 - Eagles v NSW

2009-10-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

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New South Wales of Australia beat Eagles of South Africa by 53 runs in Champions League Twenty20 match in New Delhi. Simon Katich, who scored a fine half century, was declared "Man of the Match". The star-packed New South Wales is considered as the most favourite team to win the Champions League T20. Earlier, New South Wales won the match and elected to bat first. The wicket was not easy to bat on. They piled up just 144/6 in 20 overs. Katich was the top scorer with 53, while Moises Henriques made 27. David Warner and Ben Rohrer contributed 23 and 22* respectively. For Eagles, Shadley van Schalkwyk took 2 wickets. Chasing a victory target of 145, the Eagles could not offer any resistance and finished at 91/9 in 20 overs. Ryan McLaren was the top scorer with 40. For New South Wales, Stuart Clark took 3 wickets, while Henriques took 2 wickets.

There was a winner and a loser at the end of the New South Wales vs Diamond Eagles match but one thing that both the captains agreed on after the game, was the tough surface they played on. There was hardly any bounce on the wicket and players visibly did not seem to be too happy with that. As the losing captain Boeta Dippenaar of Diamond Eagles pointed out, "The conditions were particularly tough and the bounce wasn't great at all. It was not close to what we had played during the last three practice games that we had." To this, his counterpart from New South Wales, Simon Katich said, "After the first six overs, we knew that a total of 130-140 would be defendable. And it turned out to be just that as well. The wicket was low and slow."

Captain Simon Katich digged out a classy half century when it mattered most, while Stuart Clark scalped three prized wickets to guide New South Wales to a comprehensive 53-run victory over Diamond Eagles in a Group B match of the Champions League Twenty20 here on Friday. Ryan McLaren (unbeaten 40) and Adrian McLaren (11) were the only ones to register double figures for the Eagles as NSW restricted them to 91 for nine in the alloted 20 overs. For NSW, Stuart Clark picked up three wickets, giving away 12 runs from his four overs, while Moises Henriques picked up two wickets. Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz also made their presence felt in the wicket list, scalping a victim each. Earlier, Katich scored 53 runs off 41 deliveries, while Moises Henriques (27 off 19) and Ben Rohfer (22 not out off 15) played cameos in the end to help NSW put up a modest 144 for six on the low and slow Feroz Shah Kotla wicket here. Shadley van Schalkwyk was the pick of the bowlers for Eagles, picking up two wickets for 22 runs from his three overs. A modest 145 runs required for victory, the Eagles batsmen made a mess of the chase, losing half of their side within first seven overs with the score at 24. In-form Lee fired from his very first over and made opener Rilee Rossouw’s 20th birthday a forgettable one as he trapped the left-hander plumb in front of the wicket to give early jolt to the Eagles’ run chase.

Champions League T20 Highlights 2009

2009-10-07T17:39:00.001-07:00

Watch cricket highlights: the Champions League T20 2009 tournament played in India from October 8-23, 2009. Originally scheduled last year, this year, politics has excluded players from Pakistan – the T20 World Cup winners – from featuring in the tournament.

Comprising 12 teams – winners of domestic T20 tournaments from around the world – this year’s show brings in a team each from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies apart from Australia, England and South Africa (2 each) and the Top 3 from the IPL.

Teams: India (IPL) – Deccan Chargers, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils
Australia – Victoria, New South Wales
England – Sussex, Somerset
South Africa – Cape Cobras, Eagles
New Zealand – Otago
Sri Lanka – Wayamba
West Indies – Trinidad & Tobago

Fixtures:
Oct 8
Bangalore v Cape Cobras
Oct 9
Eagles v New South Wales
Delhi Daredevils v Victoria
Oct 10
Cape Cobras v Otago
Deccan Chargers v Somerset
Oct 11
New South Wales v Sussex
Delhi Daredevils v Wayamba
Oct 12
Somerset v Trinidad & Tobago
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Otago
Oct 13
Victoria v Wayamba
Eagles v Sussex
Oct 14
Deccan Chargers v Trinidad & Tobago
Oct 15 – 19
A kind of Super 8s
Oct 21
1st semi-final
Oct 22
2nd semi-final
Oct 23
Final

Champions Trophy Highlights: Final - Australia v New Zealand

2009-10-05T15:12:00.000-07:00

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Australia's cricketers have retained the Champions Trophy, after defeating New Zealand by six wickets in the final at Centurion with more than four wickets to spare. Chasing a total of 201, they finished on 4 for 206. Opening batsman Shane Watson was the Australian hero, following up his hundred against England in the semi-finals with another unbeaten century. Watson was 105 not out at the end and won the match with consecutive sixes off Jeetan Patel. Watsons's third wicket partnership of 128 with Cameron White turned the game around for Australia, after New Zealand had reduced them to 2 for 6, with Tim Paine and captain Ricky Ponting both out for 1. New Zealand struggled to post a competitive score after they slumped to 5 for 94 at one stage.

Ricky Ponting hailed the efforts of Shane Watson and Cameron White after the duo led Australia to Champions Trophy glory on Monday. Watson and White scored 105 not out and 62 respectively as the Aussies thumped New Zealand by six wickets at Centurion. "It's really good that Shane and Cameron stepped up the way they did. This is terrific for them and the team. We have had our ups and downs but it is great to see these youngsters stand up and be counted," insisted the Oz skipper. Centurion Watson was overjoyed with his contribution to Australia's win. "Kyle Mills and Shane Bond bowled well up front. It was a challenge to survive and score runs and to do that for my country is great," enthused Watson.

Despite the early wriggle, Watson - who scored 136 not out in the semi-final win over England, showed great temperament before hitting successive sixes off spinner Jeetan Patel to end the match and finish on 105 not out.
New Zealand without having Daniel Vetttori in their line-up opted to bat first to give a shaky start as stand-in captain Brendon McCullum – who survived two scary appeals in the very first over of the day by Brett Lee followed by an alarming maiden over by Peter Siddle. It was the worst start by the Kiwis as McCullum fall off a nasty bouncer by Siddle, obligated the batsman for a big one but only managed a thick edge back to wicket-keeper Tim Paine for a 12-ball duck. An early damage jolts New Zealand severely which pushed Kiwis batsman back foot as they were limbering at 22 with one wicket down in ten overs – the lowest total in the tournament within span.

Champions Trophy Highlights: 2nd Semi Final - Pakistan v New Zealand

2009-10-04T08:36:00.000-07:00

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Umar Akmal and Mohammad Yousuf starred in a brief bail-out act and Mohammed Aamer played a crucial cameo down the order as Pakistan managed a modest 233 for nine against New Zealand in the second semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy here on Saturday. Pakistan's dysfunctional top order had left them precariously poised at 86 for four inside 21 overs before Yousuf's (45) experience and Akmal's (55) aggression put them back on track with an 80-run stand for the fifth wicket. But once the duo departed, Pakistan lower order crumbled and it was Aamer's (19 off 20 balls) unbeaten 35-run stand off 34 balls with Saeed Ajmal (14) for the last wicket that lent some respectability to Pakistan's score. Ian Butler (4-44) was the most successful Kiwi bowler, while Daniel Vettori claimed three for 43.

It did not exactly rain fours and sixes right from the word go but the 46 runs put together by Imran Nazir (28) and Kamran Akmal (24) in nine-odd overs meant Pakistan were off to sedate, if not spectacular, start without early setbacks. Pakistan captain Younis Khan, however, was soon left to introspect his decision of batting first as the next 40 runs cost the side its top four batsmen, including the skipper himself. Nazir had warmed up with three fours off an Ian Butler over before a Shane Bond snorter did him in. Butler then dealt two quick blows that had the Pakistan top order reeling. The lanky Kiwi pacer had Shoaib Malik caught in the slips in his third over and then returned to see the back of Akmal just when the batsman was looking dangerous. At 69 for three, things were not looking rosy and Pakistan needed a captain's knock from Younis but it was not his day.

His opposite number Daniel Vettori had flighted it on the off-stump, Younus wanted to work it to the onside but all he managed was a leading edge and Ross Taylor pouched the dolly at short cover. Yousuf is not new to such crisis and he decided to haul Pakistan out of the hole in company of Akmal. The caution, however, meant that boundaries were not easy to come by. It was at this stage that Akmal decided to play the aggressor's role, leaving grafting to his senior partner Yousuf. New Zealand set up an appetising ICC Champions Trophy final with Australia following a five-wicket victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers. Grant Elliott was the New Zealand hero, the Kiwi all-rounder crafting an unbeaten 75 to see his side past the 233-run target with 13 balls to spare. The Johannesburg-born player forged a match-winning 104-run partnership with captain Daniel Vettori after the Kiwis had slumped to 126-4 after 30 overs.

Champions Trophy Highlights: 1st Semi Final - England v Australia

2009-10-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

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Australia blew England away by nine wickets to barge into the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa. Graham Onions drew first blood for England when he sent back Aussie opener Tim Paine early in the chase. Ponting and Shane Watson have cracked fifties and are going strong for Australia. Ponting became the first Australian to score 12,000 runs in ODI's. The Australian skipper and Shane Watson cracked brilliant hundreds as the defending champions stormed into the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy, with nine wickets to spare. Shane Watson (136 not out) and Ricky Ponting (111 not out) stitched a record 252-run stand as Australia thrashed England by nine wickets with eight overs to spare in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy on Friday. Electing to bat, the England innings was in tatters having lost six wickets without reaching the half-way mark but Bresnan and Wright batted with steely resolve to extricate their team.

Bresnan, who replaced Stuart Broad, dug in with Wright to redeem the England innings with some clever batting under pressure. From a depressing 101 for six in 20.2 overs, England went on to put up at least a fighting total, making sure that holders Australia work hard to earn another shot at the title. Bresnan's splendid knock, adorned with 11 boundaries, came off just 76 balls while Wright helped himself with two boundaries and two massive sixes - both coming off tweaker Nauthan Hauritz. Peter Siddle separated the pair when he had Wight caught behind but there was no let up in England's assault as Bresnan in company of Graeme Swann (18) continued the good work. Swann supported his partner well with some smart batting before running himself out. Bresnan's excellent innings ended when Brett Lee castled him in the fag end as England innings folded in 47.4 overs. Peter Siddle (3-55) was the most successful bowler while Brett Lee (2-46) and Shane Watson (2-35) took two wickets apiece.

