Finally the wait is over

Finally the wait is over

England trounced Australia by seven wickets to win their maiden ICC World Twenty20 championship

Bridgetown (Barbados), May 16: A resurgent England registered an emphatic seven-wicket victory over old foes Australia to win the Twenty20 World Cup at Kensington Oval in Barbados today.

It was a moment to remember for England as captain Paul Collingwood hit the winning run and the players from the bench rushed to congratulate their leader. After restricting the Australians for 147, England started their chase with the loss the of Michael Lumb early but Craig Kieswetter (63) batted carefully and placed his team in a comfort zone. Kevin Pietersen also played his part and scored a quick 47.

Hussey powers Oz into final

Hussey powers Oz into final

Gros Islet (St Lucia), May 14: Michael Hussey scored a brilliant 60 off 24 balls to give Australia a thumping victory against Pakistan in the second semifinal of ICC World Twenty20 here today. Now Australia face England in the final on Sunday.

Chasing a tough target of 192, the Australians were in trouble as they lost a few early wickets but Hussey did not allow the defending champions to gain the upperhand in the match with his masterful display. Cameron White also contributed 43 to the winning cause.

Earlier, Pakistan rode on blistering half-centuries by Kamran Akmal (50) and Umar Akmal (56) to post a challenging 191 for six.

Put into bat, Kamran and Salman Butt (32) shared a 58-ball 82-run opening partnership to set the tone, while Umar provided the late charge as Pakistan stunned Australia with their stroke-play in a sticky Beausejour wicket here.

Inclement weather and wet ground conditions had earlier delayed the start of the match by half an hour but that did not bother the Pakistan openers as they went about their business.

England beat Lanka, in final

England beat Lanka, in final

Gros Islet (St Lucia), May 13: Once again Kevin Pietersen became the hero as he remained not out at 42 to see his team enter the final of the ICC Twenty20, beating Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the first semifinal here today. Craig Kieswetter was the other major contributor (39) as England easily chased down the target with 24 balls remaining.

Earlier, Angelo Mathews (58) stood among ruins with a fighting half century as Sri Lanka scored a modest 128 for six.

Mathews, who hit three fours and a six in his 45-ball innings, got little support from his batting colleagues as the next highest contributors were captain Kumar Saangakkara (16) and Chamara Kapugedera (16) after Sri Lanka elected to bat at a slow Beausejour Stadium pitch. Mathews was involved in two partnerships — 46 off 45 balls with Kapugedera for the fifth wicket and 33 off 20 balls with Thissara Perera for the sixth — which took Sri Lanka at least something to defend.

Broad was the most successful England bowler with two wickets for 21 while Bresman, Sidebottom and Swann chipped in with a wicket each. Except for calling the coin correctly, nothing worked for Sri Lanka as they lost their three key batsmen by the fifth over for just 26 runs.

Sri Lanka’s woes deepened with their best batsman in the tournament Mahela Jayawardene departing in the first ball of the fifth over off a beauty from Stuart Broad with the ball lifting and moving a shade away from the bat for wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter to do the rest. Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews tried to repair the innings before the former was out in the ninth over for a 19-ball 16 to leave his side in deep trouble at 47 for four. Brief Score: Sri Lanka 128/6 England 132/3 (PTI)

Sri Lanka keep hopes alive, India bite the dust

Sri Lanka keep hopes alive, India bite the dust

St Lucia, May 11: Sri Lanka beat India by 5 wickets at a thrilling match of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup at St Lucia tonight. The last-ball sixer by islander Chamara Kapugedara proved to be the dampener for India’s race for a semifinal berth. Chasing a target of 164, Sri Lanka made 167 for the loss of five wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.

Earlier, Suresh Raina top scored for India with a 47-ball 63 as his team scored a competitive 163 for five in their crucial Super Eights match. India were 90 for one at half-way mark but could not accelerate much afterwards due to slow nature of the wicket.

If India manages to beat Sri Lanka by 20 runs, they will keenly watch the next match where an Australia win over the West Indies would clear their passage to the semifinals. Given the do-or-die situation, India batted aggressively and positively. Dinesh Karthik, who replaced Murali Vijay, started off with a bang by dispatching the first ball of innings off Angelo Mathews to the point boundary. Karthik (13) looked in good touch as he was striking the ball well but a leading edge off Lasith Malinga ended his stay at the crease, though India made a steady start.

