India vs Pakistan ICC Champions Trophy 2009

Shoaib Malik smashed a magnificent century to give Pakistan the upperhand against India in the Group A match of the ICC Champions Trophy , in Centurion, on Saturday.

After a slow start Malik changed gears in style smashing 128, hitting a total of 16 boundaries in his 126-ball knock. His 206-run partnership in 193 deliveries with Mohammad Yousuf , who hit a composed 87 from 88 deliveries, saw Pakistan change the course of the match completely in the middle overs.

The Indian bowling failed to live upto expectations with senior most Harbhajan Singh the main culprit, giving away 71 runs in his ten overs for just one wicket. Ashish Nehra toiled hard, claiming four for 55 in his ten overs and Ishant Sharma took two for 39.

Imran Nazir survived a run out chance off the second ball of the match when Suresh Raina missed the stumps at the non-striker's end by a whisker as the right-hander attempted to steal a quick run on the off-side.

Nazir then made the Indians pay when he unleashed a cracking cover drive for his second boundary in the third over by Nehra followed by another couple boundaries off RP Singh in the fourth over to race to 20 from 16 deliveries.

Just when it looked the Pakistan openers would run havoc, India struck back when Nehra claimed the vital wicket of Nazir. The right-hander, who made 20 from 17 deliveries, attempted a pull short but top edged it and was neatly held by Harbhajan Singh at mid-on. (29-1, 4.2)

RP Singh was taken off after just two overs, during which he gave away 21 runs, including four boundaries.

But Ishant Sharma fared no better as he also conceded two boundaries in his first over. Captain Younis Khan glanced the first one through fine leg for a boundary while the second was despatched through the cover region.

Akmal smashed Nehra through midwicket for his third boundary as Pakistan raced to 51 for one after just seven overs.

Once again India struck against the run of play when Kamran Akmal inside edged Nehra onto his stumps to be bowled for 19 from 22 deliveries. (53-2, 8.5)

Akmal's wicket saw the run rate fall drastically as Pakistan cruising at 51 for one after seven overs managed only three runs in the next five overs to reach 54 for

two after 12 overs. Ishant, who went for nine runs in his first over, had played a big role in the comeback as he gave away just a single in his next three overs

including two maidens.

Meanwhile, RP Singh back for his second spell came up with the important wicket of captain Younis for 20 (33b). The left-armer bowling from round the wicket got

one to swing away from the batsman taking the edge to wicketkeeper Dhoni. (65-3, 14.4)

RP Singh made a strong comeback in his second spell giving away just four runs in three overs and claiming the wicket of Younis.

Pakistan innings looked stuck as just 20 runs came from the last ten overs with the scoreboard reading 71 for three after 17 overs. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni

took the opportunity to introduce his part-timers in Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan hoping to squeeze in a few tight overs.

The Kohli experiment lasted just three overs without much success as the youngster went for 21 runs but at the other end Pathan was doing a good job with just

seven runs from his three overs.

With the part-timers in operation, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik had no problem getting their eye in as they steadily built the Pakistan innings in the middle overs as the duo brought up their 50-run partnership in 72 deliveries in the 27th over.

Yousuf then broke the sequence of singles with a delicate late cut through third man for a boundary against Pathan and Malik repeated that dose against Harbhajan in the next over.

The two batsmen finally decided to change gears as they slammed another two boundaries in Pathan's eighth over as he conceded 20 runs in his last two overs for 41 runs in eight overs. Those couple of boundaries also brought up the 100-run partnership between the two batsmen as they threatened to cut loose with the final few overs approaching.

Yousuf completed a deserved half-century with a single in the 35th over. The best part about his knock was that he kept it simple with singles and twos and despite

hitting just three boundaries, brought up the landmark in 55 deliveries.

Malik completed his fifty in style in 81 deliveries when he slammed Ishant through point for his fifth boundary in the 36th over. He seemed to have changed gears

after his fifty as he slammed another two boundaries in the same over as Pakistan started to take charge.

Malik continued pounding the third man boundary as he thumped RP Singh for consecutive boundaries to race to 84 from 98 deliveries. Amazingly, the right-hander smashed 34 runs in his last 18 deliveries as the Indian bowlers looked totally clueless against the onslaught.

The last ten overs were a complete turnaround for Pakistan as they hit 83 runs to reach 217 for three after 40 overs.

Malik once again creamed Pathan through his favourite point region for his 12th boundary to move into the 90s. He brought up his century in 108 deliveries with another boundary when he cut Harbhajan through the third man region.

It was raining boundaries through the point and third man region as Yousuf drove RP Singh effortlessly for his fifth boundary.

Finally, Nehra gave his team some much needed relief when he claimed the important wicket of Yousuf. The veteran batsman tried to hit every ball out of the park in the PowerPlay but was beaten by the slower one and was bowled for a wonderful innings of 87 from 88 deliveries, inclusive of seven boundaries. (271-4, 46)

His 206-run partnership in just 193 deliveries for the fourth wicket with Malik had given Pakistan complete control after they were bogged down following a few wickets.

Shahid Afridi needed no time to warm-up as he started with a lofted boundary over the cover region off Pathan in the 47th over. However, he fell off the very next delivery for 4 caught behind by Dhoni attempting another lofted over the off-side.(278-5, 47)

There was no stopping Malik, who taking advantage of the fielding restriction, smashed successive boundaries off Nehra to start the 48th over.

But wickets kept falling from the other end when Umar Akmal perished caught behind by Dhoni for a first-ball duck attempting a big shot. (289-5, 47.5)

Nehra was easily India's best bowler of the day as he finished with respectable figures of four for 55 in ten overs, when all others around him were being carted all around the ground.

Malik's brilliant knock of 128 came to an end in the penultimate over when he holed out to long-on to give Harbhajan his first wicket. The Pakistan right-hander was in complete control, hitting 16 boundaries in his 126-ball knock to help his team post a huge score. Half of his runs came between the third man and point region as Malik fetched 61 runs from that area, having breached that boundary 12 times.

Harbhajan bagged a wicket off his final delivery but his figures read a miserable one for 71 in his ten overs, on a day when nothing worked for him.

Umar Gul tried a wild slog but ended up top edging to be taken by Suresh Raina at point off Ishant for a duck, while Mohammad Aamer hit a slower delivery straight to the mid-on fielder off the first delivery he faced.

Pakistan finished on a huge 302 for nine in their 50 overs leaving India with a tough task on hand in their opening encounter.

Tendulkar targets 15,000 Test runs

Sachin Tendulkar has said he is not satisfied with his achievements and hopes to accumulate 15,000 runs and win the World Cup in 2011.

"I am not pleased yet with what I have done," Tendulkar, who has scored a record 12773 Test runs at an average of 54.58 from 159 matches, said in an interview with the Wisden Cricketer. "Sunil Gavaskar has told me that I have to get to 15,000 runs. He said he would be angry with me and would come and catch me if I didn't. I admire him so much and to score that many would be a terrific achievement, but that is not the only aim." His other big cricketing ambition is to "win the World Cup in 2011".

Tendulkar, 36, also spoke about how he has been consistently playing with pain. "I always play in pain, all the time. I played with a broken finger for the last three months, but you know when pain is manageable or not, and most of the time I can do it," he said. "I can still do what I did when I was 25 but the body is changing, so your thought process has to change too. I have had to change how I think, which is about taking less risk."

Tendulkar also disagreed with John Buchanan, former Australia coach, who felt Tendulkar had become susceptible to the short ball early in his innings because of a lack of footwork. "It is only his opinion; John Buchanan doesn't have to be right all the time. If I couldn't handle short deliveries, then I wouldn't still be scoring runs," he said. "Maybe he needs to change his opinion. There must be something very wrong with all the bowlers around the world that they have allowed me to score so many runs."

Don Bradman had said Tendulkar reminded him of himself and the Indian batsman was the only modern player in Bradman's all-time XI. Does Tendulkar think the same way about anyone? "I would say Virender Sehwag comes closest to my style."

Tendulkar said he was not thinking about retirement yet but he would know when to quit cricket. "I will know when it is the right time, I won't have to be dragged away. I am the person who will make the decision and I will know whether I still belong."

He admitted life after cricket wouldn't be easy. "It's a scary thought. It has been there for my whole adult life, it will be difficult, I have been around for a long time, I can imagine when I finish I will long to face just 10 more balls but you have to move."

Sourav Ganguly received an Honorary Fellowship at the University of Central Lancashire

Sourav Ganguly received an Honorary Fellowship at the University of Central Lancashire, July 15, 2009

Kaneria puts Sri Lanka in a spin

Pakistan leg spinner Danish Kaneria took five for 62 to help bowl Sri Lanka out for 233 on an action-packed second day of the third Test on Tuesday.

Kaneria, playing his first game of the series, bowled superbly to give Pakistan a 66-run first-innings lead.

The tourists lost opener Khurram Manzoor in the final over before stumps, bowled by left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, and finished on 16 for one, a lead of 82 runs.

Fawad Alam was unbeaten on 14 and Younus Khan on nought.

Danish KaneriaFormer captain Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for the hosts with a skillful 79 from 153 deliveries including 10 boundaries.