Run-rate was never a problem for England but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and soon the top six batsmen were cooling their heels back in the hut. England did not have the kind of start they wanted after opting to bat as skipper Andrew Strauss (14) returned to pavilion as early as the second over. After hitting one off Peter Siddle into the crowd in the third man region, Strauss played a sweetly timed shot on the leg but an air-borne James Hopes pulled off a stunning catch. More to the shock of England side, Owais Shah departed without bothering the scorers as his faint edge flew to the gloves of Paine. In-form Paul Collingwood could not play a big innings but hit a splendid 34 to help England overcome those early jolts along with Joe Denly (36). The 55-run partnership between the two for the third wicket resurrected the England innings but once Collingwood departed the England team lost the way. Siddle removed well set Denly and Shane Watson got rid of Steve Davies (5) and youngster Eoin Morgan (9) in successive overs and suddenly a cruising England was gasping for breath.

India vs West Indies Highlights | Champions Trophy

2009-10-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: India vs West Indies at the Champions Trophy played on September 30, 2009.

Team Info: India Dinesh Karthik in for Tendulkar (stomach infection), Nayar for Ishanth | WI – Kieran Powell for Dale Richards (injured)

Scoreline: West Indies 129 all out | Praveen Kumar, Nehra 3 each
India get there in the 33rd over – Virat Kohli 79, Karthik 34

With the Aus-Pak game going the way India didn’t want, the chase fizzled out a bit – Kohli showing glimpses of why the hype (without results) that has been following him for a while now is probably justified. When Dravid was brought back into the ODI squad, my first thought was that it was a good time for him to announce his retirement from ODI cricket. It was so obvious he was living on borrowed time and he might as well have said f**k you to those who like to use and throw. If what was being said on air yesterday is to be believed, he might well never play ODI cricket for India again. Also disturbing was the axing of Yusuf for what appears to be a long period.

Preplay: If Pakistan don’t beat Australia today, this game has no relevance for the Indian team in the context of the tournament.

Champions Trophy Highlights: 11th Match - Pakistan v Australia

2009-09-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

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Australia left it till the last ball to beat Pakistan by two wickets at Centurion Park. he win means Ricky Ponting's men finish top in their group and will play England at Supersport Park on Friday. Ricky Ponting's side began the day knowing victory would secure their place in the last four and after restricting Pakistan to 205 for six, looked to be cruising to their target at 140 for two. After that Australia's batting collapsed, losing 6 for 47, but Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz managed to score 19 runs from 25 balls to clinch the win. The last time they played England- Australia won the series 6-1 but Ricky Ponting does not expect things to be as easy this time.

The Black Caps will play Pakistan in Sunday morning's second Champions Trophy semi final in Johannesburg after Australia's two wicket win over Pakistan in Centurion. Pakistan made 205 for 6 with Australia scraping home off the last ball reaching 206 for 8. Australia will play England in the first semi final in Centurion on Saturday. Wellington seamer Iain O'Brien has been called into the Black Caps' squad. The 33-year-old arrives tonight as a replacement for Daryl Tuffey, who is returning home after breaking his hand. Coach Andy Moles says O'Brien has recently been playing county cricket for Leicestershire. Moles says there is likely to be just one change to the playing eleven for their semi-final with Aaron Redmond opening with Brendon McCullum, and Gareth Hopkins dropping out. "We have got very different conditions to what we confronted over there (England), and they have been playing some pretty good cricket of late." He added, "So we are going to get back to the drawing board and talk about what went wrong in the last half of our batting this afternoon, and then make sure we do not do that again on Friday".

Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal and paceman Mohammad Asif also excelled, finishing with two wickets each. But Lee held his nerve, and bold running between wickets reduced the target to four runs off the final over. Battling to get bat on ball, the Australians squeezed out three singles off the first five balls of the final over the innings, delivered by Umar Gul. Then they sprinted through after Hauritz missed the final ball, and Australia had squeezed through by the slimmest of margins. Both teams will go through to the semi-finals, excluding cricketing superpower India, whose game against the under-strength West Indies became a dead rubber following Australia's shaky triumph.

New Zealand vs England Highlights | Champions Trophy

2009-09-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: New Zealand vs England at the 2009 Champions Trophy played on September 29, 2009.

Team Info: England – Sidebottom for Onions | NZ – Hopkins for Ryder (injured), Butler for Tuffey (injured)
Scoreline: England 146 all out – Collingwood 40 | Shane Bond 10-2-21-3, Elliott 8-31-4, Mills 10-2-19-1
NZ get there in 27.1 overs: Brendon McCullum 48 (39), Martin Guptill 53 (55) | Stuart Broad 4 wickets – New Zealand and England make it to the semis.

The McCullum-Guptill onslaught and NZ are through on a tough batting wicket to the semis – been waiting several months to say that.

India vs Australia Highlights | Champions Trophy

2009-09-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: India vs Australia at the 2009 Champions Trophy played on September 27, 2009.

Scoreline: Australia 234/4 (42.3) – Rain washes out game – Ponting 65, Hussey 67, Cameron White 30 no, Paine 56 | Ashish Nehra 8-38-1

Damn rain.

Ponting brilliant against pace conservative vs spin but at least looking to use his feet; Nehra super by a distance; Harbhajan and Ishanth seemingly weighed down by their good records vs Ponting; Mishra (in for Yusuf) and Praveen Kumar (for RP) pretty cool; Mike Hussey so efficient in his run-collecting no one apart from the team total gave a damn – thank Australia for Cameron White.

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India Vz Austrailia Live

2009-09-28T04:35:00.001-07:00

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New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Highlights - Champions Trophy

2009-09-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

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Jesse Ryder's final input in the Champions Trophy was a brilliant 74, whilst carrying a groin injury, which helped New Zealand to a comfortable win over Sri Lanka to keep their tournament alive. Ryder needed a runner after picking up the injury, which has since ruled him out of the remainder of the tournament, but his parting gift helped the Black Caps keep their hopes alive. The big-hitting Ryder's 74 off 58 balls, along with Martin Guptill's 66, helped New Zealand to post a daunting total of 315-7. Sri Lanka started well in reply but ran out of steam as they crumbled to 277 all out to go down by 38 runs, meaning their progress now depends on the rest of the results in Group B. Daniel Vettori batted first on what was thought to be a testing Wanderers pitch, but Ryder and Brendon McCullum reached 50 from just 45 balls.

Despite some spiritted hitting in the middle overs by Mahela Jayawardene (77) and Kulasekara(57), Sri Lanka went down in their match against New Zealand in their Champions Trophy Group B match at the Wanderers stadium on Sunday. Chasing the mammoth target of 316 for victory in 50 overs Sri Lankans were all out for 277 and gave New Zealand a victory by 38 runs. Earlier in the day New Zealand scored 315 for seven wickets as the openers and one down batsman laid the foundation stone for the score. J.Ryder (74), M.Guptill (66) stood out with their effort for the Kiwis. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Jayasuriya's opening stand was an entertaining 66, but neither built on that start as wickets tumbled regularly. Skipper Mahela Jayawardene tried to keep up with the run rate as he made fifty in just 65 balls, before he and Kulasekara combined for a 50 stand in just 35 deliveries.

A 78 stand between the two for the seventh wicket helped keep Sri Lanka alive, but Vettori bowled Jayawardene for 77 to rock them back on their heels. Despite a late attempt by Kulasekara, whose 50 came in 54 balls, to salvage something from the game, he ran out of partners as the Asian side perished. They must now hope that England win their remaining two games if they are to have any chance of qualifying from Group B. Jayawardene tried desperately to keep up with the run-rate, reaching his half-century from 65 deliveries, and he finally found a decent partner in Kulasekara, the two putting on 50 in 35 balls. But the partnership and Sri Lanka's hopes were eventually eroded with the demise of Jayawardene, whose 85-ball knock ended when he was bowled by Vettori.

India vs Pakistan Highlights – 2009 Champions Trophy

2009-09-26T08:58:00.002-07:00

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In the end, the Indian side was let down by both the bowling and uninspired batting, many runs coming off free hits and an inexcusable array of no-balls from Pakistan. The Pakistani team, on the other hand, shone at their batting, and cleaned up the Indian batting when they needed to. Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, and Raina effectively threw away their wickets, and this was Pakistan's day to shine. India were 240 for 7 at the 43rd over, and the required run rate was almost 9, so the implications of the loss were beginning to sink in for the Indian team. They appeared lacklustre and morose, with only a glimmer of hope, which too was lost when RP Singh was caught by Mohammad Yousuf in the 44th over, with Ishant Sharma being also bowled out in the same over by Naved-ul-Hasan. THe final wicket fell in the next over, an outstanding spell by Pakistan.

Rahul Dravid the wall, was back in reckoning after a year and half, as India managed to remain in hunt of chasing down big Pakistani total in a crucial Champions Trophy encounter here at SuperSport Park in Centurion. Suresh Raina raised Indian hopes with a little cameo of 46 of 41 balls and ensured that India were well on course of the big chase, but his dismissal saw Pathan come to the crease, who managed to score just before nicking a catch on personal score of 5 runs and put India in further trouble. Earlier, Gautam Gambhir fell to a direct hit from Pak skipper Younis Khan, as Pakistan celebrated a mid pitch confusion, one needed to wait for the replay in order to fix who the culprit was. And it turned to be none other than Rahul Dravid who needlessly called in Gambhir.

Had it not been Gambhir’s brilliant innings 57 of 46 balls, Team India were courting further troubles after early departure of little master Sachin Tendulkar. But from thereon stroke play from Gautam Gambhir saw India crossing 60 at the end of the 9th over. Prior to it, Indian batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir had started the innings cautiously, gently milking the bowling, without hitting any risky shots. At the end Pakistan defeated India by 54 runs in a Group A match of the Champions Trophy at the SuperSport Park here. Riding on a fine 128 by Shoaib Malik, Pakistan made 302 for nine in 50 overs.

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Australia vs West Indies Highlights – Champions Trophy

2009-09-26T08:58:00.001-07:00

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WI chase – take a look around 15:30 GMT/16:30 UK time

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Sri Lanka vs England Highlights – Champions Trophy

2009-09-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

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New Zealand vs South Africa Champions Trophy Highlights

2009-09-24T14:12:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: New Zealand vs South Africa – 2009 Champions Trophy played on September 24 2009.

Scoreline: NZ 214 all out – Ross Taylor 72 | Wayne Parnell 5 wickets
SA get there easy (41.1) AB de Villiers 70 no

I’d thought that SA’s chances in this tournament might have actually improved after the pasting from SL. Today’s performance was more like the one SA pull out in the opening game of a major tournament before messing up at a crucial later stage. So, if Gibbs were to return sometime soon, SA actually now look like serious contenders here. They might have lost 5 wickets in their chase, but it looked even easier than that with AB back to what he’s been over the last year or so, and earlier, normalcy returning to Parnell’s game despite the eventual runs conceded.

It’s a lucky thing that most self-respecting organizations have rejected my credit card or I’d have wasted yet another punt on Guptill being of some use to Taylor. The guy’s oozing talent and yet, the one line that appears on this site most is – “Guptill continues to frustrate”. And with scores on a par with his age.

