Afghanistan win the ICC World T20 Qualifiers
Romance in sport is what drives the fans to the grounds. And makes them flick their television sets on more eagerly than any other time. A generation or two onwards, when the fans look back at cricket as we know it today, they would probably be savouring the emergence of a new powerhouse in the international cricket, Afghanistan!
For the time from when the Afghanistan team had won the Division Five title in ICC’s qualifiers for the World Cup of 2011, their story has been seeped in romance, grit, gumption, and to say the least, glory. They had narrowly missed out on qualifying for the World Cup 2011, but thanks to that performance, they had managed to qualify for the ICC World T20 Qualifiers which was played in Dubai recently.
There were ten teams in that tournament, and only two out of those were to qualify for the ICC World T20 in West Indies to be played in April this year. In the competition were the teams like Ireland, who have played in the World Cup before and qualified for the Super Eights in 2007, Netherlands, who have not only played in the World Cup, but also in the 2009 edition of the ICC World T20 and beaten England, Kenya, who have featured in the semi-finals of the 2003 edition of the World Cup and others like Canada, UAE and Scotland, all of whom have done their bit at the highest level.
So, while Afghanistan’s record before the tournament would have put them amongst the top four favourites, they were up against some fierce competition across the board.
And not only did they pass the examination, but they also aced them with wins over Ireland, Scotland, USA and UAE in the league stage. This ensured their place in the finals of the tournament, and more importantly, a slot in the ICC World T20 to be played in West Indies later this year. The cherry on the cake was then provided by Nowroz Mangal and Mohammad Shahzad, both of whom assisted the side in a facile win over the Irish in the finals of the tournament, to lift the trophy as well! In turn, this gave them a right to play India and South Africa in the World T20.
Ireland, on the other hand, had qualified for the finals after their first match loss to Afghanistan. They beat Scotland, USA, UAE and Netherlands, en route the finals, and had it not been for a rather arduous schedule, they would have probably done much better than they actually did.
Like all of the other teams, they played their first three league matches in three days, and qualifying for the Super Fours meant that they had to play their remaining two games off consecutive days as well. So, after featuring in five matches in as many days, they qualified for the finals, which was to be played on the same day as the final league game; ensuring back-to-back games for the Irish, in a span of a couple of hours!
The coach, Phil Simmons, a former West Indian all-rounder was obviously an unhappy man at the scheduling, but would have taken heart from the fact that they qualified for their second successive ICC World T20. Last year, they had played India and Bangladesh in the first round, and while they lost to the Indians, they had bundled Bangladesh out of the tournament and qualified for the second round. This time around, they face West Indies and England in the first round of the tournament.
I may be thinking far, but the romance that I was alluding to in sport may not be over. While expecting the Afghan side to beat India and South Africa may sound a bit far-fetched, they may give the two sides a run for their money. However, what could even be more probable is that Ireland could surprise either of West Indies or England in the first round to enter the second! That will be some day.
Bosman smashed English bowlers in both games
A week ago, I had predicted that the T20I series between England and South Africa would be rather close and should end in a 1-1 score-line here. As it turned out, the prediction wasn’t too far off the mark as the sides traded games and in the end the series was tied.
The two matches were played at Johannesburg and Centurion respectively, the same venues that the Champions Trophy had used. In that tournament, the pitch at Centurion had turned out to be a run-fest, whereas that at Wanderers in Johannesburg was the one on which the bowlers had a gala-time. As it turned out in the series, both the pitches were so full of runs that it almost seemed like the bowlers were there to fill in the number only.
In the first match, South Africa elected to field on the premise that it is rather difficult to set targets in a T20 game on a flat-as-a-pancake pitch. Their decision almost worked as Joe Denly was dismissed off the very first ball, but first Jonathon Trott – playing in the country of his birth – and then Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan smacked the hosts around to get to 202/6 in the twenty overs. Morgan was at his merciless best and got to an unbeaten 45-ball 85.
South Africa replied equally strongly with Graeme Smith and his new opening partner, Loots Bosman, adding 97 in less than nine overs. One wicket brought two, but the South Africans looked good to get to their total, when it started to drizzle. At the end of 12 overs, the South Africans were a couple of runs ahead of the target, but a superb over from Anderson brought them a run behind the par score when the heavens opened for good. The match ended there, with the Proteas going down by one run!
