Indian cricketers on their way to claiming their second ICC WT20 cup

With a string of five consecutive wins the Indian cricket team has paved their way to the final of the ICC WT20 tournament being held in Bangladesh against Sri Lanka. The Indians are the distinct favorites tipped to win the cup this year. Their commanding presence in the tournament seemed to have made amends for their despicable form in the overseas tours of the recent past in South Africa and New Zealand. The Indians will face a tough fight from the active Sri Lankan team which has won the Asia Cup in Dhaka only a month ago. This clash of the sub-continental titans at Mirpur, Dhaka in the final today on April 6, 2014 to win the cup will be a totally absorbing match. The Sri Lankan team will be looking forward to wiping of the tag of merely remaining the favorites by claiming this cup with both Mahela and Sangakkara set to retire from T20 cricket after this showdown. The huge expectations of the millions of Indian and Sri Lankan fans will weigh down heavily upon the shoulders of their cricketers which might just become an adversely effecting factor for them. It has to be mentioned that the team that manages pressure better and play better between the ears will win the cup for their country and innumerable fans waiting back...

West Indies and Sri Lanka play semi1

Defending champions West Indies and Sri Lanka will fight out the first of the ICC World T20 2014 at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka today on April 03, 2014 in the evening. The match brings them both from resounding victories over their opponents in the previous matches. They are two world renowned cricketing teams who are very evenly poised to make for scintillating cricket in the first semifinal match of the tournament in Bangladesh. Both teams have some world names in spinning and it might well be the factor that will decided upon the result of the match. However looking at the aggressively dominating form of Sammy and Bravo of the West Indies it might be impossible to stop them. However the West Indies top order must also contribute if they are to win in the ensuing big match against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka on the other hand will set out to break there jinx-ridden sojourn of losing in semis and finals. Sri Lanka had lost out to the West Indies two years ago in the last ICC WT20 final and will surely lookout to avenge their defeat this time around. In their last match against New Zealand the Lankans were sans their full-time T20 captain Dinesh Chandimal having being suspended for an over-rate offence but Lasith Malinga seemed to manage well. Mahela a reputed Sri Lankan batsman set to retire from Twenty20 cricket after this tournament said that he has had a fascinating journey. Revered to be among Sri Lanka’s finest captains his record at the helm of the T20 side is 12 wins from 19 matches with six losses and one tie. It was under him that the team lost the 2012 World T20 final against West Indies. Jayawardene has also taken the most catches in international cricket and is one of six batsmen in the world to have hit a hundred in all three formats of the game. Sangakkara also set to retire from T20s after this tournament and Jayawardene have made 166 against West Indies in 2010 which is a record. The like of the 1996 World Cup victory being a history moment in Sri Lankan cricket needs to be revived in this tournament today. As of yet the Sri Lankans are simply tagged as favorites in every big tournament only to fizzle out in the last stage. The win in the Asia Cup less than a month ago at Dhaka will add to boost up the Sri Lnakan cricketers against the West...