New Zealand didn’t even get their selections right – with the available slots, you’d think Nathan McCullum (who’s a shrewder limited overs bowler than Jeetan) would be in. As it turns out, Nathan isn’t even in the squad.

Preplay Time Killer: SA usually steamroll teams in the early rounds of tournaments like this. However there might be SA supporters who are actually happy their team messed up cos it could mean a rising peak rather than a spiraling-downwards peak. Gibbs unfortunately continues to be out injured – can Smith-AB put on a show today. NZ on the other hand, despite their recent misery in SL are one of my personal favourites to make it out of this group. But what’s with their players catching all kinds of stomach flus when a major tournament is underway. It happened in the T20 World Cup and Butler is out today (besides Oram with some other injury). Nathan McCullum (who surprisingly doesn’t get enough games) might get one today as a result.

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Pakistan vs West Indies Champions Trophy Highlights

2009-09-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: Pakistan vs West Indies from the ODI Champions Trophy 2009, played on September 23, 2009.

Scoreline: (Toss-WI) West Indies 133 all out Nikita Miller 51, Darren Sammy 25 | Aamer and Gul 3 each
Pakistan get there after stutter: Umar Akmal 41 no | Gavin Tonge 10-3-25-4. Two of the best young talents around on show today.

Before the game had even started many would have been shaking their heads hearing WI captain Reifer give SA yesterday losing chasing (on a totally different pitch) as one of his reasons for batting first. Then when the Aamer-initiated collapse happened, the shaking would have probably turned to a boisterous I-told-you-so. But eventually, considering the day the bowlers had with the bat and ball, much salvaging of respect for the West Indies.

Umar Akmal in the 3rd ODI and 4th ODI vs Sri Lanka had got a large tube of superglue and stuck himself neat on the Pakistan middle order. On both occasions, he’d displayed a multi-paced knock – not too different today. His first 22 balls yielded just 3 runs without looking in any discomfort, later slipping into free-flowing mode once Afridi joined him in the middle (as acknowledged by Umar post-match). Afridi had a sketchy day with the ball – his best moments today were however reserved for the post-match interviews – “He understands this, thank you”.

And Post-Match Younis is no longer missed.

Preplay: So the alternative West Indies squad again – considering how they played the Bangladesh spinners, looks like most barring maybe Travis Dowlin will find Afridi/Ajmal a little hot to handle. One would have thought that given the current situation in WI cricket, they might have considered including 16 year old Kraigg Brathwaite in the squad, given the amount of buzz around him a few months back. Afridi will be helming things for Pakistan after Younis Khan’s finger injury.

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South Africa vs Sri Lanka Champions Trophy Highlights

2009-09-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

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Watch highlights from the 1st match of the Champions Trophy 2009 – South Africa vs Sri Lanka played on September 22, 2009 at Centurion.

Scoreline (Toss – SA): SL 319/8 Dilshan 106 (92), Jayawardene 77 (61), Sangakkara 54
SA 206/7 Graeme Smith 58 (44) – Mendis 3 wickets (Rain interrupts and SL win on D/L)

Dilshan goes bananas, Parnell has the worst game of his international career, Mahela plays the perfectly paced knock, Smith tries to knock the SL bowlers off their preferred line and length (something few have surprisingly attempted), SA get their first sighter of Mendis and appear blinded, and so on. With a performance like this in their opening game, keeping history in mind, does this mean that SA’s chances have actually improved?

2009 Champions Trophy ODI Highlights

2009-09-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

Watch cricket highlights from the 2009 Champions Trophy played in South Africa from Sep 22 to Oct 5, 2009. Featuring the Top 8 teams in international cricket, it consists of 2 groups:

Group A – Australia, India, Pakistan, West Indies
Group B: England, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka

Fixtures:
Sep 22
South Africa v Sri Lanka

Sep 23
Pakistan v West Indies

Sep 24
South Africa v New Zealand

Sep 25
England v Sri Lanka

Sep 26
Australia v West Indies

Sep 26
India v Pakistan

Sep 27
New Zealand v Sri Lanka

Sep 27
South Africa v England

Sep 28
Australia v India

Sep 29
England v New Zealand

Sep 30
Australia v Pakistan

Sep 30
India v West Indies

Oct 2
1st Semi-Final – A1 v B2

Oct 3
2nd Semi-Final – B1 v A2

Oct 5
Final

India vs Sri Lanka Compaq Cup Final Highlights

2009-09-13T20:19:00.001-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights of the Compaq Cup Final – India vs Sri Lanka – played on September 14, 2009 at Colombo.
Scoreline: India 319/5 – Sachin Tendulkar 138 (133), Yuvraj Singh 56 (41), MS Dhoni 56 (62)
SL fall short: 273 all out: Dilshan 42 (29), Kandamby 66 (94) | Harbhajan Singh 5 wickets
The Tendulkar knock was a work of genius not because it was a match-winning hundred. It was a work of genius in its first 40 runs itself, simply because of the caning India had received in the last game and the pressure of being in yet another final with a team that has a horrid record in finals (2 won out of their last 21 appearances). And to see him and Dravid walk out against good disciplined Lankan bowling and yet look reassuring, required his dazzling strokeplay and Dravid’s self-effacing traits at their purest.
Dhoni appeared to pull off the biggest con job today – his first few shots involved him hopping down the track, and Sanga for some reason thought it was attacking-Dhoni who’d turned up. The field was spread and MS did what he loves to do nowadays – push it around. Not sure why the bluff worked, ’cause attacking-Dhoni last turned up in an IPL match in 2008. But it is this new-look game that has made him the most dependable player in the current Indian middle order and so no real room for complaint there.
The fact that Yuvraj sparkled only in bits was testament to the Lankan bowling being good for the most part, while the Lankan chase was a blur of Dilshan going bananas, the Indian players going nuts, bizarre dismissals, and Tony Grieg/Arun Lal. I’m not sure if Grieg lusting after a Yamaha or Arun Lal attempting to squeeze beauty out of a coconut is the worse sin.
It later turned out that the only time Grieg sat on a bike was when an Indian passerby gave him a drop during a tour of India in his playing days. Lal on the other hand continues unchecked with his alleged animal lover thing and life’s good only cos Sachin is in it.

India vs Sri Lanka ODI Highlights – Compaq Cup

2009-09-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights – India vs Sri Lanka, in the Compaq Cup played on September 12, 2009.

Team Info: SL Kapugedera in for an injured Samaraweera

Scoreline: SL 307/6 Jayasuriya 98 (79), Kandamby 91 no (73) | Harbhajan 10-37-1
India lose by 139 runs (168 all out) Rahul Dravid 47 (56) | Angelo Mathews 6-20-6

Had speculated after SL’s last game that Sanath might actually be looking forward to a game vs India to regain his touch. He might not have been at peak form today, but what was on show was good enough to leave a ragged bowling and fielding performance in further tatters. In fact, at the time he got out, barring Harbhajan, everyone looked hapless and fatalistic. The stats might make the Kapu-Kandamby partnership out to be very important, but while it kept out any resurgence from India, it also appeared like Sri Lanka were headed for an underachieving total before Kandamby took off big time in the final overs.

Though the pitch was a different one today, the Indians never really looked clued in on the chase and ended up suffering their worst ever defeat in Sri Lanka.

Not sure why anyone would take ratings and rankings seriously, but evidently that SA-born-Australian-wannabe-English commentator Tony Greig does, ’cause he was literally leaping around by the end of the game screaming that SA were back on top. Someone really needs to do unto him physically what Viv Richards did to him on a cricket field, an entire series.

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India vs New Zealand ODI Highlights – Compaq Cup

2009-09-11T12:16:00.001-07:00

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Watch highlights: India vs New Zealand – an ODI match from the Compaq Cup 2009 (to be) played on September 11, 2009.

Team Info: India – Dinesh Kartik for injured Gambhir (Sehwag and Rohit Sharma anyway out even for the Champions Trophy)
NZ – Neil Broom weirdly for Nathan McCullum, Mills for Tuffey

Scoreline: (Toss – NZ) NZ 155 all out | Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh 3 wickets each
India get there in 40.3 overs Sachin Tendulkar 46 (55), Raina 45 (54) no, Dhoni 35 (65) no

The New Zealand Top 4 are one of the more attractive lineups around and so I suppose, you’ll have to give allowance for this sort of a performance. While the pitch was a tough one with a dubious record against teams batting 2nd (11 straight losses), maybe an Elliott moving up to break the flair and aggression might have been a better idea – but that’s just impotent selection committee drivel.

Nehra and RP Singh are natural swing bowlers, so they did get some of that, but mostly the Kiwis fell to their disciplined sustained pressure and no one, not even Vettori, could go beyond the twenties as Yuvraj successfullychucked inedible pies.

Tendulkar came out looking like he was playing on a different wicket, other than when Vettori came on. The result of the little exhibition he put on was that Dravid shedding bucketloads of sweat for not much didn’t make that painful a viewing at the other end. The unfortunate thing is that Dravid actually looked good when he started today but then entered the most scary kind of Dravid-play where he repeatedly finds the fielders. More often than not, when he gets stuck in those phases, he pretty much remains there. The good thing though is that, he’s able to snap out of it by the next game. But rarely within the same game.

Bond was super as he has been and tested Raina who’s been having extended sessions with Tendulkar and Dravid to combat the short ball. Doesn’t seem to have put any of their thoughts to use yet, though a sluggish pitch like this might not be the best place to judge this aspect of the game.

Now that NZ are out, the India-SL match tomorrow has been reduced to a sizing each other up event.

Pre-match space waster: Can’t recall Tendulkar having this long a non-injury related break in the latter half of his career – usually he does return from a break spectacularly – player bias aside, plenty to look forward to in this game, apart from Ryder and Ishanth picking up from where they left off in the 5th ODI earlier this year.

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India vs West Indies 3rd ODI Highlights

2009-07-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: India vs West Indies - the 3rd ODI highlights from St Lucia (to be ) played on July 3, 2009. Scheduled start is 13:30 GMT.

Scoreline: WI 186/7 (27 over) Sarwan 62 (58) - Nehra 5-21-3. Further rain changes target midway to 159. India win in a thrilling final over - MS Dhoni 46 (34), Dinesh Karthik 47 (43), Gambhir 44 (38)

Chris Gayle kicked off the rainy day looking to bludgeon his KKR teammate Ishanth Sharma out of international cricket. Gayle does get into intimidating positions while batting, but some of them against Sharma today were almost like he’d just been released from a 25 year term in a puritanical prison and upon taking a walk through some dark woods had stumbled upon Ishanth tied invitingly to a tree.

The WI score after a brief lull following Gayle’s premature end, eventually reached a tight target after a couple more rain interruptions.

