Pro20 World Cup winners 2007 – India, is out of the Pro20 World Cup competition after losing to England by three runs. England scored a reasonable target of 153 / 7 in their 20 overs. India lost crucial wickets during their run chase and needed 19 runs of the last over bowled by man of the match Ryan Sidebottom, managing only 15, only three runs short. Ryan Sidebottom took 3 wickets for 31 runs and Greame Swann 2 for 28 . India needed to win the match against England to qualify for the semi finals.
Earlier in the day Sri Lanka got a scare by Ireland but manage to win their super 8 group game by 9 runs. Sri Lanka scraped together 145 runs thanks to a 78 run contribution by man of the match Mahela Jayawardene. Sri Lanka qualified for the semi finals. Pakistan play Ireland today and England play West Indies and the winners between England and West Indies will most probably advance with South Africa to the Pro20 cricket semi finals.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pro20 Champions India out of World Cup 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
South Africa clinical Pro20 win over England
The first two games of the Pro20 cricket world cup has been completed with good results for South Africa. New Zeland won their game against Ireland scoring a big total of 198 for 5 in their 20 overs. Ireland were bowled out 84 runs short and lost wickets at regular intervals.
South Africa won their first game of the 2009 Pro20 Cricket World Cup Super 8 round in England by 7 wickets with 10 balls to spare. South Africa produced another magnificent bowling performance, reducing England, who won the toss and decided to bat first on a difficult track to a low score off 111 all out. South Africa continues to impress with bat and ball and excellent fielding.
Youngster wayne Parnell were the pick of the South African bowlers with bowling figures of 3/14, spinners Roelof van der Merwe with 2 wickets and Johan Botha impressed once again in the middle part of the innings, proving that spinners in Pro20 cricket play a huge role. Man of the match Jacques Kallis scored a slow steady 57 not out – scoring his first international half century in the Pro20 format of the game. Jacques Kallis also contributed hugely with the ball and ended with bowling figures of 2 for 28. I’m a little bit dissapointed with South Africa’s approach regarding the run chase but having said that the wicket offered something for bowlers and batsmen. Overall a very professional performance by South Africa. South Africa’s next match is on Sunday against the West Indies at the Kensigton oval in London.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Pro20: Will Kevin Pietersen spoil it for South Africa
South Africa play against England in their first match of the Pro20 cricket world cup super 8's round tonight at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The Proteas would love to dismiss batsmen Kevin Pietersen as early as possible as Pietersen delivered his best batting performances against his ex country men and will look to prove a point once again against the South African's. Kevin Pietersen looked in good nick when England played Pakistan to advance to the super 8 rounds. England looked a different team with their star batsmen in the team after a shock loss against the Netherlands. Pietersen did not play in the Netherlands match.
On their last encounter South Africa lost a one day series in England against England 4 - 0 when Pietersen captained the English team after South Africa won the test series. Since their last encounter South Africa has added more options to their bowling attack by means of spinners Johan Botha and Roelof van der Merwe and left arm seamer Wayne Parnell who is growing in stature. Key to South Africa's 2009 T20 World Cup campaign will be the success off the opening partnership between Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith and the role of Albie Morkel in the batting line up. Sometimes Albie Morkel gets sent in too late and are unable to make a massive impact on the final batting score.
Should the South African bowlers contain Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen it will be plain sailing and one hurdle closer to become 2009 Pro20 World champs. This game could be decided in the first 6 overs batting and bowling wise for South Africa. Big game!
Pro20 Cricket India win rain reduced game
India crushed Ireland in a 18 over run reduced Pro20 cricket world cup first round game by 8 wickets. Ireland batted first and lost wickets at regular intervals. India reduced the Irish team to 112 for 8 in their 18 overs. Zaheer Khan did the damage and took four wickets for 19 runs in his 4 overs. Indian opener Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 52 of 44 balls and Gautam Gambir supported Sharma with a patient 37.
Sri Lanka beat West Indies by 15 runs due to a excellent opening partnership of 124 by Sanath Jayasuriya (81 off 47 balls) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (74 off 47 balls). Sri Lanka scored an excellent 192/5 in their 20 overs. West Indies managed 177-5, after a excellent counter-attack by Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan, whith a 77 off 59 balls fifth wicket partnership.
