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ICC World Twenty20 Final: India v Pakistan
By Scott last year, at the end of September, 6 Comments »
So, the final is upon us, and it is the dream one for the ICC- India vs Pakistan. The success of both teams in this tournament will do more then anything to popularise this form of the game. There’s no doubt we shall be seeing a lot more of it in the years to come- a fact that must engender mixed feelings in the players as well as more traditionally minded fans.
Both India and Pakistan have made it to the final thanks largely to the efforts of some of their less heralded players; the new format has given a new lease of life to some fringe players too. The final will add the weight of expectations to the players, which I hope will not dampen the freedom with which they play.
I saw the group game that took place in Durban between the two sides, that ended in a tie, with India winning the subsequent bowl-out. I think the final will not be quite as close but at this stage, I cannot pick a winner. Although given that it is being played at Johannesburg, traditionally favouring the chasing side, the toss might be as crucial a factor as anything else.
Keep an eye on Cricinfo’s scorecard, and leave your thoughts on the match in the comments below.
6 Comments »Twenty20 video highlights: Pakistan v New Zealand
By Will last year, at the end of September, 1 Comment »
Highlights of the first semi-final between Pakistan and New Zealand.
Part one
Part two
1 Comment »Twenty20 video highlights: Yuvraj Singh goes bonkers, again
By Will last year, at the end of September, 8 Comments »
Some highlights for those who haven’t seen them of Yuvraj going a trifle berserk against Australia in the second semi-final. 70 from 30 balls! What game is this?
Click here if you can’t see the mayhem. It’s really quite massive.
8 Comments »World Twenty20 semi-finals
By Will last year, at the end of September, 13 Comments »
So, the semis are upon us. I’m hoping to at least catch some of today’s games, either on radio or a pub TV, and I’m gunning for the Pakistanis. As my colleague Osman says, this game really is suited to them. Why? Well, partly due to their experience in the format: tape-ball cricket.
The number of overs isn’t important; matches last from five to 25 overs. There are few rules but the basic ethos of these games, the hustle and the bustle of it, the short, sharp intensity of putting one over the boys from the next lane or mohalla because, well, that’s just what men do, is something Twenty20 comes close to capturing.
Runs are not scored but nicked. A little tap, run; fielder about to throw, steal the second; often the only boundaries are straight because of the narrowness of the field, so running becomes an art in itself. Pakistan’s batting successes against Sri Lanka and Australia were built on cheeky running first and boundary-hitting second.
They face New Zealand in the first match (scorecard), followed by Australia and India (scorecard) later in the day. So keep an eye on the scorecards and offer your thoughts as the matches unfold.
13 Comments »Bunch of choking bottlers
By Will last year, mid-September, 8 Comments »
South Africa really are a most monumental, unabashed, incomparable Eddie[1] of winning bottlers ever conceived. You have to laugh, really. I’m assuming they’ve lost, having only just been informed by a surprisingly demure text message which read: the boks have done it again.
Bless ‘em.
[1] My suggestion for the collective noun of losers: an Eddie (the Eagle) of losers
8 Comments »Video highlights of Yuvraj Singh’s filthy six sixes
By Will last year, mid-September, 11 Comments »
Filthy, disgustingly massive sixes these. Just have a look how far they go.
Gluttons for punishment who can’t see the above video should click here. Furthermore, read Cricinfo’s comms of his innings.
11 Comments »Sri Lanka crumble
By Will last year, mid-September, 8 Comments »
Sri Lanka crumble. Sounds like a tempting pudding, that. They’re 80 for 7, Australia running through them like maniacs. Are they suddenly up for this match? Seems so. I’m not watching, but might force my German friends to listen to it on TMS later. Jawohl!
Cricinfo’s steaming-hot comms is here.
8 Comments »Video of India’s bowl-out against Pakistan
By Will last year, mid-September, 2 Comments »
For those who missed it, like me, here’s the video of India’s bowl-out in the World Twenty20 against Pakistan. Cricinfo’s comms is useful too.