They made a fine comeback in the second game as Bazooka Bosman - as he is known - continued his supreme touch to seal Heschelle Gibbs’ ouster – for the time being. His 94 came off only 45 balls, and by the time he was out, the South Africans had scored 170 in only 13 overs! They ended with 241 to their name – lest one forgets, this was in 20 overs only – and then restricted the English side to 157/8 in their twenty overs to easily win the game. Trott scored his first half century in T20Is.
The good news for England was the return of Kevin Pietersen after being out of the game for more than six months due to an Achilles Heel injury.
In the meantime, the IPL committee met in Bangkok to discuss the details of the next season of the IPL. What has emerged is that the players will not be able to sign contracts with the IPL and not feature in the tournament on the grounds of playing for domestic cricket back home. In fact, apart from injuries or international commitments – and extreme scenarios – the players will have to honour their commitment to the league through its entire duration. The rationale behind this has been the move is said to be the advancing of the league to February-March instead of April-May. Many of the domestic competitions are still on, especially in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
There was also an announcement that seven out of the eight franchises have agreed to the inclusion of the extra teams in the fourth season of the IPL. Apparently, Chennai Super Kings has opposed the move so far.
And to end the piece, another piece of trivia for you. South Africa’s 241/6 in the twenty overs was the second highest total in a T20I, behind Sri Lanka’s 260/6 in 20 overs against Kenya in the first edition of the ICC World T20. The highest total ever chased successfully in a T20I is 208 by South Africa against West Indies – again, in the ICC World T20 in 2007.
- November 17, 2009
- article by Suneer Chowdhary
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Flip-flopping his retirement plans!
When Younis Khan had announced his retirement from the T20 format of the game, there were many an expert who had expressed their surprise over his announcement. Some had graciously used the usual set of clichés in ‘retire when they ask why, rather than why not’, while there were others, most notably the cricket followers from the other countries who had smirked at the seemingly inexplicable decision.
All of a sudden, Pakistan became embroiled in a match-fixing controversy, where the captain Younis Khan tendered his resignation from the longer formats of the game as well, but was coaxed into continuing. As it turned out, Younis has now done a total U-turn, and expressed his intentions of returning back to the most condensed format of the game as well. And the reason, in Younis’ own words is, ‘if my country-men and my players want me to come back I will!’ Probably Younis Khan has been inspired by Imran Khan, who was convinced into taking the reigns of the side again and led them to a World Cup triumph.
Some things never change in Pakistani cricket, I guess.
Moving on, after a hiatus of almost 20 days, the T20 cricket resumes action when the South Africans take on England in a two match T20I series. At the best of times, it is difficult enough to predict favourites for matches in this format, but these games could be particularly close.
It is the South African bowling attack has been found wanting this season in both, the ODIs and T20Is. Especially on pitches which have not had too much for the bowlers, the likes of Albie Morkel and even the usually difficult to get away, Dale Steyn have had a problem or two. Of course, Charl Langeveldt’s return to the squad – and in all probabilities to the playing eleven – could mean good news for the Proteas, given that his bowling in the death overs has won his side many games.
The one other plus that the English side could possess is that their middle-order seems like it is T20I ready. The troika of Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright and Jonathon Trott add a lot more spice to the batting and this you-blink-you-miss format seems to have been made just for them. Trott has yet to play in a single T20I but if his record in the T20s for his county side, Warwickshire, is anything to by, then he could be quite a handful.
My personal call for this will be 1-1, and the one batsman I would be most interested in watching would be Pietersen – especially after the statements of his team-mate, Graeme Swann, about how he needs to earn back his place, would spur him on.
To end this piece, just a spot of T20 trivia. Chris Gayle is the only cricketer so far to score a century in the T20Is and he had done it in the very first game of the ICC World T20 in 2007 against South Africa. The highest score by an Indian batsman is 75 by Gautam Gambhir, in the final game of the same tournament against Pakistan!
- November 10, 2009
- article by Suneer Chowdhary
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Who will win the 2010 version?
The ICC has announced the venues for the World T20 to be held in West Indies next year. There are four grounds on which the games will be played, namely, Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts and St Lucia, with the final to be played at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Zimbabwe has returned back to the World T20 after having not been included in the 2009 version because of the political differences between the two governments of Zimbabwe and England.
There are nine other test playing nations, and the remaining two slots will be filled by two qualifiers from the qualifying tournament which will be played in October in the UAE. This will include surprise teams like Afghanistan, UAE and USA.