Tillakaratne Dilshan also scored a gutsy 44 batting with a fractured right index finger and Kumar Sangakkara made a fluent 45.

Sri Lanka, 2-0 up in the series, needed just 3.4 overs in the morning to end the Pakistan innings after the visitors had resumed on 289 for seven.

Left-arm paceman Thilan Thushara grabbed two of the last three wickets to fall, claiming career-best figures of five for 83.

Thushara wrapped up the innings as Pakistan's batting collapsed for the fourth time in the series, the last six wickets tumbling for 14 runs after the second new ball was taken.

GUL STRIKES

The Pakistan bowlers led the fightback after Umar Gul bowled Malinda Warnapura with the first ball of the innings and Khan bowled opener Tharanga Paranavitana for five to reduce Sri Lanka to 23 for two.

Sri Lanka would have been in deeper trouble had Manzoor not dropped Sangakkara on 16, spilling an easy catch at gully after the skipper played Mohammad Aamer away from his body.

Sangakkara stroked seven boundaries before he was adjudged lbw to spinner Saeed Ajmal to the last ball before lunch, although TV replays showed the ball pitched outside leg stump.

Ajmal struck another big blow after the interval with a sharp off break to bowl Thilan Samaraweera for six.

Jayawardene rallied the innings with Angelo Mathews, playing skilfully against quality spin bowling from Ajmal and Kaneria.

Kaneria made the breakthrough just before tea when he induced Mathews to edge a catch to slip.

Kaneria also dismissed Jayawardene with a cleverly disguised quicker ball and he trapped Chaminda Vaas lbw.

Dilshan launched a late assault, hitting two sixes and two fours in his 44 before being last man out.

Vaughan Retires

LONDON (Reuters) - Michael Vaughan touched greatness as an opening batsman then scaled the heights as England captain before a chronic knee injury hastened his premature retirement.
Vaughan, 34, announced he had retired from all cricket on Tuesday after failing to win back his place in the national side and fulfil his dream of playing once more in an Ashes-winning side.
"It has been a hard decision," Vaughan told a news conference at Edgbaston.
"I wanted to give myself one last chance of playing against Australia but I haven't been playing well enough and my body is not reacting how I would like it to be."
Speculation that Vaughan might be recalled for one last tilt at Australia, after leading England to their memorable home victory in 2005, always seemed fanciful.
He has not played for England since resigning as captain last year and passed 50 only three times in 22 innings for Yorkshire.
He was also forced to leave the field frequently to rest his troubled knee which raised fresh doubts about his ability to get through a five-day test.
Vaughan's elegance and class were apparent from the start of his career, although he was never a heavy scorer in county cricket and did not force his way into the England side through sheer weight of runs.

WI squad unchanged for the 3 rd and 4 th ODI

Following West Indies' victory against India in the second ODI at the Sabina Park, Kingston, the West Indian selectors named an unchanged squad for the third and the fourth ODI.

The remaining two One-Day Internationals are scheduled at Beausejour, St Lucia on Friday, July 3 and Sunday, July 5.

Squad: Chris Gayle (Captain), Denesh Ramdin (Vice Captain), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor.

We misread the pitch - Dhoni

India's poor batting display in their eight-wicket defeat in the second ODI in Kingston owed to a misjudgment on the part of their batsmen about the pitch, MS Dhoni has said. Dhoni played a captain's innings of 95, which rescued his team from a hopeless situation at 82 for 8, but proved woefully inadequate in the face of an attacking opening stand of 101 led by West Indies captain Chris Gayle.

"We should have paid a little more respect to the bowlers," Dhoni said after the game. "The wicket was a bit difficult, it was swinging around a bit. We didn't judge the wicket well and just went around playing our strokes which really brought our downfall."

Dhoni was involved in a 101-run stand for the ninth wicket with RP Singh, who chipped in with a valuable 23. It was the fifth instance of a ninth-wicket pair putting on a century-partnership, and it saved India's blushes after they were in danger of being bowled out for under three figures. "Once you lose too many wickets then the only thing that you are doing is catching up. RP and me had a partnership otherwise it would have been quite embarrassing," he said.

India's top and middle orders were blown away by some disciplined bowling from the West Indian seamers, led by Ravi Rampaul, who finished with a career-best 4 for 37. India were in trouble as early as the second over, when Rampaul dismissed Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma in a space of three deliveries, and West Indies retained the advantage for the remainder of the game.

India's failure at the top, Dhoni believed, was decisive in their inability to post a challenging score, as the pitch had eased out by the time West Indies began their chase. "Later on, the wicket became better for batting," he said. "When you are batting first, initially you expect the wicket to do a bit and it is the first half an hour and after that you can capitalise if you get up a good start."

While Yuvraj Singh was at the crease India were in a position to fight back hard, but Dhoni added that reliance on just one individual - Yuvraj made a century in the series opener - was not going to win them matches. "Yuvraj is the man in form, he is getting the run for us but we can't expect one individual to score in one and every game.

"You can't expect to bowl the opponent out within 180, especially on a wicket like this. We just wanted to make it difficult. As long as we can stay on the wicket and make it difficult for them to score runs, that was the motivation."

His opposing captain Chris Gayle was full of praise for the fast-bowling duo of Rampaul and Jerome Taylor, who set the stage for the series-levelling win.

"It is nice to square the series. There were some good performances from the guys," he said. "Rampaul and Taylor set the game for us and from now we will look to go strength to strength. There was moisture in the wicket and Taylor and Ravi utilised it well, and the catching was also good, so we just need to keep working on our game."

The West Indies selectors have retained the current squad for the remaining two matches. The teams get a four-day break before the third ODI at Gros Islet on Friday.

West Indies Vs India, 1st ODI start tomorrow at Kingston

West Indies and India prepare for the first of four one-day internationals, in Jamaica, after extremely contrasting World Twenty20 campaigns in England. India entered the tournament as one of the favourites but underachieved tremendously, losing all their matches in the Super Eights stage. As a result of their second-round elimination, India reached the Caribbean even before their hosts, who exceeded expectations by qualifying for the semi-finals, where they lost to Sri Lanka.

For India, a team shaken by defeat, injury and fatigue, this series is the last before a long break until the Champions Trophy in September. They will do well to focus on the task at hand, rather than think about the lengthy rest their tired bodies deserve. India are weakened for they are without Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and Zaheer Khan, four key players either injured or resting because of their hectic schedule in recent months. Their unavailability, though, opens up rare opportunities for players on the fringes of the national squad such as Dinesh Karthik, S Badrinath and M Vijay because the Indian one-day side has been a settled unit for a while now. It also gives others, such as Ashish Nehra, a new lease of life for few would have expected him to return after four years on the sidelines.

West Indies' performance in the World Twenty20 was a dramatic improvement from their efforts during a torrid summer in which they lost both the Wisden Trophy and ODI series to England. Their run to the final four, though, was largely Gayle-powered and they will want more players to contribute during the ODIs against India before the home series against Bangladesh in July. They too have tinkered with their squad for the first two games, surprisingly leaving out Lendl Simmons and Darren Sammy, recalling Runako Morton and Narsingh Deonarine, and included the uncapped Darren Bravo.

ODI form guide
(last five matches, most recent first)

India - LWWNW

India's last ODI series was the five-match contest in New Zealand which they won 3-1 with one washout.

West Indies - LLNLL

West Indies' last five one-dayers were all against England and they didn't win any, losing two at home and two away with one being abandoned.

Watch out for ...

Ashish Nehra: The left-arm medium-pacer last played an international for India in September 2005 after which a spate of injuries kept him out of contention. However, a strong performance in the IPL, where Nehra was the third-highest wicket-taker with 19 at 18.21 each, coupled with the axing of Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan, paved the way for his return.

Darren Bravo: If he's anywhere near as skilled as his sibling Dwayne, India have a problem on their hands. Darren Bravo's an unknown quantity to people outside the Caribbean, having played only 15 first-class games and eight List A matches for Trinidad & Tobago. It will be interesting to see what responsibility he's given, if he plays, in the first two games against India.

Team news

India have a few decisions to make regarding the composition of their final XI. Should Rohit Sharma continue opening in Sehwag's absence? Or should he move down the order to give Vijay or Karthik a chance at the top? What of S Badrinath? Another worry for the team management is the delayed arrival of Karthik, Vijay and Badrinath due to issues with obtaining a transit visa to England. They were scheduled to arrive in Jamaica on Thursday evening.

India (likely): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Dinesh Karthik, 3 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 S Badrinath, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ashish Nehra.

Simmons' omission from the West Indies squad was surprising considering he scored 150 runs during the World Twenty20, including a 50-ball 77 against South Africa, and took a four-wicket haul in the group match against Sri Lanka. They also omitted Darren Sammy who has been an underrated allrounder in the West Indian outfit.

West Indies (likely): 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Runako Morton, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Darren Bravo, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Jerome Taylor, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Suleiman Benn, 11 Lionel Baker

Stats and trivia

* West Indies have won four out of their last five ODIs in Jamaica - against India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Ireland. India have played only two ODIs at Sabina Park of which they lost one and won the other.

* Only once has a team made more than 300 at Sabina Park: Pakistan made 349 against Zimbabwe during the 2007 World Cup. The highest target successfully chased there is 254 when South Africa made 255 for 2 against West Indies in 2005.

