Watson and Warner destroy India

Australia's captain George Bailey doesn't think his side is over-dependent on Shane Watson. Who'd be able to tell? Watson has hardly given any of his team-mates a chance so far in this tournament, and that continued in Australia's first Super Eights match as they crushed India by nine wickets in Colombo. To be fair, David Warner was also outstanding and Pat Cummins played a key role with the ball. But Watson was again the stand-out performer, as he has been in all of Australia's matches in the World Twenty20.

Chasing 141, the Australians reached their target with 31 balls to spare. India's decision to pick three spinners - Virender Sehwag was left out to accommodate a fifth bowler - did not work, although there was little distinction between the slow bowlers and the fast men. They were all monstered by Watson and Warner. Yuvraj Singh picked up the only wicket, when Watson drove to cover with eight runs still needed and it meant India narrowly avoided their first ten-wicket defeat in a T20.

Watson had made 72 from 42 deliveries with two fours and seven sixes. He cleared the boundary straight down the ground, over midwicket and over square leg. A pair of enormous consecutive sixes pulled over midwicket off Irfan Pathan showed Watson's power, but also highlighted India's poor bowling. Short balls on the leg side to Watson made about as much sense as dropping Sehwag.

In slightly slippery conditions the spinners also failed to have any impact and were routinely dispatched by both Watson and Warner, whose 133-run partnership was their second century stand in a T20 international this month, and the Australian record for any wicket. Warner muscled three sixes of his own, including two in a row off Harbhajan Singh, whose two overs cost 20 runs. Rare though it may be, Warner was the quiet partner.

He still managed 63 not out from 41 deliveries, striking seven fours and playing a key role in demoralising India early in the chase. They remained disheartened throughout the innings, and the comprehensive nature of the result will make it hard for them to drag themselves back into form for their next match. But they must do so to have any chance of progressing to the semi-finals. And to do that, they need not only to bowl much better, but to bat with more conviction as well.

Smart stats Australia won the match in 14.5 overs, which is thefewest overs in which a team has successfully chased a target of more than 140 in a Twenty20 internationals. India lost with 31 balls to spare, which is their second-worst defeat in Twenty20 internationals. Their worst loss was also against Australia, when they were beaten with 52 balls to spare in Melbourne in 2008. The 133-run partnership between Shane Watson and David Warner is the highest for any wicket for Australia in this format, and the joint fifth-highest opening stand for any team. Watson and Warner have become the first pair to score more than 1000 partnership runs in Twenty20 internationals. On 15 occasions when he has batted in a run-chase, Watson has scored six fifties, and averages 37.76 at a strike rate of 158.38. When batting first he averages 25.25 at a strike rate of 144.28. This was Watson's seventh Man-of-the-Match award in Twenty20 internationals, which equals the record, which is also held by Shahid Afridi. However, while Afridi has played 53 matches, Watson's played only 33.

Their batsmen struggled for firepower and stammered to 140 for 7, which seemed like just a moderately competitive total. That India managed only two sixes said a lot about their performance. Cummins was especially difficult for the batsmen to score from and his pace and accuracy brought him 2 for 16 from his four overs, while Watson picked up 3 for 34 and jumped to the top of the wicket tally for the tournament, with eight from three games.

A few late boundaries from R Ashwin and Suresh Raina helped India push their total up but at no point did their batsmen dominate. Gautam Gambhir picked up a few early boundaries before he was run out for 17 from 12 deliveries, the victim of a fine piece of footwork from the bowler Cummins, who soccered the ball onto the stumps at the striker's end in his follow through.

Pathan and Virat Kohli added 35 for the second wicket before Kohli top-edged Cummins and was caught for 15, and Yuvraj Singh (8) also succumbed to a top-edge when he was taken at deep midwicket off Watson's bowling. Watson struck again in the same over when Pathan (31) chipped to midwicket and things didn't get better for India any time soon.

Rohit Sharma was done in by the angle from around the wicket of the left-armer Mitchell Starc, who bowled him for 1, and at 74 for 5 India were in trouble. Dhoni and Raina steadied with a 30-run partnership but neither man really went on the attack and a build-up of pressure from the Australians eventually brought the end for Dhoni, who drove Cummins to cover for 15.

Ashwin clubbed Starc over midwicket for six and Raina found the boundary twice in the last over from Watson before he holed out to long-off. They at least gave India's bowlers something to defend, but the way India bowled and the way Watson and Warner batted, Australia could have chased down 200. Australia will now enter their second Super Eights match against South Africa full of confidence. And maybe someone other than Watson will get a go next time

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Umar Gul and Umar Akmal pulled off a spectacular win

Umar Gul and Umar Akmal pulled off a spectacular coup to bring Pakistan back from the brink to beat South Africa. The second round of the tournament started with two thrillers on Thursday and the fire carried over into Friday as the match swung three times.