The first games of the Pro20 world cup super eights round starts off today at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. New Zealand will take on Ireland and South Africa play England. Two groups with four teams each participate in the super 8 with the top two teams of each group playing off in the semi finals. The serious part of the tournament starts today and teams like South Africa would love to start off with a bang and book their semi final spot as early as possible. The 2007 ICC Pro20 cricket world cup hosted by South Africa will remind the South Africa cricket team that only one slip up could be the end of their tournament. Let's hope all ends well for South Africa this time around.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Pro20 World Cup - Will South Africa Break The Jinx?
For instance, the 1992 World Cup was an almost sure win but its result was marred by rain. Those were the days when the Duckworth-Lewis method was not yet introduced to the cricketing world. They lost to Australia due to the absurd situation where they had to score 22 runs from just 1 ball. Similarly, in the 1999 World Cup, South Africa and Australia were pitched against one another once in the Super Six match and another time in the semi-final. Both times South Africa was unable to record a victory as they lost the Super Six match and the semi-final was an exciting tie with the Aussies getting the best of the game. This way the South African team could not make it into the finals.
The 2003 World Cup was hosted by South Africa but they couldn't make it any farther than the group stage because of confusion in figuring out the number of runs they had to make in order to chase the rival team's score. Shaun Pollock, the then captain of the team, resigned because of the mishap and Graeme Smith replaced him. However, Pollock continued playing for his team. Smith's captaincy has been able to make the team perform somewhat better than earlier. To give them their due, some of the main players of the team retired, such as, Allan Donald and Jonty Rhodes. Hanse Cronje also met with an untimely and unfortunate end both in his career and life. 2004 was not such a great year as they lost every tournament except one against West Indies.
2007 saw the Proteas become the No. 1 ranked team but they did not put up a very impressive show in the 2007 World Cup. It was an event full of ups and downs for them. They had brilliant wins over England, West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, as well as a marginal win over Sri Lanka. Then they went downhill by losing in a terrible fashion to Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh. This made them fall down from the top of the cricket rating. This was not all. They also lost to Australia in the semi-finals with the lowest ever score they had ever managed in the World Cup. They were all bowled out for 149.
Despite all these pitfalls, South Africa has once again emerged as the top ranking team in one day cricket. They stand at number 5 in the test cricket ratings. This is the result of a large number of wins that they recorded from January to November 2005. The South African team has also had the privilege of being the team with the longest successful run chase and the second highest total scored by a team in a 1-day International match which they played against Australia in 2006.
In the first ICC Pro20 World Cup in which South Africa played host, they lost to India in the last match of the Super 8s and thus could not progress any further. What is left to see is whether they will be able to get rid of this jinx which they have been suffering from since long in winning major events. The 2009 Pro20 World Cup taking place in England will be a test of their strength as a team and their ability to face challenges. With Shaun Pollock gone, all eyes will be on newcomers Dale Styen, Albie Morkel and Morne Morkel. Do keep track of the progress of the South African team if you are a cricket fan. If you cannot go to watch the matches or even see them on TV due to screening problems. Keep yourself up to date by checking live scores online.
By: Peri Witny
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Peri Witny is an author of Sports Articles. Try ScoresPro.com for the best live coverage of the ICC Pro20 World Cup Results
Pro20 Cricket New Zealand tests South Africa
South Africa has won their final first round match against the New Zealand "black caps" in the 2009 ICC Pro20 Cricket World Cup after scoring a low 128 runs in their twenty overs. JP Duminy added 29 of 23 balls to the South African score. New Zealand bowled and field brilliantly to reduce the South African cricketers to a modest 128 runs. New Zealand had to score 15 runs from their last over bowled by Wayne Parnell to win the match but managed to score 13 runs leaving South Africa with a one run victory. New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum scored a patient 57 of 56 balls and the turning point in the match was when he was stumped of a Roelof van der Merwe delivery in the 17Th over. Once again the spinners was successful during the middle overs of the innings.
South Africa has been tested and they did not fail, to defend such a low score does say much about the character of the South African team. They will feel happy as this match would give them lots of confidence on the bowling aspect of their game going into the Super 8 round. I still feel that Albie Morkel should get in earlier as he can be destructive with the bat, he almost always comes in to late with not enough balls to spare.
Earlier in the day Pakistan beat the Netherlands by 82 runs to go through to the next round and sadly the Netherlands will pack their bags and head home.