Quotes

"The West Indies is playing good cricket at the moment. They had a very good World Twenty20 tournament, but in 50 overs, you have time to settle down."
MS Dhoni is aware he is against an in-form team

"Both teams are looking to win and they (Indians) are trying to prove something against us. At the same time we want to get more wins under our belt and continue our development."
Chris Gayle

Pakistan salute 'awesome' Afridi

Pakistan superstar Shahid Afridi was hailed as 'awesome' on Sunday after the mercurial all-rounder led his country to the World Twenty20 title.

Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by eight wickets to claim their first major title in 17 years at a sell-out Lord's.

Afridi hit an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, his second consecutive half-century, and former captain Shoaib Malik made 24 not out during a match-winning partnership of 76 for the undefeated third wicket.

"It was a pressure match. When I walked out to the wicket I was thinking I have to stay until the 20th over," said Shoaib.

"Shahid was awesome today and all credit to him. I told him to stay at the wicket and I will get some runs, that we can finish the game. He's a great cricketer."

Pakistan win a Largest Title After 17 Years

Pakistan won their first major title in 17 years when they stunned Sri Lanka by eight wickets in the World Twenty20 final at a sell-out Lord's here on Sunday.

Seamer Abdur Razzaq claimed three wickets as Pakistan bowled and fielded aggressively to restrict Sri Lanka to 138-6, then coasted home easily with eight deliveries to spare.

Shahid Afridi hit an unbeaten 54 off 40 balls, his second consecutive half-century, and former captain Shoaib Malik made 24 not out during a match-winning partnership of 76 for the undefeated third wicket.

Pakistan, runners-up to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa two years ago, ended Sri Lanka's unbeaten run in the tournament with style. Pakistan last won an official multi-nation tournament in 1992 when Imran Khan's team lifted the World Cup by beating England in the final at the Melbourne cricket ground in Australia. Sunday's win by Younus Khan's team gave Pakistanis back home reason to cheer as the cricket-mad nation has been deprived of international tours due to security concerns in the volatile nation.

The International Cricket Council has already ruled out holding World Cup matches in Pakistan in 2011 following the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore on March 3.

Pakistani openers Kamran Akmal and Shahzaib Hasan ensured there were no early scares as they put on 48 for the first wicket in seven overs. Sanath Jayasuriya broke through with his first delivery in the next over when he beat Akmal in the air with his left-arm spin and had him stumped for 37 off 28 balls.

Jayasuriya then took a catch to get rid of Shahzaib off Muttiah Muralitharan for 19, but Afridi and Malik took Pakistan home amid loud celebrations from their fans in the stands.

Sri Lanka were dealt quick blows after captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to take first strike on a slow wicket. The Lankans slumped to 2-2 in the first nine balls and that became 34-4 before Sangakkara himself led the rescue act with a defiant unbeaten 64 from 52 balls. Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews put on 68 for the unbroken seventh wicket as Sri Lanka plundered 59 runs in the final five overs.

Mathews returned unbeaten on 35 off 24 balls.

Pakistan got off to a sensational start when teenage fast bowler Mohammad Aamir sent back the in-form Tillekaratne Dilshan with the fifth ball of the match.

Dilshan, the tournament's leading scorer with 317 runs, miscued a pull shot off the speedy left-armer and was caught at backward square-leg by Shahzaib Hasan for zero.

Four balls later, Shahzaib grabbed his second catch at mid-off as Jehan Mubarak skied a leading edge off Razzaq, who shared the new ball with Aamir.

Jayasuriya counter-attacked with a six and four in Razzaq's second over, but the bowler hit back two balls later as the left-handed veteran edged a ball on to his stumps after making 17.

Razzaq, who replaced the injured Yasir Arafat after ending his links with the rebel Indian Cricket League, struck again in his third over when Misbah-ul Haq dived to his right at slip to remove Mahela Jayawardene for one.

While Shahid Afridi bagged the 'Player of the Match' award, Tillekaratne Dilshan was declared the 'Player of the Tournament'.

T20 Final Tomorrow

Sri Lanka start favourites!!

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have emerged triumphant from the horror of Lahore last March when gunmen attacked the Sri Lankan team bus to stake a place in Sunday's ICC World Twenty20 final at Lord's.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara, one of six players wounded in the attack, told reporters on Friday after his team's semi-final win over West Indies the assault had reminded his team of their own mortality.

I think it is a fitting reward for the courage of the team in the way they have played in this tournament, all the players have got through, he said.

His Pakistan counterpart Younus Khan, whose team did not play a single test last year because of the uncertainty at home, sounded a similar note after beating South Africa on Thursday.

We are suffering from everything in Pakistan and everyone knows about all the fighting, a lot of fighting. If we can lift the Cup, it will provide great cheer for the people, Younus said.

POTENT TRIO

The teams took strikingly different paths to Sunday's final.

Sri Lanka have set the pace throughout with both bat and ball and have not lost a match.

Pakistan, desperately short of practice, were outplayed by England in their opening match but rallied remarkably to thrash New Zealand and then upset a confident, well-drilled South African team in Thursday's semi-final.

Both sides have exhibited the imagination and technical expertise which have made the tournament so memorable with the latest form of the game evolving and changing daily before noisy sell-out crowds at Lord's, the Oval and Trent Bridge.

Sri Lanka will start favourites by virtue of their consistency and strength in depth.

Opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, the tournament's top scorer, has played a stream of delightful strokes around the wicket, including the now renowned scoop shot which sends the ball flying over his head to the boundary.

In the field, captain Sangakkara has the luxury of an elite bowling trio, who both attack and contain, in Lasith Malinga (fast) and Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis (spin).

Pakistan pace bowler Umar Gul destroyed New Zealand with the first five-wicket haul in Twenty20 cricket, reverse-swinging the ball wickedly in the second half of the innings.

Pakistan then beat South Africa in the semi-finals through a devastating all-round performance from Shahid Afridi, who returned to his dynamic best with the bat before showing again just how potent his quick leg-spin can be.

Afridi is a guy who can take the game away from you in a few overs, said Sangakkara. But we can't really get caught up in just one player.

All time semi final loser loses this time too - SA

The South African juggernaut was brought to a screeching halt by Shahid Afridi who, with a little help from his team-mates, dumped tournament favourites out of the World Twenty20 and secured Pakistan's place in the final. Afridi put in an all-round performance of tremendous intensity, lifting Pakistan to a defendable total with an aggressive yet methodical half-century, before bowling a spell that left the South Africans winded at Trent Bridge.

The clinical South African side, who were unbeaten in the competition, were favourites going in to the semi-final and their bowlers fought admirably to restrict Pakistan to 149 when at one stage a total of 170 seemed on the cards. With the exception of Jacques Kallis, though, their batsmen failed to give the chase any sort of direction. They were suffocated by Afridi and Saeed Ajmal and their inability to score enough runs during the initial and middle overs left them with far too much to do against the pinpoint accuracy of Umar Gul's yorkers.

Full report to follow

20 overs Pakistan 149 for 4 (Afridi 51, Malik 34) v South Africa
Shahid Afridi made a methodical half-century, but South Africa fought back well to keep Pakistan down to a chaseable score

Each time Pakistan's batsmen accelerated and threatened to set a formidable target, South Africa's bowlers pulled the game back, a contest that made for riveting viewing at Trent Bridge. Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi played aggressively but South Africa's bowlers recovered ground by restricting the run-rate after their dismissals. The eventual total of 149 was one that Graeme Smith will be happy with, while Pakistan will feel they could have got a few more.
The game followed a strangely symmetric pattern. Pakistan dominated the first five overs, scoring 43, while South Africa fought back between overs five and ten to keep Pakistan to 68 for 2. Pakistan once again controlled the game between overs 11 and 15, reaching 120 for 3, but South Africa conceded only 29 off the last five overs.

Pakistan's early dominance was due to Akmal, who was intent on smashing the ball from the start. He cut Dale Steyn twice for four in the first over and lofted him cleanly over long-off in the third. In between, he crashed Wayne Parnell to the midwicket boundary and raced to 23 off 11 balls before top-edging a pull off Steyn to mid-on.

Pakistan had raced to 47 for 2 after six overs, with Afridi pulling Jacques Kallis twice through midwicket but South Africa then cut off the boundary supply. Afridi and Shoaib Malik didn't hit a boundary for 30 balls before Afridi slogged Roelof van der Merwe through midwicket. He moved on to cut loose against Johan Botha, making room to loft the offspinner thrice in a row to the cover boundary before unveiling a delectable late-cut to snatch 18 off the over. The 50-partnership had come up off 49 balls but Pakistan had begun to accelerate, with Afridi placing the ball into gaps consistently, plucking twos.

South Africa desperately needed Afridi's wicket and it was given to them by JP Duminy, who struck with his first ball. Afridi tried to slog sweep and skied the ball straight to AB de Villiers at midwicket who took a vital catch with ease. South Africa celebrated the wicket with more relief than joy.

Malik had played a more subdued, anchoring role until then, but began to step up, scoring his first boundary - a sweep off van der Merwe - off his 31st ball. He soon added another, hitting Duminy over extra cover, but eventually holed out to long-off.

