World Of T20 Cricket

The picture of Martin Guptill trying to hide his disappointment after failing to save a sinking Kiwi ship told the story as Sri Lanka pipped New Zealand by 48 runs in the Group F match here to march into the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20 in Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

New Zealand got off to a flying start, chasing a competitive 159 for victory against Sri Lanka. Isuru Udana drew the first blood for Sri Lanka by sending back Brendon McCullum cheaply.

Lasith Malinga then took the wicket of Aaron Redmond to push New Zealand on to the back foot while Ajantha Mendis took the wickets of both Ross Taylor and Scott Styris in the same over to give Sri Lanka an upper hand.

The Black Caps never really looked in the hunt as the wickets kept falling on regular intervals. Martin Guptill scored 43 runs off 34 balls and was the only batsman who provided some resistance.

In no time, New Zealand lost more than half their side for less than 100 runs on the board. New Zealand lost their last six wickets for 17 runs.
 
Earlier, Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 48 and Mahela Jayawardene 41 not out to lead Sri Lanka to 158-5.

Dilshan smashed five boundaries in 37 balls and Jayawardene six fours and six in 29 balls.

Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori was the pick of the bowlers, with 2-32.

New Zealand landed an early blow when Sanath Jaysuriya was caught off the third ball of the innings, offering a simple chance to Ross Taylor after top-edging a delivery from Nathan McCallum to be out for a golden duck.

The decision to move Chamara Silva up the order to No. 3 then backfired when he mishit a ball from Kyle Mills straight to Jacob Oram in the fourth over.

Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara steadied the innings with a 50-run partnership from 32 balls, until the former was caught by Brendon McCullum off Vettori in the 12th over.

Jayawardene smashed Vettori into the top tier of the pavilion two overs later, and Mills went for 14 in the 16th as Sri Lanka accelerated.

Sangakkara was out straight after the pair had completed its half-century stand in 37 balls, caught by Scott Styris off Vettori in the 17th over.

Sri Lanka top the Group F and along with Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals.

Scorecard:

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written by Swapnil \\ tags: ICC T20 2009 World Cup, New Zealand, Sri Lanka

This was the Second ICC T20 World Cup Match and the first Group D match played between Newzealand and Scotland. The rain delayed the Cricket match in the Oval and therefore the match was brought down to 7 over game where each team score was calculated based on the scores gathered in these 7 overs.

Scotland elected to bat and scored an decent 89/4 but it was not competitive enough, and  Kiwi’s smashed the target in 6.0 overs.

Ryder hitting of 31 from 12 balls made it easier for New Zealand to win their first ICC match comprehensively.

Match Result – New Zealand won the match!

Here is the batting highlights of Scotland team Continue reading »

written by Swapnil \\ tags: New Zealand, Scotland

First, the good news. The shorter the format the more competitive New Zealand become. Despite slumping to eighth on the Test rankings they have been World Cup semi-finalists in two of the past three tournaments and matched that achievement at the inaugural World Twenty20, where they were denied a place in the decider by Pakistan.

Now the bad news. Their leading performers two years ago included Craig McMillan, Shane Bond and Mark Gillespie, none of whom are there this time around. But there is an upside: since 2007 they have added a couple of more than handy names to their team with Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill proving dangerous at international level.

And the other plus is that New Zealand have found themselves in a group with Scotland, meaning along with South Africa they should have no trouble progressing past the opening stage. Then things become less clear-cut. Will a few powerful hitters and an economical A-grade slow-bowler be enough for them to move past more imposing line-ups? Only time will tell. But it’s a fool who writes off New Zealand when the 50- or 20-over tournaments arrive.

Strengths

Crafty, high-quality spin is a major weapon in Twenty20 and slow bowlers don’t come any cannier than Daniel Vettori. New Zealand can all but guarantee that he will deliver four thrifty overs each match; he has done that in every one of his 14 Twenty20 internationals and the most he has ever gone for is 6.75 an over. Of men who have played ten Twenty20s for their country, only Umar Gul has a better economy rate than Vettori’s 5.35.

Weaknesses

While Vettori contains at one end, the fast men will be required to keep things tight at the other. And that is New Zealand’s biggest challenge. Bond, Gillespie and Chris Martin did adequately in 2007 but none is in this squad. A pace attack based around the likes of Kyle Mills, Iain O’Brien, James Franklin, Ian Butler and Jacob Oram won’t strike fear into many Twenty20 batting line-ups. To compensate for a lack of firepower they’ll need to bowl smart – changes of pace, yorkers, cutters – or else risk an early exit.

X-factor

According to the online Wiktionary, an x-factor is that which has “unknown or unforeseeable consequences”. That’s pretty much how New Zealand Cricket would define Jesse Ryder. Despite having had behavioural issues in the past and being one of the big flops of the recent IPL, Ryder hasn’t often let his country down with the bat. A Twenty20 strike-rate of 137.61 shows his power and if he and the equally dangerous Brendon McCullum can get their side off to a couple of quick starts, it could be the difference between an early departure and a place in the finals.

Key players

Vettori is the most important with the ball, Ryder and McCullum could destroy attacks and Oram has the ability to finish an innings in style. But it’s hard to argue that any of those men are more important to New Zealand’s chances than Ross Taylor. No. 4 is a key position in Twenty20. If the openers have failed he must be steady without stalling; if they have thrived he needs to maintain or increase the momentum immediately. Taylor has the game to fill that role. He had a good IPL and his barely believable 81 off 33 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders was a highlight.

Twenty20 form guide

Warm-up wins against Bangladesh and Ireland don’t reveal much, although the form of Taylor and Guptill in those games was a pleasing sign. More of a positive was New Zealand winning their two most recent Twenty20s, against the reigning champions India in February. Since then it has been an up-and-down time for their squad members. Taylor thrived at Royal Challengers Bangalore, McCullum played a couple of strong innings as captain of Kolkata Knight Riders but was in the firing line as his team failed, while Ryder, Oram and Scott Styris had largely forgettable tournaments. In the meantime, Franklin has enjoyed a productive stint with Gloucestershire and O’Brien has been acclimatising with Leicestershire.

Squad: Daniel Vettori (capt), Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Brendon Diamanti, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum (wk), Nathan McCullum, Peter McGlashan (wk), Kyle Mills, Iain O’Brien, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor.

Source: Cricinfo.com

written by Swapnil \\ tags: New Zealand, twenty20 world cup 2009