Pakistan put themselves in front with a strong performance in the field as their four frontline spinners wove a web around South Africa. But what should have been a straightforward chase for Pakistan turned into a comedy of soft dismissals and a surprising outfoxing of the batsmen by the South African spinners.

Then, Gul and Umar Akmal took centre stage and shared a stand of 49 in 27 balls for the eighth wicket to inflict a demoralising defeat on South Africa. The pair stroked a series of audacious boundaries as they took on South Africa's pace attack with Jacques Kallis and Albie Morkel the worst hit. To add to South Africa's worries, Dale Steyn left the field with an injured ankle after being struck in his final over.

South Africa will reflect on a number of tactical errors, rather than simply being outplayed. Talking points will centre on be AB de Villiers batting at No. 6, instead of higher up the order and Johan Botha and JP Duminy only bowling two overs each on a pitch that clearly had something in it for spinners -Kallis and Albie Morkel could have been used less.

For Pakistan the strategy may not matter. They take the points and the advantage in the group after looking as though they would at the halfway stage, almost giving it away and then snatching it back in some style to ensure their early efforts did not go to waste.

Only JP Duminy had some measure of the Pakistan attack as the rest of the line-up were troubled and tied down by turn. Raza Hasan did the early containing job, setting the stage for the introduction of Saeed Ajmal, who bowled Richard Levi around his as the opener attempted a reverse sweep to the first ball he faced from Ajmal.

Smart stats The win is Pakistan's third in six Twenty20 internationals against South Africa. All three wins have come in World Twenty20 matches. South Africa's score of 28 at the end of six overs is their second-lowest Powerplay score (20-over innings). The score at the end of ten overs (47) is also their lowest in a Twenty20 international. The number of maiden overs bowled in the game (4) is the joint second-highest in a Twenty20 international. It is the second such instance in matches at the Premadasa stadium. Robin Peterson's economy rate (3.75) is his best for a completed spell of four overs. He is also the eighth South African bowler to concede 15 or fewer runs in a completed spell in a World Twenty20 match. The 49-run stand between Umar Akmal and Umar Gul is the second-highest eighth-wicket stand for Pakistan in Twenty20 internationals. Overall, it is the sixth-highest eighth-wicket stand. Gul's 32 is the second-highest score by a batsman batting at a position between 9 and 11. It is however the highest such score in a World Twenty20 game.

Mohammed Hafeez accounted for Jacques Kallis, who slapped his first ball to cover and South Africa were in serious trouble at 28 for 3. Despite the situation, AB de Villiers chose to hold himself back and Farhaan Berhardien came in ahead of him.

He and Duminy shared a stand of 38 and built the platform De Villiers may have been waiting for. Behardien played two shots in anger before he was stumped and De Villiers finally made his entrance at No. 6. He had seven and a half overs to make an impact but managed 25 runs while Duminy continued to play the anchor role. He suffered from dehydration during his innings and vomited on the field but was able to bowl later on. Given the conditions, some may say he should have bowled more.

Pakistan were in a worse situation than South Africa early on. Imran Nazir gloved an attempted pull to de Villiers and then Robin Peterson found turn and bounce to have Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed stumped in the same over. Kamran Akmal was bowled playing a cut that was not on off Johan Botha and Pakistan were 37 for 4.

Umar Akmal played a Duminy-like innings, taking advantage of anything loose and full and holding back for the rest of the time. He was not shaken by Shoaib Malik handing a catch to third man, Shahid Afridi falling for a golden duck after smashing Duminy to the long-off fielder or Yasir Arafat fending a short ball to Duminy who took a spectacular catch at midwicket.

The two dismissals Duminy was involved in looked to spell the end for Pakistan but Gul was reading a different script. He made his intent known when he clubbed Kallis for back-to-back sixes on the on-side, picking up the length well. Umar Akmal let Gul go wild while he held up his end and Gul obliged.

Gul holed out to Petersen on the cover boundary but he had done enough damage. Umar Akmal's eyes lit up when Morne Morkel offered him a full toss and he hit it flat over midwicket to leave Saeed Ajmal to seal the win with an outside edge to third man.