Younis and Abdul Razzaq were two new batsmen at the crease and Parnell and Steyn bowled with extreme accuracy to deny them loose deliveries at the death. They could only pick off ones and twos and had to settle for 149, when 170 looked gettable at one stage.

Cricket Vs Exam - Fun

Cricket has reached exciting levels with IPL....
Infusing the same thing into exams, some suggestions: -

1. Reduce exam duration to 1 hr and marks to 50.
2. Introduce strategic break after 30 minutes.
3. Give free hit, that is a chance for students to frame their own questions and write answers.
4. 1st 15 minutes power play, that is no invigilator in the exam hall. ( everyone will love this....!!!) 5. Introduce fair play awards.
6. If any wrong question is asked you can give your own answer for the next question…….
FREE HIT……………….. !!!!!!!!!
7.Cheer girls to cheer for every correct answer written....! !!

South Africa Hopes for T20 Title

Graeme Smith believes his South Africa side will prove they have shed their tag as perennial 'chokers' The Proteas saw off India in their final Super Eights clash at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, making it five wins from five en route to the semi-finals of the World Twenty20. Previous South Africa sides have been accused of wilting under pressure at the business end of big tournaments, but Smith believes times have changed.

"I think we've come past that," Smith said after his side defended a modest 130 for five to beat holders India by 12 runs. "This team has come a long way and I think we've proven that. Hopefully we can show that on Thursday, that's what is exciting about it." "How we've played under pressure has been incredible. Pakistan are a talented team who will arrive expecting to beat us. Regardless of who deserves to win going into a semi-final it's about who plays best on the day. It's a simple matter." South Africa are the odds-on favourites to win the trophy with the bookmakers, and Smith can see why they are well fancied. "We are professional and clinical but I think we've also proven that we have enough flair and enough options available to us to be the all-round package," said the captain. "We've played at all the grounds, we've faced many different challenges on different wickets and defended low totals. So I think we're a well-rounded team going into the semis. We just need to give ourselves the best chance on Thursday and go out playing our type of cricket." "Tactically I think we have our line-up right. It's nice to have both pace and spin available to us and I think we have all options covered." India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, meanwhile admitted disappointment at how his side had fared in England but defended their handling of Virender Sehwag's injury earlier in the competition. There was some confusion over the batsman's participation in the early stages of the competition and, although he joined the team in England, he was eventually ruled out with a shoulder injury. "At times, you can't say everything because you want the opposition team to still think about Virender Sehwag," said Dhoni. "Whether he is playing or not, you want them to waste at least that half an hour in their team meeting thinking about that. You can't just say 'This is our playing XI - Virender Sehwag is not fit'. I prefer announcing the team maybe one hour before the game." "At times, you have to hide things. It happens. That's what happened and it's for the good of the side. I can't just open my heart and tell all the strategies. There are things that have to be kept secret."

Sri Lankan novelty lights up T20

After Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene had reversed-swept him off the back of the bat during their World Twenty20 Super Eights win over New Zealand at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, Jacob Oram smiled. The all-rounder's expression, a mixture of bewilderment and admiration, neatly summed up the reaction of many people watching the match and was just the latest example of Sri Lanka's enduring penchant for cricket unorthodoxy. Jaywardene's team-mate Tillekaratne Dilshan has wowed crowds at the tournament with the 'Dillscoop', an extraordinary shot where he goes down on one knee as if to sweep only to lever the ball past the wicket-keeper's head. But there is nothing new about Sri Lanka changing the way cricket is played. It is now more than a decade since opener Sanath Jayasuriya revolutionised the approach to batting at the start of the one-day innings by lofting the ball over the infield and even carving the ball for sixes square of the wicket on the offside. Jayasuriya's dynamism helped Sri Lanka win the 1996 World Cup and was an example of how the island's players were allowed to remain true to their natural style.
The most obvious example is in the array of unorthodox bowlers who've taken the field for Sri Lanka be they prodigious off-break star Muttiah Muralitharan, mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis and round-arm pace bowler Lasith Malinga. But thought, as well as talent, plays a part.

Jayawardene, best known as a classically elegant batsman, was not the first man to reverse sweep a bowler off the back of the bat. Australia's Andrew Symonds has been seen playing the shot but, according to Jayawardene, it was one of the all-rounder's compatriots, the former Test opener John Dyson, now the coach of the West Indies, who ought to be credited with the creation of the stroke. "This is something I've worked with (Sri Lanka coach) Trevor Bayliss on. "He was saying that Dyson used to do that in Australia. He used to tap it with the other side because he couldn't sweep. "A lot of teams bring third man up these days and I thought I'll give it a go.

Hopefully it will keep working. But there is another Sri Lankan who, in his own quiet way, has also helped the side into a World Twenty20 semi-finals against the West Indies at the Oval on Friday. Pace bowler Isuru Udana, who took two for 17 on Tusday, has outbowled the quicker and more highly regarded Nuwan Kulasekara at this tournament by deceiving several batsmen with the slow pace of his deliveries. Some observers have asked why he needs such a lengthy run given the speed the ball arrives at the other end but, intentional or not, the effect has been to cause confusion. Oram was one such example, clean bowled by Udana after getting through his shot so early his bottom hand had come off the bat as the ball crashed into his stumps on Tuesday. He for one might be glad of a break from facing Sri Lanka.

D-L to review their formula for T20

The Duckworth-Lewis method for the fairest possible result in rain-marred cricket matches will be reviewed for the Twenty20 format after its appropriateness was questioned in the quickest version of the game. Eyebrows were raised when hosts England were ousted from the T20 World Cup after their five-wicket loss to the West Indies in a rain-marred match, in which the Caribs were given a revised target of 80 runs from nine overs against the original score of 161. "Certainly, people have suggested that we need to look very carefully and see whether in fact the numbers in our formula are totally appropriate for the Twenty20 game," admitted Lewis, the inventor of the system with his statistician partner Frank Duckworth. Duckworth said the duo would work on the method after collecting more data from the T20 World Cup.

Dhoni bemoans hapless India's batting woes

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted his highly-regarded batsmen had flopped after the defending champions lost their third successive World Twenty20 Super Eights match on Tuesday.

India, already out of contention for the semi-finals, were defeated by 12 runs by South Africa despite chasing just 131 to win on a slow Trent Bridge wicket.

"The team was up for it right from the warm-up," said Dhoni.

"But the batting really hasn't been up to the mark. Hopefully, when we come back to England it will be different and improve."

"I don't think condition was the issue here. Form of some of the players, including me, was the major factor (behind the defeat)," said a dejected Dhoni.

"We played with six frontline batsmen and the seventh is an all-rounder. When three of them don't click in a match like this, it becomes really very hard. Throughout the tournament I think we bowled well, wherever we played but we lacked a few things when it came to the batting," he added.

Asked about the crowd support, Dhoni said,"The kind of support we get when we play in England. But we have to win games, else we will get booed at the end of the game." Dhoni was not ready to believe that the Indian team had turned bad overnight and felt they just could not click on those particular days.

"In this format, it's not about what kind of side you are but what you do on that particular day. In all three department. It's a game where you have to be there throughout the 40 overs," Dhoni explained.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith, whose team will face Pakistan in the semi-finals here on Thursday, praised his team's ability to adapt to all surfaces and conditions.

"I think 130 on that wicket was a good total. The wicket was slow and the way we defended the total was excellent," he said.

"We have adapted to all surfaces and we have showed how far we have come in terms of our thinking and our options.

"Our fielding was great. It was a great wicket for our slow bowlers. We needed them to take responsibility and they did just that.

"Facing Pakistan will be a great day and we'll need to play our best cricket. We are excited about the semi-finals."

Man of the match AB de Villiers, who hit 63 off 51 deliveries, said patience was key to building runs.

"It wasn't the fanciest knock of my life," he said. "The trick is to have a good foundation for the first 20 balls and then express yourself."

Dhoni After T20 Failure

The sharp discord in the Indian camp over the reasons for the shock exit from Twenty20 World Cup continued with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni insisting that fatigue was not a factor for the debacle.
While coach Gary Kirsten had blamed an overdose of cricket and Indian Premier League as the cause for the World Cup fiasco, Dhoni continued to differ with his coach on IPL issue though he admitted some of his players were not 100 per cent fit.
Coach Gary Kirsten had yesterday asserted that too much of cricket by his team and the timing of Indian Premier League were the main reasons behind India's failure to defend their title.
"We were not as energetic as we were in New Zealand. We were relatively tired when we arrived here. We have been on the road since end of January. A lot of our cricketers also carried niggles in this tournament. We picked up niggles in the IPL and lost contact with them," Kirsten has said.
But, Dhoni had a totally different view, saying his team's early exit had nothing to do with the fatigue factor.
"Sure very few were 100 per cent fit. Some had ankle, some shoulder injury. That's why they were not at their best in the field. But I am not sure if fatigue is the reason for it. These days you have rehab and can quickly come back to 100 per cent fitness," he said after his side's 12-run defeat at the hands of South Africa last night.
"I never felt I was very tired. You have to play 20 overs and you can't manage that! It wasn't like Sri Lanka where I thought I needed break and I opted out. That's when I was tired. Here I wasn't even close to it," Dhoni said. He said his side failed to click as a unit in all three departments of the game, though he picked batting failure as the most disappointing aspect.
"We never performed as a team. We are used to team performing collectively to 80 per cent level. Here it wasn't even up to 60 per cent," he said.
"Key players, including me, were out of form. Our batting struggled and that hurt as we are always known for batting. If three bowlers were on target then others were not; if some batters clicked; the others failed. Few individuals did well but as a unit we didn't," said Dhoni.
Commenting on Kirsten's idea of suggesting players to pull out of IPL if a serious preparation is to be done before important tournaments or series, Dhoni said, "You can opt out. Each individual has the right to do it."
Dhoni foresaw a situation where cricketers could take a break for a month and then return to the game they love.
"You have to frame yourself. Cricketers will take time-out for fitness for if they are forced out of team, it could take up to three to sixth months' time. Take a month's break instead of three months' time, and you would be up to the game."