India out of T20 World Cup’10

India out of T20 World Cup’10

Bridgetown (Barbados), May 9: West Indies beat India by 14 runs to keep their hopes alive for semi-final race. The former Champions India were, however, out of the Tournament. In reply to West Indies 170-run target, India performed meekly as there batsman were kept in the back foot with some fast and aggressive bowling by the West Indian bowlers.

Earlier, Chris Gayle butchered the Indian bowlers with a whirlwind 66-ball 98 as West Indies posted a competitive 169 for six in their Group F Super Eight match of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup here today. Gayle slammed five fours and seven sixes and involved in three crucial partnership with Shivnarine Chanderpaul (23), Darren Sammy (19) and Keiron Pollard (17) after India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni put West Indies to bat.

India surrender meekly

India surrender meekly

Warner, Watson make bowlers toil as Australia pile up 184/5

Bridgetown (Barbados), May 7: Rohit Sharma’s blistering unbeaten half-century went in vain as Australia humiliated India, inflicting on the 2007 champions a crushing 49-run defeat in a Super Eight Group F match of the Twenty20 World Cup here today.

Barring the toss, which Mahendra Singh Dhoni won and opted to field, nothing went right for India today and the Australian team, under Michael Clarke, made a statement that they are determined to win the only major trophy missing in their cupboard.

Put into bat, Australia rode on the blistering 104-run stand provided by openers David Warner (72) and Shane Watson (54) in 10-odd overs to post a commanding 184 for five even though they looked good for the 200-mark.

England qualify for Super 8

England qualify for Super 8

Collingwood this time has rain to thank

Providence (Guyana), May 5: England entered the Super Eight stage of the Twenty20 cricket World Cup after heavy downpour washed out their crucial Group D match against Ireland here.

With each team getting one point, England qualified for the Super Eight stage, thanks to their superior net run-rate. England have a net run-rate of -0.452, better than Ireland’s -3.500 after the two group matches. Hosts West Indies have already qualified as the top team from the Group D.

Put into bat, England went off to a dismal start but Eoin Morgan’s determined 37-ball 45 helped them eke out a moderate 120 for eight yesterday.

Morgan, who struck five fours, found good support from Luke Wright (20 off 24). The duo came together when the team was struggling at 49 for four and added 41 runs for the fifth wicket partnership to give a timely recovery.

Rain halted the match soon after Ireland started chasing the victory target of 121. They were four for no loss in 1.2 overs when the match was halted due to heavy downpour.

Rain favours the host to beat England

Rain favours the host to beat England

PROVIDENCE, May 4: West Indies won through to the second round of the World Twenty20 after beating England by eight wickets in a match whose context was completely changed by rain on Monday.

England made a challenging total of 191 for five, featuring 55 from former Ireland batsman Eoin Morgan, after being sent-in to bat by West Indies captain Chris Gayle.

But rain, which had interrupted Sri Lanka’s match against Zimbabwe here earlier in the day, returned after the West Indies had started their reply in barnstorming fashion to be 30 without loss at the Guyana National Stadium.

And when play resumed, the West Indies were left with a revised target of 60 in six overs, under the Duckworth/Lewis method for rain-affected matches.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (15 not out) and Andre Fletcher (12 not out) saw the hosts to victory with a ball to spare as they scored the eight runs they needed off the last over, from fast bowler Stuart Broad.

England now have a winner-takes-all clash against Ireland, who suffered a 70-run Group D thrashing by the West Indies last week, here on Tuesday to decide which team will join the hosts in the Super Eights.

We trusted IPL financial experts: Sunil Gavaskar

We trusted IPL financial experts: Sunil Gavaskar

Mumbai, May 2: Breaking his silence on the controversy surrounding the Indian Premier League (IPL), former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has said he and his other fellow cricketers had complete faith in financial experts in the committee.

In an article appearing in the Times of India, Gavaskar expressed regret over the fact that he did not have much knowledge of financial and legal issues, so was unable to understand what was discussed in IPL meeting.

“Pity, we cricketers don’t have so much knowledge, for then we would have been able to understand a lot of the financial and legal issues that came up in council meetings. We cricketers looked at all the others who were knowledgeable about finance and trusted their expertise,” Gavaskar writes.