It was then the turn of the overhyped tale of the short ball against Indian batsmen (barring Raina, who does have a problem) to hit a writer’s block with Karthik looking super and Gambhir nudging his way and riding his luck towards some place close to where he was a year back.

It’s always good to watch someone who’s being torn apart bounce back. I’ve hated several aspects of Dhoni-the batsman’s devolution in the last couple of years leading into the T20 World Cup, but some of the comments on this site seemed a trifle unfair and it was exciting to watch him pull off an 11 run final over after his misery in the final stages of the T20 WC game vs England. So 2-1 it is to India to set up a super clash in the final game on Sunday.

India vs WI 3 rd ODI LIVE

2009-07-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

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India vs West Indies 2nd ODI Highlights

2009-06-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights: India vs West Indies - the 2nd ODI played at Sabina Park, Jamaica on June 28, 2009.

Scoreline: India 188 all out MS Dhoni 95 (130), Yuvraj Singh 35 (33), RP Singh 23 (75) - Ravi Rampaul 10-2-37-4, Jerome Taylor 9.2-35-3
WI get there in 34.1 overs: Gayle 64 (46), Morton 85 (102), Chanderpaul 18 (41) - Rohit Sharma 8-27-2

The ball was swinging around, of course, and Taylor and Rampaul did bowl well, but you’d back the Indian top-order to have enough quality to see that phase through. But quality often as we know isn’t enough and habits bred over the last year and a half on tracks that haven’t been particularly demonic came to the fore. Eventually, a situation tailor-made for Dhoni’s current batting role resulted and while Yuvraj was going it looked like the perfect partnership in a 7/3 situation. Yuvraj in this short knock looked better than most of his 100 + in the first ODI.

Dhoni has played a couple of important match-saving knocks with the lower order in test cricket and seems to have mastered the role. A very good innings by him in the company of RP Singh today - it might not have been counter-attacking enough to win the game, but could have looked so much better if Yuvraj had come off.

The WI chase after some initial excitement from Gayle petered out into a sensible but trudge-towards-the-target effort with Morton and Chanderpaul.

Dhoni’s handling of players has always been his strongest point as captain. Today, with Rohit Sharma looking listless in the field after a lean run with the bat, he gave him the ball (if I’m not mistaken, he hasn’t bowled since the IPL) - a twofold decision: 1. See how he reacts to a hopeless situation when his mind’s adrift.
2. Give him a role and importance in the team doing something he seems to enjoy doing.
The only 2 wickets to fall resulted and Rohit looked happier by the end of it all and could easily see a turn-around with the bat next match.

Pregame: Can’t see to many changes in either side - Dhoni has been sticking with Jadeja for two apparent reasons - the young guy shouldn’t lose confidence stuff plus to vindicate his decision in the T20 vs England vis-a-vis Jadeja. Shane Warne was primarily responsible for converting Jadeja who was essentially a bowler into a batsman. Even for Warne, this move worked only in IPL 2008. There doesn’t seem any apparent reason why Badrinath and Murali Vijay should be sitting out to accommodate Jadeja the batsman. If his bowling is tilting it for him, perhaps it’s time Nayar is given a fair run. For WI, Simmons hasn’t been picked in the squad for the 1st 2 ODIs, so Morton will probably get another game
Update: Ishanth gets a rest, while possibly the cleverest wicket-taking Indian bowler gets a game - Praveen Kumar.

India vs West Indies 1st ODI Highlights

2009-06-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

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Watch cricket highlights - India vs West Indies - the 1st ODI played at Kingston Jamaica on June 26, 2009.

Scoreline: India 339/6 Yuvraj Singh 131 (102), Dinesh Karthik 67 (77), Dhoni 41 (46), Yusuf Pathan 40 (38)
WI 319 all out: Chanderpaul 63 (59), Sarwan 45 (42), Gayle 37 (33) - Nehra, Pathan 3 wickets each

It’s amazing how T20 cricket changes the way we look at a high run-chase, with 60 odd to get in 40 seemingly gettable nowadays.

The over-hyped short ball against Indian batsmen reared up today again. A lot has been made of it, when the reality is Raina is the only one in the current team who has consistently looked awkward - in fact, it’s surprising, it took so long for bowlers to stumble onto this fact as a consistent weapon against him. Rohit Sharma has been getting out to the pull shot, but those who’ve seen his initial career will recall his performances against Lee and others in Australia. Gambhir too has had his own successful method to combat the short ball which includes the flay over/through slips and the pull shot.

The Yuvraj-Dinesh thing was scratchy initially, almost like they were trying to adapt to ODI cricket having played back-to-back in the IPL and T20 WC - Dwayne Bravo looked the most dependable of the WI bowlers today, while his half-brother (Daddy same, Mummy different) Darren who obviously seems to have watched a lot of Lara made a pretty neat debut. Now if someone could whack some sense into the selectors and get Lendl to replace Morton at the top, WI could well bounce back into the series.

Pregame: A pretty meaningless 4 match ODI series is about to kick off today. No test matches. One good thing with this series is that its end marks the beginning of a decent break for the Indian team. No Sachin, Sehwag, Zaheer (through injury) for India while WI miss Edwards (injured) and Lendl Simmons (shockingly cast astray). Darren Bravo, younger bro of Dwayne makes his debut though, while Raina has been given a break for India - a good time for him to work out the short ball rather than be embarrassed any further in the Windies and lose the confidence he’s built up over the last couple of years. Smart move, that one. Irfan too is not in the Indian squad, but Abhishek Nayar finally gets a call-up.

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Highlights - T20 World Cup Final

2009-06-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

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Celebrns + Post Match (check back 01:30 IST)

Watch cricket highlights - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka - the 2009 T20 World Cup Final.

Scoreline: Sri Lanka 138/6 Sangakkara 64 (52), Angelo Mathews 35 (24) - Abdul Razzaq 3-20-3, Afridi 4-20-1
Pakistan win in 18.4 overs: Shahid Afridi 54 (40), Kamran Akmal 37 (28), Shoaib Malik 24 (22) - Malinga 3.4-14-0

I consider myself one of the bigger Afridi fans around, but I doubt I ever thought in all those years of Afridi-cricket wallowing in the pits of destitution, that he’d turn up at the final stages of a World Cup, much like Shane Warne did in ‘99.

Sangakkara, despite getting ok scores through this tournament, barring the game vs Australia has looked out of sorts. But today it was a completely different person having to temper his initial seize-the-game mode in search of someone at the other end. A very defendable total in a Cup final (in the company of Mathews) eventually resulted, but clever and calm cricket by Pakistan made it a walk-through in the end.

Amazing for Afridi to be the man of the moment considering his ignominious duck in the 2007 final which had translated to effigy-burning times despite being the Player of the Tournament then.

The comments section in this site had to be closed down after it became too much to handle. It started when India played Bangladesh and then climaxed after India exited the tournament. Would just like to say to some of those visitors - there are many Indians (like myself) who like good cricket whether it’s played by India, Pakistan, Australia or whoever and Pakistan players like Afridi and Akram (in the past) are respected and enjoyed as much as Indian players. So think about that, whenever comments are reopened here, and do stick to the cricket, considering this is a cricket highlights site. Hope everyone enjoyed the tournament. Back with the India tour of WI in a few days. Until then, have a virtual smoke on me.

Recall: Sri Lanka won the Super 8 encounter - not that it counts for too much - the Pakistan team was different at the time - Razzaq was missing and Afridi was getting into his stride.

ICC WORLD CUP T20 Live

2009-06-21T08:30:00.001-07:00

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West Indies vs Sri Lanka Highlights - 2nd Semi Final

2009-06-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

Sl Bat

WI Bat

Watch cricket highlights: West Indies vs Sri Lanka - the 2nd Semi Final of the T20 cricket World Cup.
Scoreline: Sri Lanka 158/5 - Dilshan 96 (57) | West Indies 101 all out - Chris Gayle 63 no
The Dilshan knock was similar to the Gilchrist knock in the final of the 2007 ODI World Cup in that, teammates floundered where he found ease. Gayle looked to be delaying his launch once things had stabilized around him - a phase of play that remained elusive and so an emphatic win in the end for Sri Lanka.
Pregame: Sarwan and Chanderpaul in the middle using their experience vs spin could possibly decide whether WI can put one past SL. Simmons vs quality spin will also be worth a watch, while Sri Lanka will be hoping one of their top 4 hangs around, not exposing the Silva-Mubarak enigma. How will Gayle and Bravo react to the SL pace attack who barring Malinga have side-stepped crouchingly behind Murali-Mendis?

T20 World Cup Highlights : 1st Semi Final - Pakistan v South Africa

2009-06-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Pak Bat

SA Bat

Watch cricket highlights - South Africa vs Pakistan - the 1st Semi Final of the 2009 T20 World Cup.

Scoreline: Pakistan 149/4: Shahid Afridi 51 (34), Malik 34 (39), Kamran Akmal 23 (12)
SA 142/5: Kallis 64 (54) - Shahid Afridi 4-16-2, Umar Gul 3-19-0

Postgame: After an almost 2 year wait, Afridi who’d hit the pits of ridicule during the game vs England, pours scorn on all who laughed (Praveen, yeah you.)

The Pak batting petering out in the final overs partly due to super stuff by Parnell-Steyn seemed to have tilted it SA’s way after the spanking start by Akmal. But SA seemed to panic a bit after losing Gibbs and AB to Afridi, looking to consolidate by sending Duminy in when the consolidator Kallis was already in and set. Smith in the post-match thing admitted he had Morkel padded up from the 11th over, and then ironically added, “If you don’t lose a wicket he can’t come in and bat” - it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to send in a drink and tell JP to make way. Not sure whether it would have changed the result considering Gul bowled brilliantly yet again, but it was a shot worth taking to have Albie or Merwe (who seems to have lost favour as a hitter suddenly) in. Especially when you consider the fact that Younis Khan almost bungled the game giving Fawad an over out of nowhere which meant Gul even if he bowled through would finish an over short. If WI make it past SL tomorrow, you’d have two sides that most would have marked at the start of the tournament as being the most unpredictable, squaring off for the Cup. Awesome.

JP Duminy’s current state in T20 cricket seems really confused. When he arrived on the scene vs the Aussies, his early T20 games showed him to be an inventive attacking player, and then all of a sudden since Merwe arrived, he’s shifted into a rotate-the-strike role. In the end everyone seems confused, cos now Merwe is playing in the side as a spinner primarily and Duminy’s finding it hard to get the boundaries away at will. Anyway, SA have a while to reflect yet again on a semi-final loss and they’ll probably be wishing they lost the game to India, just so they could get the law of averages (at least), to perhaps get them a Final spot. It’s sad for SA cricket cos their win vs Australia at Perth seemed to be finally ridding them of all past labels.