Unstoppable West Indies cricketers push Pakistan out

A Faulkner statement seemed to have roused the napping tigers that the West Indies cricketers can be aptly named especially after their show against Pakistan yesterday on April 01, 2014, at Mirpur in the last group league encounter to decide upon the semi-finalist. The West Indies team showed that they deserved to be the defending champions of the ICC WT20 cup after simply crushing a world class team like Pakistan with the sheer force of their cricket prowess. It was the high morale boosting win of the West Indies against an off-color Australians that have re-charged them to pose hurdles in the way of all their opponents. The match began quite simply with Gayle failing to score a biggie and their top order batsmen failing miserably while West Indies seemingly cruised to some paltry score in the region of 110-120 at the most. It was by the end of their 15 overs that the West Indies batsmen Dwayne Bravo and Captain Sammy decided to dish out some thrashing to enter semis against Sri Lanka. Unbelievably West Indies ended up setting a target of 166 for Pakistan which comprised Bravo’s 46 and Sammy’s unbeaten 42. West Indies batting unhinged their opponents Pakistan turning them off for the day. The effect of the West Indies duo’s demolishing display bore results only after 17.5 overs of the Pakistani innings when they wound up with a paltry score of 82 on the board. The West Indies had elected to take first strike at batting and were on 84 after 15 overs and nearly doubled their total accruing 82 off the last 30 balls of the innings. This has been a historic last five overs of a Twenty20 game ever. The Pakistani team never recovered from the West Indies onslaught mentally conceding the match even before a ball of their batting innings even began. Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy helped put on 71 in 32 balls. Saeed Ajmal also failed to put on the brakes in his last over, the 19th of the innings, conceded 24 runs of it enabling the cause of Pakistan being dumped by the West Indies. The rest of the match was a follow through with the result evident as Pakistani supporters began leaving the ground. Santokie caught Ahmed Shehzad’s front toe in front of middle stump with an in swinging yorker in very first ball of the chase. Kamran Akmal was the next to go to a Samuel Badree delivery that was safely deposited into the hands of the...

New Zealand crashes out of WT20

Erratic cricket from New Zealand batsmen and historic cricket from Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath were responsible for a Sri Lankan win in the super-10 league encounter between them. Herath has scripted some outstanding figures in World Twenty20 cricket as he bowled 18 dot balls among the 21 deliveries he sent down scalping five New Zealand batsmen alone. Chittagong witnessed this unforeseen match as Rangana Herath’s extraordinary spin bowling virtually won the match and a semi final berth for the Sri Lankan team as the left-arm spinner gave away only three runs. Mendis was replaced by Herath in the side for this match. Malinga hauled his team up to the semis as he captained the side. Malinga claimed that Rangana had fully utilized the chance he had been seeking to proved his true worth. Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum regretted the way eight wickets of New Zealnd fell in the space of 10 runs costing them a very valuable match. Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 59 runs in the low-scoring World Twenty20 Super-10 group 1 match in Chittagong to cruise into the semi-finals. New Zealand were left crest fallen on their lowest Twenty20 total of 60 in 15.3 overs under the lights at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Bangladesh. Sri Lanka had scored only 119 in 19.2 overs batting first. Sri Lanka will now feature in the first semi-final on Thursday, March 03, 2014 against the winners of the final group two league match between Pakistan and defending champions West Indies to be played in Dhaka today, on April 01, 2014. India will take on South Africa in the other semi-final match of the tournament to be played in Dhaka on Friday, April 04, 2014. The winners from the respective semis will fight it out in the final to be played on Sunday, April 06, 2014 in...

World T20 cricket, selection of last four

The second cricket match scheduled for today April 1, 2014 in the super-10 league stage of the WT20 cricket will not fool any fan or supporter of the shortest version of the ICC tournament going on in Bangladesh. Rather today’s match to be held between West Indies and Pakistan will decide as to who will claim the second spot in their group and avail the semi final berth. It is a do-or-die situation for both the teams. Mirpur in Dhaka will today witness a battle of wits and strength between two world class cricketing teams while one of them is the defending champions. It is also the final group league encounter for Group 2. Both the teams are on four points each claimed from 2 wins and have lost out to India in their group encounters. India are now the group 2 toppers with four wins on a trot to gain 8 points. The match will witness a fight-off between the capabilities of West Indies spinner Sunil Narine and Pakistan Saeed Ajmal. It is foregone fact that the better player of the spin attack will have a distinct advantage over the opponents. The West Indies are coming into this crucial super-10 league match after a superb and dominating win over the flagging Australian cricket team. Narine will have leggie Samuel Badree for company. Narine has an economy rate of 4.66 runs per over in his three matches while Badree 6.66 while having claimed seven wickets. Ultimately it will the team that can keep their nerves that will be victorious in the end with the stage having been set for a thorough entertainer for the cricket fans the world...