India' s Tour of West Indies

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's India hope a one-day series in the West Indies later this month will help them recover from a dismal campaign in the World Twenty20.
India, who won the inaugural event in South Africa two years ago, failed to make the semi-finals after losing all three Super Eight matches against the West Indies, England and South Africa.
They now embark on a tour of the Caribbean for four one-dayers, the last leg of a hectic nine-month schedule across the globe that included the five-week Indian Premier League in South Africa in April-May.
India will return home after the last game against the West Indies at St Lucia on July 5 and will get a chance to rest till the Champions Trophy starts in South Africa in late September.
Skipper Dhoni wanted his team to forget the disappointing performance in the World Twenty20 and look ahead towards the series against the West Indies.
"Once you lose a few games, you start dissecting everything and count how much better we could have played," the Indian captain said.
"We consider 80 percent as the benchmark. If you are close to that, with the talent we have in the team, we have more chances of winning games.
"But we were more like 50 to 60 percent of our potential in England.
"The T20 World Cup is gone. We are off to the West Indies, and that is what we are thinking about now.
"In the next two or three days, we will take some time off. Then we will start working back on the basics again, accept this has happened and start preparing for the West Indies.
"It will be tough in the West Indies for us. We must concentrate on that tour and not look what we will be doing during the break after that.
"We want to do well in the West Indies and then be really well prepared for the Champions Trophy."
The Indians appeared lacklustre during the 12-run defeat to South Africa in the last Super Eights match at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, failing to reach a modest target of 131.
India's 16-man squad for the Caribbean tour, which was announced earlier on Wednesday, does not feature prolific batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, all of whom have been given time off to recover from injuries.
Tendulkar, 36, the world's leading Test and one-day batsman who declined to play in the World Tenty20, is recovering from a finger injury that he aggravated during the IPL in South Africa.
Left-hander Suresh Raina is also out with a hairline fracture on the thumb, while Sehwag missed the World Twenty20 with a shoulder injury.
India have recalled left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra after four years following an impressive showing during the IPL, and included Mumbai's Abhishek Nayar for his first tour.
Chris Gayle's West Indies have reached the semi-final of the World Twenty20 and play Sri Lanka at the Oval in London on Friday for a place in the final.
South Africa take on Pakistan in the first semi-final at Trent Bridge here on Thursday.
Indian squad for the Caribbean
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Kartik.
Coach: Gary Kirsten (RSA)
India' schedule in West Indies:
June 26: First one-dayer, Jamaica
June 28: Second one-dayer, Jamaica
July 3: Third one-dayer, St. Lucia
July 5: Fourth one-dayer, St. Lucia

Pak confident of winning title: Alam

Pakistan skipper Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam are confident that their team can go all the way and win the Twenty20 World Cup despite coming up against a strong South African side in the first semi-finals at Trent Bridge, England tomorrow.
"The players are in a confident mood and we are ready to take on anyone in the semi final. It does not matter if we are playing South Africa. They are not unbeatable," Alam said from London.
The former Test captain said he had asked the players to just give their best.
"If you play to your strengths and do the basics right any opponent can be beaten," he said.
akistan has played just once at Trent Bridge, Nottingham and they lost a warm up match by a big margin to South Africa.
But Alam said that defeat came because the Pakistani players had just reached England and were still acclimatising to the conditions.
"Now things are different and the players are working hard," he added.
Overall Pakistan don't have a very impressive record against South Africa in all forms of the game but skipper Younis said that he was confident his boys would deliver.
"The momentum is there now and every player is enjoying playing hard on the field. Our batting still has to fire a bit more because in both matches against New Zealand and Ireland we fell short by 20 to 25 runs. That is something we have to work on before the semi final," Younis said.
Younis said that he was happy with the form of his bowlers who were firing in unison.
"Our bowling has been great and all of them are now bowling in rhythm. The batsmen have to support the bowlers if we are to win this Cup," he said.
Younis said Pakistan was just two matches away from bringing a lot of joy to their countrymen who are facing hard times and in making the international cricket world realize that Pakistan was still an important force in world cricket.
The Pakistan captain said his players were unaffected by the ball-tampering insinuations made by New Zealand skipper, Daniel Vettori after the match at the Oval.
"Everytime we are getting into a nice momentum in England these controversies are created to disturb our players. I have seen it happen before. But the players are pumped up to show they play the game fairly and sportingly," he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan cricket Board Chairman, Ijaz Butt has also reached London but interestingly has avoided meeting with the players although he had a dinner with the team coach and manager.
"The Chairman does not want to disturb the players from their work," one board official said.

Crazy Indian Fans

We Indians, or at least a sizeable number of us Indian cricket fans, do things in extremes. We turn up in hordes to every game: we flocked to The Oval pumped up to out-shout thousands of Pakistan fans, we made it a point to turn Lord's into a home venue by outnumbering the English. We weren't stingy with our cheers either. We went berserk at every boundary our batsmen hit and every wicket our bowlers took. We even went overboard for dot balls and fielding efforts. And haven't you heard us go wild when the names of the playing XI are flashed on the massive screens at the grounds? Or even when someone hits the ball into the stands during practice? We go to all sorts of lengths and take a lot of effort and trouble to support our team, and people who don't understand why look at us with bemusement.
But our fanatical love has its dark side too. We expect the Indian team to live up to our high expectations. We expect them to fuel our insatiable passion by giving us performances we can exalt. We expect it every time. And when we are disappointed, when all hope is lost, we don't think twice about showing it. We booed Ravindra Jadeja when his headshot appeared on the screen at Trent Bridge while the XI against South Africa was being announced. His 25 off 35 balls against England lost India the game at Lord's. So what if he's only a 20-year-old facing an in-form bowling attack targeting his throat in a high-pressure situation? He's had two Twenty20 internationals worth of experience and should have been able to do the job.

We didn't care that India were out of the tournament by the time they played their last game. We turned up for the dead rubber as well, outnumbering the New Zealand, Sri Lankan and South African fans put together at Trent Bridge. We always come to watch our team play, giving them every chance to make us proud. And yet we were disappointed again and watched in horror as our batsmen succumbed not to pace, but to spin. We were supposed to be good players of spin on any surface. So what if the ball is gripping and turning sharply? We saw our captain MS Dhoni get run out off a wide, needlessly. Even though we appreciated his gesture when he came out to run for Harbhajan Singh, when he could have sent in someone else, we booed him at the post-match presentation ceremony. In our anger and disappointment, we called him a rotten captain.

Dhoni understands our relationship, though. We've been through it all together: the despair of our 2007 World Cup campaign, the delirious celebrations after the World Twenty20 that year - did you see us jam the roads of Mumbai when they returned from South Africa? Dhoni understands us and remembers. "It's not the first time it has happened to me or the Indian team," he said. "When expectations are so high, these are the reactions you get. If they didn't boo, that would have been unusual from the crowd today."

We'll be watching them in the West Indies too. Waiting for an opportunity to cheer madly again.

Windies Story

Much ado about nothing?

Not if you experienced the jubilation accompanying Monday's defeat of England that confirmed a semi-final spot for West Indies.

Still, amid the fiery fast bowling, furious fours and joyful celebrations, there are more than a few issues in the backdrop to the flashy spectacle that are quietly relevant to cricket's bigger picture, well beyond the narrow confines of this latest Twenty20 vupping festival.

Oh yeah, this condescending reference to extravagant swiping. I'll be the first to admit that the likes of Kevin Pietersen's switch-hit (which is unfair, and should be banned) and Tillakaratne Dilshan's frying pan (at least I think that's what it's called) stand out only because they are surrounded by a surfeit of what we can loosely describe as proper shot-making.

Yet it is only because established players are grounded in the fundamentals of batsmanship that it was possible for Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul to take the Caribbean side to victory at The Oval with relative calm in what might otherwise have been a situation for the less experienced to indulge in panic-stricken inventiveness.

It is therefore in this context that you worry about the development of younger batsmen preoccupied with creating newer and even more audacious shots in response to this surfeit of Twenty20 stuff at the expense of the ability to build an innings, which is essential in the traditional version.

But, and this question is cropping up more and more, is the traditional version still essential?
Our captain doesn't think so, which is why Chris Gayle should not be retained in the post following this campaign - whether or not the regional squad claim the trophy on Sunday - unless the West Indies Cricket Board directors concur with his preference for the shorter forms.