Pregame: Similar bowling attacks (Steyn/Parnell/Kallis vs Gul/Aamer/Razzaq and Botha/Merwe vs Afridi/Ajmal) and an important middle-order batsman who can counter spin (de Villiers vs Younis Khan). Pakistan have the edge at the top though, (with Gibbs one down) in Akmal/Hassan vs Smith/Kallis.
Umar Gul has been (deservedly) the limelight-hogger, but Aamer has quietly been bowling quite brilliantly through the tournament and so Smith (who seems to have rediscovered his touch) vs the youngster will be watch-worthy. In the propel-the-score lineup, Pakistan have a couple whose status at this point can’t really be pinned down - Afridi has been looking better with each game, while Razzaq hit a nice big six in the game vs Ireland. For SA, the blind-hitting abilities of Merwe haven’t really been called on so far, with Botha being sent above him in the game vs India. Was that a strategy - will Merwe suddenly walk out today if an early wicket falls. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to send him against pace rather than spin considering his play seems to be designed around - pick the line of the ball early, turn head away and launch an almighty swing and let Him decide where the ball goes.

India vs South Africa Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

SA Bat

India Bat

Watch cricket highlights - India vs South Africa from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: SA 130/5 AB de Villiers 63 (51) - Jadeja 3-9-1
India 118/8 Botha 4-16-3

Postgame: Pregame

Pregame: Yeah, so India is supposed to be playing for pride - a concept best left to columnists - when all the players probably want to do is head home and find some pretty bimbettes. Does anyone ever remember the result of a dead-rubber game and the pride one team left with? If you lose a series or tournament, you lose, pride or no pride.

New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sri Bat

NZ Bat

Watch cricket highlights - New Zealand vs Sri Lanka from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: SL 158/5 Jayawardene 41 (29), Dilshan 48 (37), Sangakkara 35 (35)
NZ 110 all out: Martin Guptill 43 (34) - Mendis 3-9-3

What a bittersweet game. One of my favourite players gives SL a defendable total against my faves to win the tournament, before Mendis scuttles them out for sure.

The Dilshan start has been consistent through this tournament but what defined the SL innings was Mahela’s knock considering the middle-order continues to look seriously suspect. Inventive shots to pour scorn on those cynical of his T20 merit. For the 2nd game in a row.

Belying the eventual total they reached, NZ were pretty seriously on the case - just too bad Guptill was a lone effort barring an early Redmond assault. Oram continues to function below the poverty line and probably played today only cos Brendon and Taylor themselves had to play half-fit today, to cull together a playing XI.

Pregame: Awesome that we’re into the last day of the Super 8s and still have an undecided semi-final berth. Another knock-out game brought about by Sri Lanka’s NRR being lesser than NZ and Pakistan.

Pakistan vs Ireland Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

Pakistan Bat

Ireland Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Pakistan vs Ireland from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: Pakistan 159/5 Kamran Akmal 57 (51), Shahid Afridi 24 (13) - Boyd Rankin 4-11-0
Ireland 120/9 Porterfield 40 (36) - Ajmal 4-19-4, Umar Gul 4-19-2, Aamer 4-19-1

The most interesting aspect of the Pakistan batting in the early part was the respect they gave the Irish bowling, without going bananas as they often can do. Afridi who’d played a responsible knock in the game vs NZ, looked to be getting back into some sort of batting form if not striking form. And that’s super for viewers considering Yuvraj’s exit yesterday. Think Hasan at the top and Razzaq to come is making the difference as Afridi no longer sees himself as the lone-hitter around and feels he can afford to work his way into form.

Ireland like against SL came up against a spin attack and pacers, their relative inexperience couldn’t really cope with. End of the Irish this year, but there are some players there, worth looking forward to whenever they next play international cricket. Until then, will miss their anthem played on a cricket field.

The big win by Pakistan today means their presence in the semis is no longer dependent on SL vs NZ tomorrow cos their NRR is better than SL now.

England vs West Indies Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

ENG Bat

WI Bat

Watch cricket highlights - England vs West Indies from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup

Scoreline: England 161/6 (20 overs) Ravi Bopara 55 (47), Kevin Pietersen 31 (19)
Rain interrupted target for WI - 80 off 9 - get there in 8.2 overs - Sarwan 19, Chanderpaul 17, Bravo 18, Gayle 15

England yet again showed that barring their openers (Wright didn’t come off today) and KP, they have had pretty much nothing propel-the-score worthy in their middle order this WC. What Sarwan and Chanderpaul couldn’t do during the game vs SA in support of Simmons, finally happened in the knock-out game and so, if you look at T20 cricket as the most consistently aggressive form of cricket, you’d have to believe the more deserving team went through today.

India vs England Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

England Bat

India Bat

Post Match

Watch cricket highlights - India vs England from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: England 153/7 KP 46 (27), Bopara 37 (37)
India lose by 3 runs. Yuvraj Singh 17 (9) - Broad 4-21-0, Sidebottom 4-31-2

Australia have dominated world cricket for a longer and more competent (across different countries barring to a certain extent India) period than India’s recent success. However the comments in here should be a good indicator to Indian fans how the Aussies must feel when every loss of theirs is cheered on lustily by the also-rans.

It doesn’t make sense to pick on Dhoni today, cos that was Dhoni the batsman failing. As captain, several of his moves worked perfectly while India were bowling and he still remains by a far stretch the best available captain. The people that deserve to be picked on are the Indian and global viewers and commentators who’ve refused to see the decline in his hitting abilities which in turn has prevented him from having a serious introspective look at his batting role in the team. However, sending Jadeja up was definitely a mistake simply on the kind of look-about-him he’s been carrying from the recent IPL, where he looked good for confidence and nothing else. By that yardstick, Kaif should be still be playing for India.

Though I’m Indian, the only disappointment I feel today is that Yuvraj and Yusuf are out of the tournament and in some ways feel this could be good for Indian cricket and Dhoni cos it’s a nice and timely reality check for those who blindly idolize, yet fling their heroes. My pre-tournament picks were NZ and though it’s hard, I’m hoping they can trudge along and keep the tournament interesting for me.

Preplay: The loser of this game will still not be knocked out, but be in that painful situation of watching what else happens in the group. My permutations were crap as often happens when you type over your first smoke in the morning - basically India needs to win or they’re out. Yuvraj would be at the centre of two encounters - vs Stuart Broad (forget the sixes thing), the tour of India had seen Yuvraj in sizzling form and then vs KP considering their mild sledging moments and the whole Pie-Chucker thing.

Sri Lanka vs Ireland Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

Sri Bat

Ireland Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Sri Lanka vs Ireland from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: SL 144/9 Mahela Jayawardene 78 (53) - Trent Johnston 4-1-18-1, Alex Cusack 3-18-4
Ireland 135/7: Niall O’Brien 31 (37), Mooney 31 (21)

Fore-play: Team down at 14/2 and like he has done for years, Mahela Jayawardene bails Sri Lanka out. All those classy shots on offer here. What made the SL innings a lone-man effort (with some support from Sanath) was the uncertainty of Chamara-Mubarak lurking below him.

Ireland did most things perfectly today even with Mahela’s innings, but in the end it came down to Murali, Malinga and Mendis. Sri Lanka have been banking too much on them and as mentioned earlier on this site, against a more experienced side that plays spin well, SL could well come unstuck.

Pre-play: With all the beauty associated with a giant-killing game, you’d have to believe that Murali-Mendis and Malinga will be too much for the (relatively) inexperienced Irish, whatever they can summon with the ball. But on an individual player note, it would be good to see Kevin O’Brien come good.

Ire Vs Sri / Ind Vs Eng

2009-06-13T21:31:00.000-07:00

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New Zealand vs Pakistan Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-13T13:49:00.000-07:00

NZ Bat

Pak Bat

Watch cricket highlights - New Zealand vs Pakistan from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: NZ 99 all out Scott Styris 22 - Umar Gul 3-6-5, Abdul Razzaq 3.3-1-17-2, Afridi 4-17-1
Pakistan take 13.1 overs: Shahzaib Hasan 35 (28), Shahid Afridi 29 n.o. - Vettori 4-20-2

So Razzaq walks into the team, doesn’t impact the game the way Shoaib Akhtar did in the IPL, but gets a wicket in his very 1st over - all those nipping-back deliveries that have troubled the best were spot on from ball 1, and though his team may have been charged up for the occasion anyway, his arrival has already stirred things up. The day however belonged to Umar Gul with ridiculous figures of 5 for 6 in just 3 overs - similar in impact to what his colleague Tanvir did in the IPL. Tanvir’s WC campaign unfortunately seems over - that horrible 1st over in the game vs SL overshadowing some seriously good deliveries whenever a legal delivery was bowled. He also looked to be having some fitness issues midway through the game vs Netherlands. Deserved spell for Gul who for some time now has been Pakistan’s most consistent and dependable bowler.

Hasan played the warm-up vs India and looked a tad nervous, but today, yet another young attacking opener from Pakistan seems to have emerged. It’s too early I suppose to judge his future considering the long list of seriously talented players who’ve kind of faded away - Imran Nazir, the Farhat brothers, Basit Ali, Yasir Hameed.

Shahid Afridi had a super day out first with the ball and then just when NZ found a way to open up a flurry of wickets, Afridi donned the calming role, nudging singles and twos. Who’d have thought.

Pregame: All buzz is about the proposed reentry of Razzaq into international cricket. Easily one of the Top 3 allrounders of his era when he was around, how cricket-friendly he is at the moment is not sure. As many have commented on the site, Imran Nazir too would have been a welcome member along perhaps with the Farhat brothers. For NZ, the Cup is just a few games away (in my world), if. If at least Taylor can return as soon as possible. But yeah, the loss of Ryder and absence of Vettori has made it a little harder. But McCullum is pretty due.
Just to rant on a little longer about Razzaq, the last time a stunning reentry to cricket happened was when Shawbshank Redemption occurred. However, the circumstances were a little different. The management was filmi, Akhtar is that sort of a guy and Ganguly was captain. How wanted Razzaq is made to feel will be the key as Younis doesn’t seem an Imran Khan by any stretch of imagination. But considering how Razzaq has always come across as an aloof sort of character, maybe all he needs is Abdul talking to him. So yeah, the most unpredictable moment of this tournament looms right ahead of us.

South Africa vs West Indies Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

SA Bat

WI Bat

Watch cricket highlights - South Africa vs West Indies from the Super 8s of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: SA 183/7 Herschelle Gibbs 55 (35), Kallis 45 (31), Graeme Smith 31 (18)
WI 163/9: Lendl Simmons 77 (50) - Wayne Parnell 4-13-4

Graeme Smith looks to have shaken out of his reverie and should be back to being himself, tennis-elbow notwithstanding, for the rest of however far SA go this tournament. But finally some Gibbs this World Cup. SA looked headed for possibly 200 and while WI did bowl (Taylor in particular) well towards the end, SA falling short was brought about more by Morkel, Merwe, Boucher looming and the other batsmen therefore going big-time for their shots.