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Mohammad Hafeez has backed his premier fast bowler, Umar Gul, to put in a big performance

 

Fast bowling has always been Pakistan's most prized asset. To borrow from finance, it has been akin to a treasure chest of US government bonds, usually one of the safest investments on the planet. The batting in recent years has been like mid-market stocks, capable of volatility. Spin bowling has become a productive investment of late, with blue chips in Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi. But as capital from across the world flees to the safety of US government bonds in times of uncertainty, Mohammad Hafeez is confident his fast bowlers will recover from the expensive outings in the group stage and bowl like the match-winners they have been as the World Twenty20 gets tighter.

"We are blessed with some of the greats in Twenty20s, especially Ajmal and Afridi," Hafeez said. "This is our strength, even though we rely on our fast bowlers who unfortunately could not do well in the group matches. We are hoping they come up with good performances. Umar Gul is one of them."

The economy rates of Gul, Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat after two games are 11.71, 9.66 and 9.25 respectively. The form of Gul, the joint-second highest wicket-taker in T20Is after Ajmal, is particularly worrying for Pakistan. Hafeez, though, said Gul was experienced enough to handle the issue.

"He realises when he is not doing the basics right," Hafeez said. "The good thing from what we can see is that he is very focused and working hard in practice. Bowling coach Mohammad Akram is working with him. We know he is our match-winner.

"Pitches in the group matches were really good for batting. Our bowlers tried hard to get something out of them but sometimes you can have an off day. Anyone can have an off day, anyone can bowl badly. But with the positive attitude among our bowlers, I am confident they can return to rhythm soon."

Pakistan played both their group games in Pallekele but Hafeez said that with the side having experience of playing in Colombo, the change of venue for the Super Eights would not make much difference. "I know the conditions will change from Kandy to Colombo, adjustability will be a factor. We have played enough here in Colombo, we know the conditions well."

Hafeez said playing the Super Eights in Colombo gave the Pakistan spinners more opportunity to make an impact. "The pitches in Colombo in the tournament have been batting pitches so far. Spinners play a role here, there is some turn. There was not much turn in Pallekele. We feel with the kind of spinners we have, we will do well here in the Super Eights."

While Afridi's role as legspinner will be crucial, Hafeez said Pakistan were also looking forward to his contributions with the bat. "We are relying on Afridi with both bat and ball. And we are very happy with his attitude during practice. He is batting very well during practice, and when the time comes, he will surely win the game for us."

The return of Kamran Akmal to the side has also boosted the batting, Hafeez said. Kamran smashed an unbeaten 92 as Pakistan came back from 91 for 5 to successfully chase 186 against India in a warm-up game. He also made an unbeaten 22 against Bangladesh, hitting the winning runs after Pakistan had sealed their qualifications to the Super Eights. "Kamran has been an excellent package for Pakistan as a wicketkeeper-batsman. Our batting has been strengthened by his comeback after a year."

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Johnson Charles powered West Indies to their first win of the 2012 World Twenty20

A century opening stand between Chris Gayle and Johnson Charles powered West Indies to their first win of the 2012 World Twenty20 with a 16-run victory against England in their opening Super Eights match. Their top-order batsmen setting a daunting total of 179 for 5 and their quartet of slow bowlers suffocated the England batsmen as they started their reply.

A remarkable fourth-wicket stand of 107 in 58 balls between Alex Hales, who scored 68 from 51 balls, and Eoin Morgan, who made a brilliant, unbeaten 71 from 36 balls, gave England an outside chance of victory, but the pair were left too much to do by another lacklustre performance from their top-order colleagues.

This was England's second successive defeat following the 90-run thrashing India inflicted in their final group game and leaves their hopes of retaining the World T20 trophy hanging by a thread. England will probably need to win both their remaining Super Eights matches, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka respectively, to progress to the semi-finals.

England were always behind in their run chase. Set a demading 180 to win - they have never chased more than 173 to win a T20I - they knew they required a good start. But, while they were expecting a challenge from the spinners, it was the seam of Ravi Rampaul that provided the killer punch.

After three balls of England's reply, Rampaul was on a hat-trick after Craig Kieswetter, attempting to pull a delivery too full for the shot, top-edged to point and Luke Wright, attempting to withdraw his bat from a short delivery, guided the ball off the bat face to slip. A double-wicket maiden never represents a good start for a batting side; when they are chasing nine an over it is likely to prove fatal.

Hales took legspinner Samuel Badree, in the side instead of the pace of Fidel Edwards, for consecutive boundaries - skipping down the pitch to drill a drive through mid-off before cutting the next ball for four when the bowler compensated - and cut Sunil Narine for another. But, at the end of their six Powerplay overs, England had scored just 29 for 2. West Indies, by comparison, had been 47 without loss. It was a gap that England could never completely close.