So long as a premium is placed on Test cricket, then a team that has been struggling for as long as West Indies have are in need of a leader who endorses its primacy. Retaining him at the helm will therefore be seen as tacit acceptance that any team under his supervision may not necessarily be enthusiastic about the five-day variety. If, however, we decide as a matter of policy to put our few remaining eggs in the Twenty20 and one-day international baskets, then it's Gayle all the way.

Oh, and don't go campaigning for Dwayne Bravo as captain - in any form of the game - even after the solid endorsement of Ian Chappell. True, as one of Australia's finest and most uncompromising leaders, Chappell's appreciation of Bravo's status as a team leader must carry considerable weight.

Do we want, though, to burden such a dynamic, expressive allrounder (who leads from the front anyway in everything that he does on the field) with the responsibilities of captaincy? As was the case of Englishmen Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff, it may only succeed in curbing his enthusiasm. On the contrary, like Pakistan's Imran Khan and India's Kapil Dev, his talismanic qualities could bring out more of the best in him and his team.

There are points on both sides, and indeed the record of Sir Garfield Sobers suggests that he had a foot in either camp. Nevertheless, I'd much prefer to give Bravo licence to roam free, like a latter-day Sir Learie Constantine or Keith Miller, and pass the mantle of West Indies captaincy on to one of the cool heads from Monday night - Sarwan. Do we want, though, to burden such a dynamic, expressive allrounder like Bravo (who leads from the front anyway in everything that he does on the field) with the responsibilities of captaincy?

Cool heads on the streets and media outlets of India are apparently at a premium after their heroes were bundled out of the tournament even ahead of the final Super Eights match against favourites South Africa. Some enterprising soul must have come up with the idea by now of mass-producing effigies on the subcontinent. All you have to do is leave the face blank and you're good to go: today Dhoni, tomorrow Yuvraj ... and don't forget to save one for Tendulkar (yes, even he has gotten the fire and bamboo stick treatment).

And what about one for Gary Kirsten? Surely the Indian coach's lament about his players being exhausted after the IPL makes him effigy material, especially as now it's the cricketers who are running the show and they just can't have enough of the vupping thing, or more precisely, the significant amounts of money associated with it.

India are the game's powerbrokers, no doubt, but you still can't have your naan and eat it too.
Clearly Daniel Vettori was eating sour grapes on Saturday when he inferred that something was amiss in Umar Gul's ability to get the white ball to reverse-swing so early in his devastating spell that essentially decided that match in Pakistan's favour. Of course, Vettori can say that he made no direct accusation against the fast bowler or, by extension, the Pakistani team.

But why, oh why, do some disingenuously sow the notion of nefarious plots when an opponent comes along who does something that they can't?

If it's not Umar Gul and early reverse-swing, it's Usain Bolt and a supposedly magical concoction of yam and marijuana, all done up in jerk seasoning, that causes the Jamaican sprinter to surge so comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.

Sometimes you should just take your licks, shut up and go home. Trust us West Indians, we've been doing it for so long, no wonder there's increasing excitement at the prospect of us swiping our way to glory on the same day that Clive Lloyd lifted the first World Cup 34 years ago.

SA Vs PAK Preview

It's first a clash of ethos, of philosophies and even of time, more than a semi-final. Here is truly man against machine, the art of cricket against the science of it, cricket's future and cricket's past. South Africa's progress to this point has been smooth, well-planned, calculated and inevitable, as if their players were born to do this. Pakistan have got here in shambles - losing games, winning some, treating it all as a bit of fun - and the players not so much born to do this are struggling to discover why they are doing it at all.

South Africa lack nowhere and nothing. If Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith are the efficient drones at the top, there is heart in the middle, with the ever-frail skills of Herschelle Gibbs and the creativity of AB de Villiers. Even Albie Morkel, in whom there are glimpses of Zulu, thankfully smiles more. They've always had pace, but now they even have spinners, who are not batsmen forced to bowl. Sure, they are a little one-dimensional (watching videos of Umar Gul's yorkers?), but they are spinners - South African and successful; how often have we said that in the past?

The whole machinery is intimidating, determined to iron out all kinks, the mission pre-programmed; with seven consecutive wins in this format, they have apparently also taken the inherent unpredictability of this format out of the equation. They are well-trained, well-oiled, and their psychologist talks about contests and of processes over outcomes and how choking is not really an issue anymore. They win even warm-up matches and the dead games because every game counts. They are cricket's future.

Pakistan are the past. They are wholly dysfunctional, but just about getting along, though unsure where they are going. They don't control their extras, they don't run the singles hard and they field as if it were still the 60s. They are least bothered about erasing the flaws because any win will be in spite of them. They did hire a psychologist though, and you can only imagine what those sessions were like and how much they actually talked about sport and cricket. There are permanent mutterings of serious rifts. They may not bat, bowl or field well all the time, but sometimes, they do what can only be described as a 'Pakistan': that is, they bowl, bat or field spectacularly, briefly, to change the outcome of matches. You cannot plan or account for this as an opponent because Pakistan themselves don't plan or account for it.

It can come from any person, any discipline, but on evidence, it is likelier to come from the bowling. The batting needs Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq to really get their show going. A piece of fielding brilliance cannot be discounted, but generally both Pakistan and West Indies have happily disproved the dictum that in T20 cricket you have to be Jonty Rhodes to get anywhere. Heroes will likely be found among the Umar Guls, the spinners and maybe even Mohammad Aamer, who is a throwback to the late 80s and early 90s, when Pakistani fast bowlers were born ready to play international cricket.

The pressure on South Africa however, will be greater. They are expected to win this and anyway they will always have the whole 'chokers' tag to deal with until the day they actually lift a big trophy. It doesn't help that they look as good as they did during the 1999 World Cup, though they are easier on the eye. Pakistan, as Younis Khan said before leaving for England, won't much mind a semi-final spot; Kamran Abbasi rightly noted that they may have had an easier ride to the semis than most but no country has had a rougher two years. Clearly they'd love to win it, but they have already achieved more than many thought and a loss wouldn't be the end of the world. But importantly, as the only side to make it to the last four in 2007 and 2009, they have underscored their significance in this brave new, T20 world, a world in which they absolutely cannot be ignored.

Form guide(last five matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWLWL
South Africa WWWWW

Watch out for...

The whole South African machinery is intimidating - determined to iron out all kinks, the mission pre-programmed © Associated Press

Albie Morkel has been a quiet, steady ever-present through South Africa's tournament. But he is capable of bigger, more explosive things especially with the bat and this match - and potentially the next - are the best platforms for it.

Shahid Afridi's moment turned the tournament for Pakistan, an outstanding catch hastening New Zealand's collapse, and possibly himself - at least with the bat. Since then he has batted with rare sense, as everyone has wished him to, and at little expense to his strike rate. He will be a factor with the ball anyway, but if he gets going with the bat, then South Africa will panic.

Team news

Pakistan have finally settled upon what they feel is their best line-up, more by chance than design. Barring injury, there are unlikely to be any changes.

Pakistan: (probable) 1 Shahzaib Hassan, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq, 5 Younis Khan (capt), 6 Abdul Razzaq, 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Fawad Alam, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Mohammad Aamer, 11 Saeed Ajmal
Jacques Kallis will come back in for Morne Morkel after being rested for the dead game against India.

South Africa: (probable) 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Jacques Kallis, 3 Herschelle Gibbs, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 A Morkel, 7 M Boucher, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Wayne Parnell, 11 Dale Steyn
Pitch and conditions

The surface for this match is two along from the one that turned square for the South Africa-India match and is expected to be harder and offer less help for the spinners. However, the slow bowlers have had an impact throughout so are still likely to be key. Steady rain arrived in Nottingham on the practice day, but is due to clear overnight and the forecast for Thursday is fine.

Stats and Trivia

Pakistan and South Africa have six bowlers in the top 10 wicket-takers of the tournament, though Pakistanis occupy the top two spots.
Three of the top 10 run-scorers of the tournament are from South Africa and Pakistan, with AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis at numbers two and three.

Srilanka's Consistent Victory route to Semis

Sri Lanka's bowlers once again made up for their batsmen's inability to post a large total by slicing through New Zealand at Trent Bridge, securing a 48-run victory to cement their spot in the semi-finals of the World Twenty20. New Zealand challenged the target of 159 briefly but Ajantha Mendis turned the game Sri Lanka's way by dismissing Ross Taylor and Scott Styris within the space of four balls.

New Zealand began their chase brightly with Aaron Redmond biffing 20 runs off Sanath Jayasuriya's first over, the second of the innings. He blasted the ball past mid-on, carved it over cover, blazed another through extra cover before smacking the final over the long-off boundary. The versatility of the bowling, though, meant New Zealand's batsmen had to keep their wits about them and no one was able to stay long enough to cause significant damage.