The West Indies chase might well have been successful if either Sarwan or Chanderpaul had provided some support to Simmons, but a super innings by him in any case. His previous two knocks this tournament have been overshadowed by Bravo, but finally, Lendl in all his I’m-the-new-Marlon-Samuels glory. Must-watch stuff.

Pregame: Sarwan and Chanderpaul have hardly been required by the West Indies thus far except perhaps in the game vs SL, where Bravo-Simmons were the dominant characters in the act anyhow. Perhaps today, they might need to shore up their side while for SA, if a wicket falls early, Gibbs could come into the tournament finally. Is this the game Smith shakes himself out of his reverie. AB lurking round the corner probably goes, Who cares, I’m here right.

India vs West Indies Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

India Bat

WI Bat

Watch cricket highlights - India vs West Indies from the 2009 T20 World Cup - the Super 8s game.

Scoreline: India 153/7 Yuvraj Singh 67 (43), Yusuf Pathan 31 (23) - Dwayne Bravo 4-38-4, Fidel Edwards 4-24-3
WI get there with more than an over to go: Dwayne Bravo 66 (36), Lendl Simmons 44 (37)

Whichever side you’re on, two super knocks worth a watch on either side. And for me personally, a third from Simmons who looks certain to ease the disappointment of Marlon Samuels fading away. Bravo and Simmons had threatened this in the game vs SL

It’s a good thing the highlights are restricted to 10 mins cos it means they omit the painful knock by Dhoni 11 (23). It’s easy but unfair to pick on him now, cos the truth was it was always coming. Just that many chose to gloss over it cos India was doing well. The problem Dhoni is facing is that for some time now, he’s been unable to really go bang and yet he continues to back himself to do it at any stage. So in the process he gets into this prod for a single mode and when the big shots don’t come off, all those prods and pushes look terrible in the final scorecard. A hitter at the start of his career, he should definitely be able to rediscover it, if he finds it within himself to be humble enough to silently retract statements like - “I tell the youngsters to play their natural game cos it’s not easy to go out there and change your game. Not everyone can do it. Maybe after 2 or 3 years they’ll learn how to do it.” (paraphrased).

Fidel Edwards looked the best he has this tournament and a fantastic win for WI who should now fancy taking down either England (more likely) or SA for the semi-spot. Provided they field like they did today.

Pregame: With Chris Gayle most certainly back, surely there must be a way to retain classy Simmons, though how much of the bowling he’ll face down the order if retained remains a question. For India, Dhoni’s position in the batting order will be one of the aspects - it’s about time Raina is given a game, considering he’s hardly got a hit this tournament.

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Srilanka Bat

Pakistan Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka from the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup - the Super 8s game.

Scoreline: SL 150/7 Dilshan 46 (39) - Shahid Afridi 4-23-2
Pakistan fall short 131/9 Younis Khan 50 (37) - Lasith Malings 4-17-3

Dilshan now plays his shot to 90mph bowlers. The actual speed of the delivery was around 80 but Aamer often touches the 90s. The SL start was similar to the last game getting to 80 off 8 overs. That SL eventually only added another 70 in the next 12 was mostly Afridi’s spell, (at the start of the 2nd video he says his current priority is bowling). Younis Khan played well to blunt the Murali-Mendis threat but there was just no one to be found to accelerate at the other end and Razzaq if he gets a game would be a welcome addition down the order.

Pregame: I’m scared to talk to talk about Afridi with the bat cos whenever I do he has a horrid outing. But yeah, there are two images flashing by. Carnage around the ground/a big dance down the wicket and a wild swing to Mendis - out stumped. For SL, perhaps this is the day for Mahela to strut his stuff around. A super game in the offing, all in all.

South Africa vs England Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Ireland Bat

Watch cricket highlights - South Africa vs England from the Super eights in the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: England 111 all out Owais Shah 38 (33) - Wayne Parnell 3.5-14-3, Dale Steyn 4-19-1, van der Merwe 4-32-2
SA win in 18.2 overs: Jacques Kallis 57 (49), Gibbs 30 (30) - Stuart Broad 3-14-1

Jacques Kallis fittingly helms the most boring run-chase this tournament, gets himself the Man of the Match and possibly seals his opening slot. Is there any justice in this world.

England looked ready to be embarrassed big-time while batting as the boos grew louder. Eventually, Owais Shah saved himself and his team from an ignominious batting effort with a flurry of boundaries that resulted in at least a 100 plus total. With Swann playing, Morgan was missing and any possibility of late momentum petered out. This batting effort by England only re-emphasized how important KP is to their T20 campaign (particularly against better bowling attacks).

With Smith having an extended out-of-sorts run (relative to himself) of late, and Gibbs out of sorts when not opening, the Kallis-Smith opening pair might just be the perfect method for SA to not win this World Cup. There’s only so much AB coming at No 4 can do after a while.

Ireland vs New Zealand Highlights - Super 8s

2009-06-11T11:53:00.000-07:00

Nz Bat

Ireland Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Ireland vs New Zealand Highlights from the 2009 T20 cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: NZ 198/5 Aaron Redmond 63 (30), Martin Guptill 45 (32), Scott Styris 42 (25)
Ireland bowled out for 115 Andre Botha 28 (17) - Nathan McCullum 3-15-3

Domineering NZ despite missing players. Redmond walks into the team and the most ridiculous first couple of overs this World Cup results. No Ross Taylor and yet New Zealand had Guptill and Styris to push the score to a NRR boosting total. An unnerved Ireland carried on the feeling into their batting with several run-outs, though McCullum’s (Brendon) brilliance did have its role. Looks like Ryder will miss the tournament and that’s a shame. No Sehwag, no Ryder, no fun.

Pregame: Injury is the keyword. For Ireland, Johnston and Niall O’Brien will return, while according to a Ross Taylor column, they have only 11 players fit for selection. Two things result from that - no worries about whom to select, and Martin Guptill gets a serious shot at strutting his stuff at the top. It’s a pity for NZ fans that their best team doesn’t get a shot at the World Cup and personally for me too, cos pre-tournament I felt they were the ones capable of sneaking out with the cup this time.

Other teams in this group are Pakistan and Sri Lanka

T20 World Cup : 12th Match India v Ireland Highlights

2009-06-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ireland Bat

India Bat

Watch cricket highlights: India vs Ireland - from the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup - scheduled start is 16:30 GMT (22:00 IST)

Scoreline: Ireland Bat 112/8: Andrew White 29 (25) - Zaheer Khan 3-19-4, Pragyan Ojha 4-18-2
India get there in 15.3 overs (18 overs game): Rohit Sharma 52 (45), Gautam Gambhir 37 (31)

Zaheer Khan in the post match and an earlier interview appeared to deflect questions on whether he was fully recovered or not from his shoulder injury which he sustained much like Sehwag while diving during the IPL. Can’t blame him. With so much ruckus over Sehwag, he probably feels its best to avoid statements like, “I’m working my way to total fitness” and the like.

Ireland were without two of their stars from the win vs Bangladesh - Johnston and Niall O’Brien - but went after the complacency hanging about the Indian team once they had Ireland down for 70 odd for 7. Too bad there were no Kevin O’Brien heroics today - he looks seriously interesting.

Dhoni seemed hell-bent on driving everyone nuts by coming in at No 3, nudging it around, trying to launch a few, getting one right and then getting out for 14. But his post-match thing suggests he might not necessarily be doing this all the time as he talks some boring stuff about it all being about the bowling combination. Oh. I get it. If you’re playing a 5 bowling attack like the last couple of games, and therefore have only basically 6 batsmen, you need an experienced total batsman like Dhoni to shepherd those immature guys Yuvraj and Raina through. Man.

His talk of combination deciding his move isn’t clear. Considering the absence of Sehwag, what other combination is possible apart from RP Singh coming in for maybe Irfan. Unless of course, he’s eyeing Dinesh Kartik to take over wicket-keeping duties, much like Parthiv did in the IPL for Chennai.

Pregame: Not sure what the status of Niall O’Brien is considering he’d cracked his foot in the game vs Bangladesh. The only thing sure is Sehwag’s exit from the tournament after his shoulder injury was finally confirmed bad enough.

West Indies vs Sri Lanka Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka Bat

West Indies Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Sri Lanka vs West Indies Highlights from the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup
Pregame: Much like yesterday’s NZ vs SA game, this one’s primarily about sizing each other up and I suppose (for the captain of each side) to see how individual players are shaping up. Gayle is apparently injured - just wondering if Lendl Simmons will get that spot. Seems one of the more classier West Indians to drop into the team since Marlon Samuels. Also, this is the kind of game that Sangakkara would like to seriously test out Mubarak and Chamara so that all talk of the weak SL middle-order can be put to rest.

T20 World Cup Highlights : Match 10 - New Zealand v South Africa

2009-06-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

South Africa Innings

New Zealand Innings

South Africa secured victory by one run against New Zealand in their World Twenty20 encounter at Lord`s. With both teams already assured of their places in the Super Eights courtesy of wins over Scotland, there was little at stake under the lights on Tuesday. The Proteas were put into bat and mustered just 128 for seven with New Zealand looking particularly sharp in the field. But when it came to chasing a pedestrian six-and-a-half an over to win, the Black Caps, needing 15 off the final over, came up just short despite 57 from stand-in captain Brendon McCullum. It was a thriller at Lord's but the Black Caps came up one run short in the Twenty20 World Cup match with South Africa

The Black Caps blew a good chance to beat South Africa in this morning's Twenty/20 World Cup match at Lord's. Chasing a relatively modest 129 to win, the Black Caps fell one run short to finish on 127 for 5 from their 20 overs. Brendon McCullum top scored with 57 but after he was dismissed the Black Caps struggled to get the ball to the fence. McCullum and Ross Taylor had put on 56 for the third wicket, which raised hopes of a new Zealand win, however, Taylor suffered a hamstring problem while running between the wickets and he was out soon after for 22. 15 runs were needed from the final over with Jacob Oram and Scott Styris at the crease.

Oram was run out on the last ball for 24, with Styris left on seven not out. Earlier, South Africa had made 128 for seven with Ian Butler putting in a superb four over spell to finish with two for 13. There were wickets for Kyle Mills (4-0-34-1), Nathan McCullum (4-0-18-1) and Styris (2-0-10-1). Daniel Vettori, Jesse Ryder and James Franklin were all left out because of injury, Both sides had already qualified for the Super Eights stage. The Black Caps will play Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Ireland. So now we have confirmed super 8 teams. India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa, England, New Zealand, West Indies and Ireland. The most notable missing name is Australia and then Bangladesh.