Hales pulled Darren Sammy for one six and then drove and pulled Samuels for a four followed by a six. But though Jonny Bairstow helped Hales add 55 in 9.3 overs for the third-wicket, Bairstow's struggles against the spin bowling - he made just 18 in 29 balls - put England even further behind the rate and left Morgan a vast amount of ground to make up.

West Indies' selection policy was certainly vindicated. Not only did Charles, the 23-year-old from St Lucia who has little obvious pedigree as an opening batsman, fully justify his position, but the control offered by the quartet of spin bowlers - Badree, Gayle and Narine, in particular - ensured that England were always behind the run-rate and, despite Morgan slogging a Gayle full toss for six over square leg, driving Narine for another and then top-edging another off Rampaul, West Indies always had breathing space.

Smart stats West Indies' 15-run win means they have a 3-0 record over England in World Twenty20 matches, having also beaten them in 2010 and 2009. Johnson Charles' 84 is his highest score in any first-class, List A, or Twenty20 game. His previous-highest was 72 in a List A game against Combined Campuses and Colleges. It's also his first half-century in any international game. The 103-run stand between Chris Gayle and Charles is the maiden century stand for West Indies against England in a Twenty20 international. The previous highest was 84. For England, the 107-run partnership between Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan was their third century stand against West Indies in Twenty20 internationals. Hales has been involved in all three of them. The 107-run stand is also the joint second-highest in a defeat in a Twenty20 international, next only to the 145-run stand between Chris Gayle and Devon Smith against South Africa in the inaugural match of the 2007 World Twenty20.

They produced some outstanding fielding, too. Andre Russell, catching the ball in the air over the midwicket boundary and throwing it back into play before he landed, limited Morgan to two when he must have thought he had a six and Sammy, having picked himself up having dived to parry a clip from Hales, raced after the ball and dived full length to turn a four into a three.

With three overs remaining, England required 46; with two remaining they required 39. Even though Morgan drove two sixes off Rampaul from the first four balls of the penultimate over, the last over, entrusted to Marlon Samuels, began with England still requiring 23 to win. Morgan drove the first delivery for four, but could manage only a single from the next two deliveries and, when Hales was stumped from the fourth ball, dragged wide as Hales advanced down the pitch, England's hopes were extinguished.

Earlier a career-best performance from Charles hastened West Indies towards their total. Charles, overcoming an uncertain start, scored 84 from 56 deliveries and shared in an opening stand of 103 in 11 overs with Gayle to allow West Indies to seize the initiative they never really relinquished.

While Steven Finn, bowling with sharp pace, produced a tight first over with Charles' first boundary coming when he top-edged an attempted pull over slip, Gayle was soon into his stride. Having patted back his first two deliverires from Jade Dernbach, he then crashed three fours from the rest of the over: two pulls and a fierce drive.

Gayle dealt with the pace of Finn comfortably, giving himself room to cut a short ball over point, and greeted the introduction of Stuart Broad, also bowling at a sharp pace and with good control, with a thick-edged over third man and then a flick over mid-wicket.

But it was Samit Patel's introduction for the eighth over that marked a sharp acceleration from West Indies. Patel's third delivery, something of a long-hop, was pulled over mid-on, the fifth was slog-swept over square leg and the final delivery, a quicker ball, was driven over mid-on as Gayle thrashed three sixes from the over.

Johnson followed suit in the following over from Graeme Swann. Having seized on to a poor ball down the leg side with a sweep for four, he followed it with two sixes over the long-on boundary to complete a period of five sixes in 10 balls for West Indies.

Gayle reached his 50 in just 29 deliveries and brought up the 100 stand from 63 balls with another six driven over extra cover. So when Finn, running in from long-off, put down a simple chance offered by Charles on 39 off Swann, it seemed there would be no respite for England. But it turned out to be a moment of fortune for England. The next delivery, Gayle mistimed a thump over long-on and, this time, Finn made no mistake with the catch.

Broad clawed back a little control with a wicket maiden in the 14th over when he had Samuels taken at point as he attempted to slash over the off side, but Charles, who reached his half-century from 36 balls, was back on strike for the next over and skipped down the wicket to drive Patel for another six then latched onto both Finn and Dernbach

Clearly showing the effects of weariness he then drove a full toss to mid-on to depart 16 short of a century. His work was done, though, and despite Morgan's heroics, West Indies were always just one step ahead.