The world T20 will have Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia in the first group. India, South Africa and the first qualifier will form the second group, while New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe will be in Group C.
Group D will consist of West Indies, England and the second qualifier.
The women’s world t20 will also be played in concurrence with the men’s tournament, as had happened in 2009.
Pakistan had won the men’s tournament this year, while England had beaten New Zealand in the women’s final.
Ajantha Mendis: Star performer of World T20
A lot had been spoken about how T20 cricket would signal the end of the bowlers around the world and how spinners will be the ones most affected. The conspiracy theorists had alleged that not too many of the youngsters would ever prefer being bowlers given the way things were shaping and that without the flight, spin or any other kind of assistance, the spinners would be a dying breed.
If the 2009 version of the ICC World T20 was anything to go by, all those theorists would now be chewing on their words and trying to hide their face. The tournament went on to not only show the importance of the bowlers, but had three of the top five bowlers in the most number of wickets list as spinners!
Even without taking statistics into consideration, there was enough evidence in the tournament, that scoring off the spinners was very difficult; most batsmen tried getting their runs in the first six overs as the next six would invariably leave them struggling for the runs. And that, on grounds which usually do not support spinners to extent one would find in the sub-continent.
Quite clearly, the spinners are here to stay, whether it is the most traditional format of the game, or the most recent, wham-bam version!
Courtesy Cricinfo and Getty
Pakistan has won the second edition of the ICC World T20 by beating Sri Lanka rather easily by eight wickets in the finals. Sri Lanka had gone into the game having not a single game, but were outplayed by a team that batted, bowled and fielded much better than them.
Sri Lanka had opted to bat first, but lost wickets at regular intervals to slump at 70/6 and with only Kumar Sangakkara at the crease. In partnership with Angelo Mathews, Sangakkara added a nice little 68 to get the Lankans to 138 in their allotted 20 overs. And on a pitch that looked to have something for the pace bowlers, the target looked a trifle dicey.
However, the Pakistani batsmen were disciplined, without being too flashy and yet, scored the runs at the desired rate. The openers, Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan did get out in quick succession, but Shahid Afridi’s continuing form and Shoaib Malik’s cool head took the Pakistanis past the total and won them the tournament.
Afridi’s knock won him the man-of-the-match, as did his 1/20 in the four overs, while T.Dilshan won the man-of-the-series for being the highest scorer of the tournament. It was a pity that he had to end up being on the losing side today!
Sri Lanka v West Indies
2nd Semi-Final
Where: The Oval
When: Jun 19, 2009
Winner: Sri Lanka won by 57 runs
Sanath Jayasuriya whips it away on one leg, Sri Lanka v West Indies, ICC World Twenty20, 2nd semi-final, The Oval, June 19, 2009
Photos courtesy of Cricinfo and Associated Press
Xavier Marshall is bowled off an inside edge, Sri Lanka v West Indies, ICC World Twenty20, 2nd semi-final, The Oval, June 19, 2009
Photos courtesy of Cricinfo and Associated Press
Sri Lankan fans had plenty to cheer, Sri Lanka v West Indies, ICC World Twenty20, 2nd semi-final, The Oval, June 19, 2009
Photos courtesy of Cricinfo and Associated Press
- June 21, 2009
- article by JM
- 0 comments
Pakistan v South Africa
1st Semi-Final T20 World Cup
Where: Nottingham
When: Jun 18, 2009
Read the rest of this entry...
- June 18, 2009
- article by JM
- 1 comments
South Africa v West Indies
Match 17 - Group E
Where: The Oval
When: Jun 13, 2009
Winner: South Africa by 20 runs
New Zealand v Pakistan
Match 18 - Group F
Where: The Oval
When: Jun 13, 2009
Winner: Pakistan by 6 wickets (with 41 balls remaining) Read the rest of this entry...
- June 16, 2009
- article by JM
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T20 World Cup - Pakistan v Sri Lanka
Match 15 - Group F
Where: Lord's
When: Jun 12, 2009
Winner: Sri Lanka won by 19 runs
Younis snaps Sanath Jayasuriya, Pakistan v Sri Lanka, ICC World Twenty20 Super Eights, Lord's, June 12, 2009
Photos courtesy of cricinfo and getty images
Mahela Jayawardene swings, Pakistan v Sri Lanka, ICC World Twenty20 Super Eights, Lord's, June 12, 2009
Photos courtesy of cricinfo and getty images
- June 12, 2009
- article by JM
- 0 comments