Pakistan vs Netherlands Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Pakistan Bat

Netherlands Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Pakistan vs Netherlands from the 2009 T20 World Cup.

Scoreline: Pakistan 175/5: Kamran Akmal 41 (30), Younis Khan 36 (20), Misbah 31 (20), - Nannes 4-26-1
Netherlands fall short 93 all out. Needed 151 to qualify for the Super Eights - Shahid Afridi 4-11-4, Saeed Ajmal 4-20-3

The Pakistan approach to start with was perfect considering they needed a big win today, but yet again, the middle overs trickled away a bit. A good finish however, including one of Afridi’s better sixes in recent times. Spin was always going to be an issue for the relatively less experienced Dutch side and it was quite surprising that de Grooth came in at No 6 considering his day out vs England. Sohail Tanvir was back but looked to have picked up some sort of injury midway through his spell. Finally some joy for Afridi fans (even if it wasn’t with the bat), considering he’d hit the pits of ridicule in Pakistan’s loss vs England.

The atmosphere at the ground was hardly as charged as the last Pakistan game, which was surprising considering this was their do-or-die moment. There’s been plenty of controversy regarding Younis Khan’s comments after their loss to England - “I’ve never attached too much importance to T20 cricket as it is fun cricket”. Kamran Akmal might not be the most articulate (in the English language), but in today’s post-match, he was probably a lot clearer about the fun aspect, which for all you know is what Younis originally intended to say. I mean, you’ve got to take what Younis says with a bit of leeway considering he’s possibly the only cricketer who calls Warne, Shanie.

Pregame: It’s a fairly simple situation for Pakistan. Win as big as possible. A just-about-win won’t be good enough cos of the poor NRR Pakistan suffered in the loss vs England. The one thing going for Pakistan against Netherlands is their spinners Ajmal and Afridi. The Dutch on the other hand will be like, bring ‘em on. Will better sense prevail and Tanvir play today. Will the Netherlands emerge as a serious contender for the semis. The tournament’s just about to hit fever pitch.

Australia vs Sri Lanka Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

Australia Bat

Sri Lanka Bat

Presentation

Watch cricket highlights - Australia vs Sri Lanka from the 2009 T20 cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: Australia 159/9: Mitchell Johnson 28 (13), David Hussey 28 (22), Brett Lee 15 (5) - Ajantha Mendis 4-20-3, Lasith Malinga 4-36-3
Sri Lanka win in 19 overs: Kumar Sangakkara 55 (42), Dilshan 53 (32)

Australia, despite Warner providing his if I play well today, I won’t tomorrow moment, played like Australia with both Ponting and Watson looking super in the early stage of their innings. And then Mendis happened.

When Ajantha Mendis flicked the Indian team (barring Sachin and Dhoni - to a certain extent) during their 2008 tour of SL, he was the next big thing on everyone’s minds. And then the ODI repeat tour by India seemed to have sorted him out. The sorting out was piled on during the IPL. If ever Mendis was sitting in a corner somewhere wondering how easily he could be forgotten, someone should have walked up to him and said, Relax, the Aussies are coming. There’s a reason why the cricket world throws spin (Botha - just kidding) at Australia since the departure of Hayden and Gilchrist.

However, Australia recovered pretty decently to set 160 through some super hitting by their lower order - Johnson reading Mendis off the pitch should have embarrassed the others above him.

Dilshan moved to a different country and batting position, but played pretty much the Delhi Daredevil role. Australia despite the Dilshan onslaught worked their way back into the game but just couldn’t find a way to dislodge old adversary Sangakkara - boundaries at just the right time to keep the runs/balls manageable coupled with the a resolute intent to win it for his team - much like KP yesterday vs Pakistan. The final moments feature unspoken interactions between Lee (who was yo-yo-like today) and Ponting and are worth a watch.

Ireland vs Bangladesh Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Bangladesh Bat

Ireland Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Ireland vs Bangladesh from the 2009 T20 World Cup.
Scoreline: Bangladesh 137/8: Mashrafe Mortaza 33 (16), Tamim Iqbal 22 (28) - Trent Johnston 4-20-3
Ireland win in 18.2 overs: Niall O’Brien 40 (25), Kevin O’Brien 39 (17)
The O’Brien brothers show today after Trent Johnston had made sure it was going to be a lowish total to chase. Only a couple of Mortaza whacks at the end gave the total some sort of chance. The O’Briens split the Irish innings - Niall with a cracked foot took charge of the top end, and just when Bangladesh were slipping back into the game, Kevin who says his favourite cricketer is Flintoff (it’s quite easy to see why) came in and stole the game right back.
Pregame: Didn’t catch the warm up games of Ireland, but just saw this really tall guy now called Boyd Rankin who’s apparently their opening bowler. That’ll be fun. For Bangladesh, as always, hope Ashraful entertains.

AUS vs SRI

2009-06-08T08:42:00.001-07:00

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Pakistan vs England Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-07T13:31:00.000-07:00

England Bat

Pakistan Bat

Watch cricket highlights - Pakistan vs England from the 2009 T20 World Cup.

Scoreline: England 185/5: Kevin Pietersen 58 (38), Luke Wright 34 (16), Owais Shah 33 (32) - Umar Gul 4-37-2, Saeed Ajmal 4-23-2
Pakistan 137/7: Younus Khan 46 - Stuart Broad 3-17-3

England after being effectively knocked back out of the tournament are now back in it irrespective of the Netherlands-Pakistan game, by virtue of the margin of defeat today.

Pakistan started off the game making the befuddling decision to play Arafat ahead of Tanvir. They started off well but then fell away in the field as the England batting did a switch-hit (compared to the previous game) with Wright partnered by Pietersen playing possibly one of his best T20 innings.

Umar Gul was stand-out for Pakistan despite Ajmal having the better figures, while Stuart Broad bounced right back today after all those countless replays of him missing the stumps have been played endlessly on television channels.

The Pakistan chase seemed centred around Duckworth-Lewis pottering onto the ground - it’s hard to else explain the lack of intent to score boundaries with Malik and Younus getting together. That’s exactly the kind of pair you don’t want together at the same time in a T20 game chasing 180 plus. Maybe I’m skewed, but I’ve never liked Malik - he came into the Pakistan team as a poor copy of Saqlain, ended up replacing Mushtaq in ODI cricket and then flattered to deceive with his batting. To have Misbah come in with 20 odd deliveries left seems ridiculous.

While it has to be agreed that Afridi over the last couple of years has been in the team for his bowling, the Pakistan management’s handling of him seems unfair - more often than not, battling as he is to regain his striking abilities, he’s thrown into situations (around 100 needed in 8 overs) that require those rare moments that are so far and few in sports, let alone cricket - like an Ivanesevic winning Wimbledon. An opening or one-down role in a chase would at least remove the pressure of having to do the unthinkable while also scoring fast.

In short, one conclusion can be drawn - the later a guy sleeps at night, the more impotent his opinions become. So guess, I’ll call it quits for today. Oh, and if you’re a Pakistan viewer, don’t watch the last bit of the 2nd video where Younus Khan talks post-match. You might just bust an artery.

Pregame: Pakistan’s first game. Their warm-up vs India wasn’t convincing, but considering the way Pakistan plays its cricket, they could well snap out of it. Can this 2009 World Cup be Afridi’s to ravage. The fans remain hopeful. Pietersen had in a recent interview mentioned he’d be packing in the switch-hit for a while and had instead come up with other ideas for this World Cup. Hope he plays, so we could see all that.

South Africa vs Scotland Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

SA Bat

Scotland Bat

Watch cricket highlights - South Africa vs Scotland - from the 2009 T20 World Cup. Scotland won the toss and opted to field.

Scoreline: SA 211/5: AB de Villiers 79 (34), Jacques Kallis 48 (31), Graeme Smith 38 (29) - Majid Haq 4-25-2
Scotland 81 all out: Kyle Coetzer 42 (32)

The AB show in the midst of an overwhelming display by SA. Scotland had their moments - like pegging SA back for a while with 2 quick wickets of Kallis and Smith after there seemed no hope in sight. Coetzer covered up for his team’s flustered fielding with a sensational catch, and he stood out yet again with the bat as the SA bowlers, pretty early on, nipped out any hope of a Scotland vs NZ performance. In fact, some of the Scottish batsmen seemed taken aback by the pace of Steyn and co on occasions.

Pregame: After Dale Steyn missed most of the IPL (mostly) due to a thumb injury, to see him back in English conditions (despite the conditions playing truant) against a cavalier Scotland batting order will be just about perfect. Smith will be hoping to recreate his English success from the last tour considering his ordinary IPL, while Gibbs might just be the man today.

India vs Bangladesh Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

India Bat

Bangladesh Bat

Watch cricket highlights - India vs Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup 2009.

Scoreline: India 180/5 - Yuvraj Singh 41 (18), Gambhir 50 (46), Rohit Sharma 36 (23)
Bangladesh fall short: 155

Pregame: Another World Cup early encounter between the two sides. In 2007, Bangladesh effectively put India out. What’s gonna happen this time around. And will Ashraful entertain?

New Zealand vs Scotland Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-06T13:27:00.000-07:00

Scotland Bat

NZ Bat

Watch cricket highlights - New Zealand vs Scotland - from the 2009 T20 World Cup.

Scoreline: Rain-delayed 7 over game Scotland 89/4: Ryan Watson 27 (10), Kyle Coetzer 33 (15), Navdeep Poonia 27 (15).
New Zealand get there in 6 overs: Jesse Ryder 31 (12), Ross Taylor 21 (10), McCullum 18 (7)

The amazing thing with a 7 overs-a-side game is that even with the ridiculous individual scores above, a bowler with (eventual) figures of 2-19-3 can overshadow them all to sneak away with the Man of the Match (Ian Butler). Brilliant show by Scotland after Holland’s win vs England yesterday. They were right in it till the end despite the Ryder-McCullum show - 21 were needed off 12 before Ross Taylor took over.

Pregame: Update: The game’s finally starting - 7 overs a side. This really opens up the game and the odds for Scotland.
Yesterday, pregame felt it would be a tight game. But that was based on England’s shaky nature in T20 games. However, in my impotent opinion, doubt Scotland will be able to put one past NZ today unless something dramatic happens via Duckworth-Lewis, simply cos NZ are my prime culprits to whack the Cup this time.

Australia vs West Indies Highlights - T20 World Cup

2009-06-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Australia Bat

WI Bat

Watch cricket highligths - Australia vs West Indies from the T20 World Cup 2009.