Isuru Udana struck first, inducing a top-edge from Brendon McCullum to point before Lasith Malinga suckered Redmond into chipping a slower full toss to square leg. New Zealand, however, were decently placed at 64 for 2 after eight overs. Their position deteriorated rapidly in the next over. Mendis first delivered a wide ball from well behind the crease and had Ross Taylor stumped, he then beat Scott Styris' bat with a carrom ball and knocked off stump out of the ground. New Zealand had slipped to 66 for 4 and never recovered. Only Martin Guptill offered resistance, hitting the ball sweetly down the ground, during his innings of 43. The New Zealand challenge ended when he flat-batted Jayasuriya straight to the fielder at deep square leg.

Sri Lanka's bowlers had once again proved that they could make a fight of what ever total their batsmen gave them to defend. They were given 158 today, thanks to a curiously conventional innings from Tillakaratne Dilshan and substantial contributions from the experienced pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara.

Prime Numbers

2 Number of consecutive matches that a Sri Lankan opener scored a duck. Dilshan had one in the last match and Jayasuriya today.

3 Number of batsmen scoring more than 100 runs in the tournament for New Zealand. Brendon McCullum with 107 runs tops the list.

3 for 9Ajantha Mendis' bowling figures, the best by a Sri Lankan in the tournament.
34Number of fours hit by Tillakaratne Dilshan in the tournament, 12 more than the next best.
Daniel Vettori emphasized the importance of separating Sri Lanka's explosive openers early and he sought to do that by opening the bowling with the offspinner Nathan McCullum. The ploy worked immediately for Jayasuriya top-edged an attempted sweep to short fine leg, leaving Sri Lanka on 3 for 1. New Zealand's start grew better when Chamara Silva, who was promoted to No. 3, was caught at mid-on off a leading edge as he tried to close the face against Kyle Mills. Sri Lanka were losing direction at 25 for 2 when Sangakkara joined Dilshan for a 62-run stand for the third wicket. Sangakkara took the initiative, driving Ian Butler to the cover boundary off the front and back foot to begin his innings with consecutive fours. He added a third in the over by edging Butler to third man. Dilshan, who had made a scratchy start, ensured that Sri Lanka cashed in during the last over of the Powerplay. He pulled Mills to the midwicket boundary before cutting him twice through backward point for fours. Sri Lanka scored 24 off the last two Powerplay overs and got the innings back on track, reaching 51 for 2 after six overs. Dilshan, however, played neither the scoop over the wicketkeeper not the reverse swats past short fine leg, shots that have mocked the opposing captain's field placements in this tournament. Instead he resorted to more orthodox strokes - driving Scott Styris' first ball to the cover boundary - before he was caught at cover by Brendon McCullum off Vettori for 48 off 37 balls.

Sri Lanka, however, did not lose momentum after Dilshan's wicket because Jayawardene continued batting as fluently as he did against Ireland. He played his trademark inside out drives over cover, lofted a free hit from Vettori over the press box, and elegantly raced to 41 off 29 balls. His most unique shot of the day was a reverse paddle of Jacob Oram. What made it special was that Jayawardene hit the ball with the back of the bat and sent it speeding past short third man.

The result ensured Sri Lanka finished first in Group F, winning all three matches in the Super Eight. New Zealand, whose World Twenty20 campaign was blighted by a bizarre succession of injuries, exit the tournament having beaten only Ireland in the second round.

Windies hold nerve to reach semis

The experience of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided West Indies into the ICC World Twenty20 semi-finals after the top order had lost their head in a reduce chase of 80 in nine overs. A succession of wild shots meant West Indies were 45 for 5 in the sixth over, but Sarwan and Chanderpaul calmly added 37 in three overs to leave their team celebrating and the hosts going out.
Full report to follow
20 overs England 161 for 6 (Bopara 55, Pietersen 31) v West Indies
Ravi Bopara top-scored with 55, but England failed to explode during their innings

The winner moves into the semi-finals the loser goes out in this crucial contest and West Indies will be the happier side after holding England to 161 for 6. Ravi Bopara hit an elegant 55 off 47 balls and Kevin Pietersen threatened something special before being cut-off in his prime, but the innings stalled in the latter stages amid heavy showers. The middle order couldn't find the boundary until Stuart Broad closed with 10 off the final two deliveries
All was looking good for the home side as Bopara and Pietersen added 56 in thrilling style, but England's middle order has been a failure throughout the tournament with a startling lack of acceleration. There wasn't a boundary from the 11th over until Broad swept the penultimate ball for four and straight drove the final delivery six as Sulieman Benn struggled with a wet ball. To add further intrigue, the rain returned with West Indies knowing a no result will send them into the semi-final.
West Indies were dealt an early blow when Fidel Edwards was ruled out moments before the toss with a back injury, which meant Chris Gayle had to adjust his new-ball option. Instead of hitting England with pace he went with the two gentler options of Darren Sammy and Kieron Pollard and the latter struck in his first over when Luke Wright's huge top edge was well taken by Denesh Ramdin.
Wright has failed to build on his promising start to the tournament, but it's the nature of the role he plays and meant Pietersen was at the crease early. His innings started in style when he pulled his first ball dismissively through midwicket and flicked his second past short fine-leg.
Pietersen has been in bristling form during this tournament since returning from his Achilles injury and the eye-catching feature of his play has been the intent that he has begun each innings. However, anything Pietersen produced Bopara could match and two on-drives were has technically correct as you could imagine.
West Indies' ground-fielding again produced some shoddy moments and with a thin-looking attack on offer this was England's chance to amass a large total. The pair took 14 off Jerome Taylor's first over and when Lendl Simmons went for two fours off his first four deliveries the partnership was building at a rapid rate. But just when something monstrous was in the offing for Pietersen he tried to paddle Simmons over the leg side and picked out Andre Fletcher at deep square-leg. It was a shot that brought him a boundary the ball before, but it proved one risk too many.
Owais Shah began with good intent as he opened the face to pick up his first boundary through short third man and then flicked an extravagant six over fine leg against Taylor. Again, though, with another stand forming, West Indies grabbed a breakthrough when Shah was brilliantly caught at deep midwicket by a flying Fletcher as he intercepted a fiercely hit pull.
After deciding to leave out Dimitri Mascarenhas in favour of Adil Rashid, England were backing on their top order to come good and it also left them short of batsmen capable of clearing the boundary. Bopara went to his first fifty of the tournament from 43 balls but fell before a late charge when he basically missed a straight ball from Gayle.
The looming downpour then arrived, sending the players scurrying, and meant England had to start again in the final overs. Dwayne Bravo was superb at the death with his slower balls and yorkers, trapping Paul Collingwood on the sweep, and it was as though England were playing with hollow bats.
Gayle gambled on using Benn at the death and the plan worked well until the last two deliveries which just offered England a semblance of momentum. They have eight more than they managed against India, but Gayle is capable of making any target look small.

South Africa give Kallis break

Veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis will be rested for South Africa's final World Twenty20 Super Eights match against India at Trent Bridge on Tuesday. With the Proteas assured of a semi-final place, skipper Graeme Smith is keen to give Kallis, who has a minor problem with his back, a breather. "We are going to give Jacques a rest, because he has a sore back - so we will get him right for Thursday (semi-finals) and (fast bowler) Morne Morkel is going to come in for him," said Smith. Kallis is currently the tournament's top run-scorer. Smith added: "In terms of our batting line-up, everyone will slide up a place one - and Herschelle (Gibbs) will come up front (to open). "From that perspective, it will give everyone a good opportunity to play well. The top four have really laid the platform - so guys like JP Duminy, Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel might get a really good go."

England knock timid India out of the WC

That is that for India. The most glamorous team is knocked out and with a close defeat, there will be numerous points to ponder over and different people will come up with different points in the game that resulted in this 3 run defeat. Ishant Sharma's expensive spell, Jadeja's innings of the early 90s ODI mould, Dhoni's inability to get the big shots going et al. But the margin of three runs takes my head to that one particular delivery. Three extra runs were given away by India off what would have been the last ball of the England innings had it not been a wide. It was fired outside the leg stump by Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh charged in to stop an unstoppable single, only to fumble and let it go to the fine leg fence. What could have been 2 wides, was 5 wides and perhaps, when this match is seen under the microscope, it was that microscopic slip up that made the ultimate difference.

Dhoni defends batting order

India captain MS Dhoni accepted the blame for India's exit from the ICC World Twenty20 but called it an overall team failure. "We stand up and say we didn't perform well as a team," a dejected Dhoni said after the defending champions crashed out following a three-run defeat to England.

This was India's second straight loss at Lord's in the Super Eights, the previous one coming against the West Indies. Dhoni sent England in to bat and, though the hosts set a par target of 154, India's batting failed to cope with the pressure and the asking rate. "We stopped them at a decent score. But we don't have a practical excuse. Our performance was not up to the mark," he said.

However the controversial issue at the press conference, which went on for 26 minutes, was the elevation of Ravindra Jadeja. Playing his first game of the tournament, he walked in at No. 4 and finished with 25 off 35 balls. Dhoni explained that Yuvraj Singh, who had scored a brilliant 67 against the West Indies, was the natural choice but he didn't want Yuvraj to keep walking out to a pressure situation - yet that's exactly the situation he faced.

"We expected Jadeja to play a few overs and stabilise the innings and then we could go after their bowling," Dhoni said. "We never really wanted the run-rate to increase to around 9-9.5. He [Jadeja] was still playing his shots but the short balls were bowled really well at him. The run rate climbed from there and the momentum shifted to their side."