2 Comments »Twenty20 Super 8s
By Scott last year, mid-September, 5 Comments »
Can you keep up with all the action? I certainly can’t. Apparently Brett Lee took a hat-trick last night and the South Africans beat the English, meanwhile the Indians lost to New Zealand, and in the long grass, Sri Lanka are having a fine tournament.
There’s more cricket then you can poke a stump at just at the moment, with these games going hither and yon- a nice change from the longer format World Cup. Discuss events as they occur.
5 Comments »Australia beat England, again
By Scott last year, mid-September, 24 Comments »
I can’t approve of the format, but the result seems perfectly adequate.
24 Comments »What’s the point of Super Eights?
By Jonathan Liew last year, mid-September, 9 Comments »
It’s all been fairly entertaining stuff so far, then. Every major tournament needs a victory for the host nation, a close finish and an upset in its first week, and the World Twenty20 has delivered all of them four days ahead of schedule. Sixes have been hit, dances have been danced and grounds have generally been full enough for the local TV directors not to have to focus on the same group of fans for a whole match.
Still, it wouldn’t be an ICC event if you couldn’t complain about the format. And although this tournament is positively size zero in comparison to the World Cup, the organisers again seem worryingly keen to make sure absolutely everybody plays absolutely everybody. It will take twelve matches to reduce twelve teams to eight, and another twelve to reduce the eight to four. What’s wrong with quarter-finals? Most other sports seem to have them, and they work a treat.
Super Eights, while snappily-named and sound in theory, take all the sting out of a major tournament. At the last World Cup, around a third of Super Eight games, at a conservative estimate, were dead. That should reduce this time as a result of the lower number of matches played, but the ICC should take a long hard look at the Super Eights format. Keeping the games meaningful is surely more important than making sure India and Pakistan meet every time.
9 Comments »Zimbabwe beat Australia- again!
By Scott last year, mid-September, 11 Comments »
Zimbabwe beat Australia the first time that they met in a World Cup match, back in 1983. In 2007, they’ve repeated the dose by beating Australia in their first Twenty-20 World Cup match. I know that the players aren’t taking it too seriously, but I didn’t know they were taking it THAT unseriously. Mind you, Zimbabwe probably played very well too. (I didn’t see the game)
11 Comments »I must be getting old
By Scott last year, mid-September, 3 Comments »
I remember back in the day when going at 5 runs an over was a fair rate of knots. In this brave new world of Twenty-20, even 10 an over isn’t always enough, as the West Indies found out this morning. Pity Chris Gayle, who scored the first ever International century in this form of the game, 117 off 57, and still ended up on the losing side.
A hell of a way to make a living, being a bowler in this day and age.
3 Comments »Here’s hoping South Africa can put on a decent show
By Scott last year, mid-September, 7 Comments »
We are two days out from a ‘brave new world’, with the Twenty20 World Cup about to start in South Africa. I must confess to having mixed feelings, at best, about this form of the game. It certainly can be entertaining, but it is a form of cricket that seems to be fundamentally slanted in favour of the batsmen, leading to ’slogathons’, rather than an even contest between bat and ball.
But my own preferences are neither here nor there. It seems to me that for the sake of cricket generally, this tournament needs to be successful. 2007 so far has not been a cricketing year to get enthused about; there has been very little Test cricket so far, and the 50 over World Cup was such a let down that it damaged rather then enhanced the game. The English summer failed to reach memorable heights either, with jelly beans rather then batting or bowling providing the most talked about incident.
So it is incumbent on South Africa to put on a good show to boost the morale of cricket lovers. Having the tournament being won by a rank outsider, rather then Australia, would also help this cause. But at the very least, happy cricketers playing exciting cricket in front of large crowds is certainly a step in the right direction. The good news on that score is that the South African authorities seem to have taken on board the lessons to be learned from the West Indies tournament.
7 Comments »Ponting in doubt for the Twenty20 World Cup
By Scott last year, at the start of September, 7 Comments »
Ricky Ponting has missed the flight to South Africa for the Twenty20 World Cup, due to “private family reasons”. I certainly hope that he can still make the tournament, as he’s one of the great sights in world cricket in full flight, even for a euphemerial event such as this.
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