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Srilanka win in super over

Tillakaratne Dilshan, who had scored 76 off 53 in regulation time, set himself under the ball at long-off, turning side ways to make sure he knew where the boundary cushions were - they were six inches from his toenails - and took the catch after the ball had passed his body and had almost entered the air space beyond the boundary. Had Dilshan missed that, this Martin Guptill hit off Lasith Malinga would have left New Zealand needing two off the last ball of the Super Over. The catch sealed Sri Lanka's win. Such were the margins of a freak match that was tied with a freak run-out off the last ball.

About 40 minutes ago, Sri Lanka were 143 for 3 after 16.3 overs, the same score that New Zealand had after 16.3. New Zealand would have been disappointed with the 31 they got after that, considering the start given to them by Rob Nicol, in association with Guptill and Brendon McCullum. With the ball, though, Southee and James Franklin pulled things back against the faltering hosts, who lost two batsmen to run-outs.

Smart stats This is the seventh Twenty20 to end in a tie. New Zealand have been involved in four of the seven. It is also the second tie in the World Twenty20 after the game between India and Pakistan in 2007. Rob Nicol's 58 is his highest score in Twenty20 internationals and the third-highest for a New Zealand batsman against Sri Lanka. Tillakaratne Dilshan's 76 is the second-highest score by a Sri Lankan batsman against New Zealand in World Twenty20 matches. It is also his second-best score in World Twenty20 games after the 96 against West Indies in 2009. Ajantha Mendis conceded 48 off his four overs, the most he has conceded in a Twenty20 game, surpassing the 42 runs against Australia in the World Twenty20 in 2010. New Zealand's total of 174 is their highest score in Twenty20 matches against Sri Lanka. It is also their second-highest score in Pallekele, after the 191 against Bangladesh. Sri Lanka's score of 68 in the first six overs is the fifth-highest Powerplay score in the World Twenty20. The highest Powerplay score (20 overs per innings) is West Indies' 71 against Australia at The Oval in 2009.

Only 30 runs had come in 5.3 overs leading to that even point, which had put Sri Lanka under some pressure. Southee added to it with an over of yorkers to leave them needing 21 off the last two. Ross Taylor risked bowling Franklin, who had helped them win a similar chase recently against India. Dilshan slog-swept the first ball for a six. On the next ball, though, he took an ill-advised second and even a desperate dive couldn't save him.

Thisara Perera scooped Franklin for a four later in the over. At eight required from seven balls, Perera was one delivery from making Southee's last over irrelevant, but Franklin's slower ball arrived after he had finished his swing, and it had enough legs to tickle the bail out of its groove. Southee went back to bowling full and straight from round the stumps. Angelo Mathews took a single first ball, and it was time for Lahiru Thirimanne to test weak hearts.

The first ball he faced, Thirimanne moved well across to the off side in an attempt to beat short fine leg. Southee stayed in the block hole, and Thirimanne managed just the single. Another yorker, another single for Mathews: five off three. Southee remained full, Thirmanne drove and was beaten. Advantage New Zealand.

Thirimanne now dug Sri Lanka out of a hole he had partly dug. Again he took the incredible risk of aiming over short fine leg, Southee missed his yorker by six inches, and Thirimanne got under it. Fists were pumped both in the middle and in the dugout as soon as the ball cleared the fielder. The best New Zealand could get now was a tie. Earlier in the afternoon, Nicol had hit debutant mystery bowler Akila Dananjaya smack on the face with a straight drive, but he and McCullum did not run off the ricochet. Would things have been different had they not been such sports?

That would have been the last thing on their minds when New Zealand pulled the field in to try to save that single. Southee surprised Thirimanne with a short ball, he bat-padded it to point, where Franklin kept a cool head and returned a gentle throw on a comfortable bounce to Taylor at the non-striker's end. Taylor fumbled the take. He missed a dolly. Sri Lanka began to celebrate, and a disappointed Taylor shook hands with the umpires, who - just to be sure - asked for the third umpire's help. The stumps had somehow been broken.

The replays showed the ball had hit Taylor's hand and bounced on to the stumps. In real time it seemed as though Taylor had broken the wicket without the ball in his hands. Technology surprised everyone, and the game went into the Super Over. Southee continued his good work in the tiebreaker, but two of his yorkers were wides. Even so, he had conceded just 10 off the first five balls, but Perera scooped the last delivery over short fine leg to register three crucial runs.

Malinga, who had an average tournament until then, decided this was a moment as good as any to make an impact. He hardly missed his length with the first four balls: two, one, two byes, one. Malinga then missed his yorker by about a foot, Guptill got under it, but this was Dilshan's night

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