Scoreline: Australia 169/7: Dave Warner 63 (53), David Hussey 27
West Indies win in 15.5 overs: Chris Gayle 88 (50), Andre Fletcher 53 (32)

The amazing thing about the manner in which West Indies completely outplayed Australia was that despite their fielding hitting their own unique horrid standards, they won the game with ease. Partly with the ball, but mostly through the Stanford Superstars pair - Chris Gayle and Andre Fletcher. Gayle was so merciless that Brett Lee who’s looked super since his return ended with 4-56-1.

Absolutely must watch stuff. Oh, and Mike Hussey almost reprised his dropped catch of Steyn today, except that this one was tougher and not anywhere near as comical.

Pregame: The maddest group this year, caused apparently by West Indies falling below Bangladesh in the 2005 edition. But then, T20 has slowly humbled everyone (including us viewers) into accepting that there really isn’t such a thing as an easy group or tough group. So maybe it’s just another group after all.

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2009-06-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

T20 World Cup Highlights : Match 01 - England v Netherlands

2009-06-05T14:03:00.001-07:00

England Bat

Netherlands Bat

Watch cricket highlights - England vs Netherlands - the 1st match of the 2009 T20 Cricket World Cup.

Scoreline: England 162/5 - Luke Wright 71 (49), Ravi Bopara 46 (34).
Netherlands win off the last ball - de Grooth 49 (30) - James Anderson 4-23-3

The country that gave the world the concept of Total Football played a type of cricket that was total (while batting) in contrast to that shown by England. Batting obviously seems Netherlands’ strength and while their bowling was steady, England actually played well in the 1st 10 overs (90) to set up what should have been a 180+ total. However, what instead came was an insipid performance with batsmen coming and going but no one really looking like they were the ones going to launch. KP’s absence was most felt when the man replacing him, Robert Key walked out. I suppose the only time you’d feel a sense of hope with Key would be if he were on the other side of a bakery counter.

13 of England’s 14 boundaries came from Wright-Bopara with no sixes, while the Dutch had 4 sixes and 12 boundaries spread around. de Grooth was central but every one of their batsmen showed intent - from the Philo-Wallace-hark-back Reekers to No 7 Bunge, Netherlands despite the last ball finish had the game in total control during their knock. Only their limited international experience made this a finalballer as Harsha Bhogle railed on and on exactly as he’d done years back when Yuvraj-Kaif won the Nat West final - will the fear of winning get them, cricket doesn’t feature romantic stories and so on.

Pregame: So host country England kick off things against an unfamiliar (personally) Netherlands side - didn’t catch any of their warm up games, but Dirk Nannes is there and unless he shifts into the downside of his famed yo-yo mode, the current England team that can be shaky at times in T20 cricket could provide a tight game. Update: KP misses this game apparently cos of some tendon thing.
All perusals of the teams competing this season would tilt the Cup towards India, Australia, SA and Pakistan/Sri Lanka. But personally, I’m thinking maybe New Zealand might just sneak out with this one and it has nothing to do with the fact that NZ beat India in the warm-up game.

England v Holland--STREAM 1

2009-06-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

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Over 1:
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Over 2:
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over 4:
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T20 World Cup Live : Opening Ceremony

2009-06-05T08:29:00.000-07:00

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Former Dutch assistant head coach, Ian Pont, says The Netherlands could cause the shock of the T20 World Cup by overcoming the hosts England in the opening match at Lord's today. Pont, who was National Bowling Coach and coached the team during the 2007 ICC World Cup reckons the squad have made great progress since then and are poised to 'do an Ireland' at this tournament. "The Dutch are the surprise package. Underestimate them at your peril because they have some match-winners in their squad." Now with the addition of world-class left-arm pace bowler Dirk Nannes, the Australian born to Dutch parents, Netherlands can cause a shock or two as it also boasts players with professional experience in Bas Zuiderent, Daan van Bunge, Alexei Kervezee, Ryan ten Doeschate as well as junior NZ internationals Peter Borren and Darren Reekers.

Pont has a foot in both camps having worked with England players Ravi Bopara, James Foster and Graham Napier while coaching with Essex, as well as England's Head Coach Andy Flower. He said, "England would normally win this match 99 times out of a 100, but T20 is a strange game and even the most experienced players get it wrong. The Netherlands are the form team from the associate countries with nothing to lose. They disposed of Scotland far more professionally than England in this week's warm-ups so expect to see a pumped up Dutch team ready to show what they can do." "Pace man Edgar Schiferli and left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar are two bowlers who can change a match if they are on song.

It's just so good to see how they have progressed recently. Going forward, youngster Tim Gruijters is someone to watch out for in the future. He came on one of my coaching courses in Rotterdam 4 years ago and performed really well. I feel that the Dutch have got some seriously talented lads coming along." The Dutch have recently qualified for the ICC World Cup again and moved up two places in the ICC rankings to sit just behind Ireland. "I can see a time soon where The Netherlands are the top ranked country outside of Test Cricket, which would be a remarkable achievement from where the team was just 5 years ago."

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2009-06-05T08:21:00.000-07:00

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2009-06-05T08:15:00.001-07:00

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ICC World Twenty20 2009 / Fixtures

2009-06-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

- Day and Night - Covered by Cricinfo
Date and Time	Match	Weather

Fri Jun 5 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	1st Match, Group B - England v Netherlands Lord's, London	N/A

Sat Jun 6 10:00 local \| 09:00 GMT	2nd Match, Group D - New Zealand v Scotland Kennington Oval, London	N/A

Sat Jun 6 14:00 local \| 13:00 GMT	3rd Match, Group C - Australia v West Indies Kennington Oval, London	N/A

Sat Jun 6 18:00 local \| 17:00 GMT	4th Match, Group A - Bangladesh v India Trent Bridge, Nottingham	N/A

Sun Jun 7 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	5th Match, Group D - Scotland v South Africa Kennington Oval, London	N/A

Sun Jun 7 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	6th Match, Group B - England v Pakistan Kennington Oval, London	N/A

Mon Jun 8 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	7th Match, Group A - Bangladesh v Ireland Trent Bridge, Nottingham	N/A

Mon Jun 8 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	8th Match, Group C - Australia v Sri Lanka Trent Bridge, Nottingham	N/A

Tue Jun 9 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	9th Match, Group B - Netherlands v Pakistan Lord's, London	N/A

Tue Jun 9 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	10th Match, Group D - New Zealand v South Africa Lord's, London	N/A

Wed Jun 10 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	11th Match, Group C - Sri Lanka v West Indies Trent Bridge, Nottingham	8° C

Wed Jun 10 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	12th Match, Group A - India v Ireland Trent Bridge, Nottingham	8° C

Thu Jun 11 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	13th Match, Group F - Ireland v New Zealand (D1 v A2) Trent Bridge, Nottingham	6 - 17° C

Thu Jun 11 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	14th Match, Group E - England v South Africa (B2 v D2) Trent Bridge, Nottingham	6 - 17° C

Fri Jun 12 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	15th Match, Group F - Pakistan v Sri Lanka (B1 v C2) Lord's, London	10 - 20° C

Fri Jun 12 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	16th Match, Group E - India v West Indies (A1 v C1) Lord's, London	10 - 20° C

Sat Jun 13 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	17th Match, Group E - South Africa v West Indies (C1 v D2) Kennington Oval, London	12 - 22° C

Sat Jun 13 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	18th Match, Group F - New Zealand v Pakistan (D1 v B1) Kennington Oval, London	12 - 22° C

Sun Jun 14 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	19th Match, Group F - Ireland v Sri Lanka (A2 v C2) Lord's, London	14 - 23° C

Sun Jun 14 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	20th Match, Group E - England v India (A1 v B2) Lord's, London	14 - 23° C

Mon Jun 15 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	21st Match, Group F - Ireland v Pakistan (B1 v A2) Kennington Oval, London	14 - 21° C

Mon Jun 15 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	22nd Match, Group E - England v West Indies (B2 v C1) Kennington Oval, London	14 - 21° C

Tue Jun 16 13:30 local \| 12:30 GMT	23rd Match, Group F - New Zealand v Sri Lanka (D1 v C2) Trent Bridge, Nottingham	N/A

Tue Jun 16 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	24th Match, Group E - India v South Africa (D2 v A1) Trent Bridge, Nottingham	N/A

Thu Jun 18 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Trent Bridge, Nottingham	N/A

Fri Jun 19 17:30 local \| 16:30 GMT	2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC Kennington Oval, London	N/A

Sun Jun 21 15:00 local \| 14:00 GMT	Final - TBC v TBC Lord's, London	N/A

T20 World Cup Highlights : Pakistan v India (Warm Up)

2009-06-03T14:21:00.000-07:00

Pakistan Inning

Indian Inning

Captains View

India crushed Pakistan by nine wickets in a warm-up game of ICC ICC World Twenty20 at the Brit Oval. A persuasive performance with the bat allowed India to pile down their target of 159 with 18 balls to spare. Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir scored 80 and 52 respectively to beat Pakistan, who had been looking to avenge their 2007 final defeat against their rivals. Pakistan had earlier looked to be in a strong position after they picked apart India's pace attack of RP Singh and Praveen Kumar. Misbah ul Haq (37*) and Yasir Arafat (25*) smashed 45 off 27 balls after Ahmed Shahzad (25) and Kamran Akmal (19) had set them on their way. Skipper Younus Khan also knocked off a quickfire 32 before being removed by Harbhajan Singh.

India launch into blitzing chase as the opening pair brought up the 100 off 71 balls with Sharma reaching his 50 in the 11th over off just 37 deliveries. India were scoring at more than eight an over by the time Sharma pulled Afridi over midwicket for six to take the score to 116 without loss. Gambhir reached his 50 in the 17th over before he and MS Dhoni steered India to victory. Mohammad Aamer got the breakthrough in the 17th over when his short ball was mis-timed by Sharma - who skied the ball to be caught brilliantly by Shahzad at mid-wicket.

Pakistan and India met for the first time since the November’s Mumbai attacks which led the Indians to cancel their tour of the neighbouring country. This was the last practice match for both the sides before the 12 team opens from June 5. Incidentally, both lost their opening warm up matches with Pakistan losing by 59 runs to South Africa and India beaten by 9 runs by New Zealand. The ICC designated this warm up fixture as a “catch the spirit” match with proceeds from the fundraising around this match will be split between a fund to support the education of young family members of those who lost their lives in the March’s Lahore terrorist attack on Sri Lanka team and ICC match officials and community based projects across the Asian sub continent that promote through cricket.

T 20 World Cup Live WMP Link

2009-06-03T13:34:00.001-07:00

T-20 World Cup LIVE Server 3 Sop Cast

2009-06-03T13:33:00.001-07:00

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UEFA Final - Man Utd vs Barcelona

2009-05-27T13:37:00.001-07:00

Katrina Kaif dance at IPL2009 closing ceremony

2009-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00