Today's Pro20 matches:
Sri Lanka vs West Indies
India vs Ireland
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Aussies exit Pro20 World Cup tournament
Strike two and you are out! Sri Lanka ended the Australian twenty20 cricket world cup campaign by beating Australia by 6 wickets in Nottingham, England on Monday night. Australia only managed to score 159 for the loss of 9 wickets but at one stage it looked like they were heading for a reasonable score. Australia lost wickets at regular intervals, the Sri Lankans spinners did the trick and their game plan was to rotate the bowlers frequently disallowing the Australian batsmen to settle. Only Mitchell Johnson showed some resistance and ended on 28 not out.
Sri Lanka lost their stalwart Jayasuriya early without him adding runs to the Sri Lankan total. Dilshan 53 off 32 balls and Kumar Sangakarra 55 not out played brilliantly and Sri Lanka reach the total with one over to spare. Sri Lanka could face an easier road to the semi finals as they are place in the Super Eights groups with Ireland and possibly Netherlands if they can manage to win or lose by a small margin against Pakistan. Sri Lanka Pro20 cricket team will be playing West Indies Pro20 cricket team tomorrow 10 June.
Today's matches will see South Africa being tested for the first time in this tournament when they play the New Zealand "black caps". Both South Africa and New Zealand are through to the Super Eight Group stages but both teams will want to do well to go in to the next round to keep the winning momentum.
Crucial match for Pakistan today as they take on the Netherlands they need to win and win big otherwise they will go home after today. Exciting times for the Netherlands Pro20 cricket team.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sri Lanka to end Australia's Pro20 cricket campaign?
Sri Lanka has got every chance to finish Australia off today. A win for the Sri Lankan team will see Australia exit in the first round of the ICC T20 Cricket world cup in England. West Indies beat Australia on Saturday in their group's first game convincingly in just under 16 overs. Even if the Australians manages to win their game against Sri Lanka they might still have an early exit from the tournament due to their poor net rate after the big Windies defeat. It's simple if they want to secure a place in the next round they will need to win big today.
Pro20 World cup cricket in full swing
We have seen some excellent cricket during the weekend with one upset surprise when Netherlands won England off the last ball. England had to win Pakistan on Sunday to prevent a early exit tournament which they manage to do with 48 runs. India played Bangladesh and won with 25 runs. I had a feeling that the West Indies would overpower Australia which they did by means of captain Chris Gayle hitting a quickfire 88, the innings was a pleasure to watch and we've seen some of the biggest sixes of the tournament yet. Australia faces early exit when they play Sri Lanka today which should be a cracker of a match.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Netherlands Pro20 cricket teams steals England's thunder
The Netherlands won a thrilling opening match against 2009 ICC Twenty20 cricket world cup hosting Nation England after rain spoiled the opening ceremony of the 2009 ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup ceremony. Minnows cricket nation Netherlands added salt to the wounds by beating England by 4 wickets. England got off to a well than average start and after 11 overs the score was on 101 for the loss of 1 wicket. England only managed to score 67 runs in their last 9 overs but still posted a respectable total of 162 in their 20 overs. Netherlands had different plans and with regular boundaries they were in control from the start. Netherlands manage to get the winning runs off the last ball after on a overthrow. They were ecstatic to say the least. England will be under pressure on Sunday when they play Pakistan, a loss would mean a 1st round exit. Hats of to the Netherlands cricket team by keeping their nerve and pulling off this magnificent win. Man of the match Tom de Groot’s 49 off 30 balls pave the way for the Netherlands to record their first win against one of the bigger cricket nations. Pakistan Pro20 cricket team awaits.
Pro20 Cricket World Cup is here!
The 2009 ICC Pro20 cricket world cup starts today with England playing against the Netherlands in the tournament opener. I'm looking forward to the Australia vs West Indies game on Saturday, somehow i feel this is going to be a cracker.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Pro20 Cricket World Cup: Warm-up Results 3 June 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Pro20 Warm-ups Results 2 June 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Pro20 world cup warm-up games 1st of June 2009
Their were no real surprises during the first day of the twenty20 world cup cricket warm-up games. South Africa won their game against Pakistan by 59 runs. Pakistan lost wickets regularly and never looked as if they were going to make it difficult for South Africa. Results Todays warm-up games: 2 June 2009
Australia beat Bangladesh by 38 runs
Ireland beat Netherlands - decided by super over (6-2)
South Africa beat Pakistan by 59 runs
New Zealand beat India by 9 runs
Bangladesh vs Sri-Lanka
Ireland vs West Indies
Australia vs New Zealand
England vs Scotland