By the time Yusuf Pathan walked in to join Dhoni India needed 67 off the last six overs. It was never going to be an easy task especially when the ball was reversing. "By the time Yusuf and I came together it was too late as the ball was reversing and it was difficult for even Yusuf to hit."
Jadeja's inclusion for this match was a surprise as it came at the expense of Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner who had been impressive through the tournament. Dhoni said the aim was to strength the batting without having to lose a fast-bowling option with RP Singh also replacing Irfan Pathan.

"We were looking at the combination and at the same time we were looking to chase. In the 2007 World Twenty20 we batted deep down, so we wanted depth in batting," Dhoni said. "He [Jadeja] is an excellent fielder, he can bat well and bowling-wise he did the job. It also allowed us to pick another fast bowler so it actually increased the overall strength of the side." The result, though, suggested otherwise.

Not for the first time, Dhoni added that fielding was another key area where there was room for improvement after showing problems through the tournament. "Fielding is an area we need to work on. This was the best side with our best fielders. We can't complain but we can definitely improve."

The final game with South Africa is now a dead rubber, but Dhoni tried to play down the importance of India going out early and already had one eye on next year's World Twenty20 in West Indies. "This loss is disappointing but the loss in the 2007 ODI World Cup was the worst loss of my career," he said.

"Cricket never tests your character when you are doing well, it always test you when you are not doing well both as an individual and as a team. It is a testing time for us. It is not the end of the road for us - we are going to the West Indies shortly and we can repair the damage."

Teams have worked India out - Rajput

India will have to quickly come up with a new Twenty20 gameplan, particularly against the rising ball, to stay in the top bracket of the game's shortest format, Lalchand Rajput, who coached the 2007 cup-winning side, has warned. Rajput said the biggest difference between then and now is that other teams had caught up with India over the last two years, largely due to the experience their players have gained in the two IPL seasons since then.

Rajput described India's knockout from the ICC World Twenty20 on Sunday as "disheartening" and said the two straight defeats against West Indies and England in the Super Eights stage had "hurt a lot" personally. He also said that talk of a rift between Dhoni and an injured Virender Sehwag appeared to have affected the players and added that Sehwag's loss impacted the team's performance.

"Most of the teams have worked out what they need to do against India," Rajput told Cricinfo. "Just look at how West Indies and England worked on their bouncers against India. They did that very well because they knew that some of our players were not comfortable against the bouncing ball. They used that weapon very well, which is difficult to do in this format. So we should give credit to England and West Indies. Most of the foreign players in World Twenty20 have also played two seasons of IPL. So all the other teams have got a hang of Twenty20, and there's better planning in place this time on what should be done and what should not be. India will have to be watchful now and come up with something different."

Talk of a rift within the team did not help matters either, Rajput said. "Such issues play a bit of a role in the minds of the players," he said. "This time, to start with, there was talk of a rift between Viru [Sehwag] and Dhoni. Then the team got together to show their strength in front of the media. The media also had a role to play. These things were also causes for the team's performance."

Dhoni had lined up the entire team before the Indian media during a pre-tournament press conference following reports over a rift between the captain and his opening batsman. The reports suggested the captain was upset with Sehwag for not revealing the extent of his shoulder injury that finally ruled him out of the tournament - Dhoni has repeatedly denied this.
Sehwag's absence was a huge blow, Rajput said. "Sehwag's absence was definitely felt because he is a match-winner," he said. "He is a destroyer of bowling attacks. Once he gets going, the bowling looks so easy, and he puts so much pressure on the opposite team. His absence must have hurt the team."

Rajput, however, dismissed suggestions that mental fatigue and pressure might have contributed to the team's dismal performance. Gary Kirsten, the team's coach, and Dilip Vengsarkar, the former chief selector, had admitted last month that they were concerned about "mental fatigue" and "overkill" as the team had been on the road since February 20 when they left for the New Zealand tour followed by the IPL. "There will always be pressure, especially during a big event like the World Cup," Rajput said. "This time the expectations were very high. But we should not forget that the other teams have also come up very well. The fatigue factor has been the same for all teams because most of their players played in the IPL, except for the Australians."

Asked about Sunday's loss, India's second straight defeat in the Super Eights, Rajput said that not playing Yuvraj Singh at No. 4 was a mistake, especially after he had scored 67 off 43 balls in that position against West Indies on Friday.

"Decisions are analysed only after the team has done badly," he said. "But I would have preferred Yuvraj coming in at No. 4. That would have made a difference because he was in really good nick in the last game [against West Indies]. Of course, this is all in hindsight. But Ravindra Jadeja took a number of balls [25 off 35 balls] against England while Yuvraj could have done better and got going by then."

According to Rajput, the first step for India now is to beat South Africa, which has been the best team in the tournament so far. "The loss is past, and the team has to think about the present," Rajput said. "The team now has to focus on beating South Africa and salvage their pride.

Remember, that we beat South Africa in the second stage of the 2007 World Cup. When you are out of a tournament, the body language goes down because they know that they can't qualify for the semi-finals. So this is the time they have to raise their body language, and start believing that they can beat the best team in the tournament, which is South Africa."

Rajput was India's coach for nearly a year from the England tour of 2007 till the Australia tour that ended with the VB series win in early 2008. He bridged the gap after the controversial exit of Greg Chappell in April 2007 and the arrival of Gary Kirsten in March 2008. India's Twenty20 World Cup win was the team's biggest achievement in that period when they travelled to South Africa, the venue, as rank outsiders without the burden of expectations.

Rajput said it was "different this time" but he still couldn't accept the fact that the defending champions had been knocked out so early. "It is a very disheartening experience," he said. "I can't take it because we won the title last time and I was looking forward to the team defending that title. What hurt me was the way we went out. I expected the team to qualify for the semi-finals at least. Going out in the Super Eights stage itself has hurt a lot. India didn't deserve to be out of the tournament because they were the favourites to win it."

Familar foes fight for semi spot

England could still reach the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty20. It's almost worth repeating, so implausible does it sound. After beating the defending champions, India, at a packed Lord's on Sunday, a straight play-off between England and West Indies beckons south of the Thames, the winner of which will be confirmed semi-finalists. The defeat to the Dutch suddenly seems an awfully long time ago.

At the halfway point, few who witnessed England's staccato innings of 153 for 7 would have believed it could be defended against a side containing Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni. But, like West Indies did in their seven-wicket win, England bowled aggressive lengths and exposed an alarming technical weakness in India's top-order, namely their fear of anything short. England's overall superior fielding - bar a horrible fumble by Stuart Broad in the penultimate over, not for the first time - also made a difference, as it could against West Indies too.

Tomorrow's match, as crucial as it is, pits arguably two of cricket's most deceptively inconsistent teams against one another. Who honestly knows which West Indies side will wake up tomorrow? Outstanding with the bat to beat India two days ago, they were shocked into submission against South Africa 24 hours later, aggrieved and petulant, perhaps understandably, at playing a crucial match just 15 hours after their last.

England, beware. Chris Gayle is, predictably, in terrifying form in a format he actually enjoys, but it's one of their youngsters, Lendl Simmons, who is offering exuberance and raw talent with the bat, as well as improving their fielding. He top-scored with 77 in their defeat to South Africa; the next highest score came from Sulieman Benn with 13 hacked runs at No.10. For all West Indies' undoubted ability at one-day level, they remain a side as brittle as glass but who, on their day, play like champions.

On an Oval pitch that has offered scores of 183, 185 and 211, runs ought to flow, but whether England can maintain the intensity they showed with the ball could decide who prospers tomorrow. With Ryan Sidebottom suddenly rediscovering the venom which made him so dangerous, England's attack looks the tastier on paper. It is a scenario as mouth-watering as it is unlikely.

Form guide
(last five matches, most recent first)England WLWLLEngland keep winning when they have to, following the insipid performance against South Africa with their impressive show against India. Now they need to string two performances together.
West Indies LWLWWWest Indies' form has almost been as up-and-down as England and they came unstuck against the red-hot South Africa. The last time the two met in a Twenty20 international in Trinidad, West Indies won easily.

Watch out for...
West Indies' batting line-up is about more than just Chris Gayle but he is the focus of most of the attention. Since his 88 off 50 balls against Australia he hasn't fired, having sat out the game against Sri Lanka and struggled against India and South Africa. On Saturday he revealed he needs ankle surgery, but is battling through the pain for his team. He isn't a fan of running at the best of times, so it could just motivate him to hit more boundaries. England beware.
Ryan Sidebottom wasn't going to play against India before a late change of plan had him replacing Adil Rashid, yet he walked away with the Man-of-the-Match award. It has been a long battle for Sidebottom to get his place back after an injury-hit year, but his pace is up at decent levels again and England's attack certainly looks stronger with him as one of the fast-bowling trio.

Team news
There doesn't seem much need for England to change a winning team, although the batting order will be interesting after Dimitri Mascarenhas was promoted with limited effect. Picking four specialist, experienced bowlers is the way to go with a semi-final place up for grabs.
England (probable) 1 Ravi Bopara, 2 Luke Wright, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood (capt), 6 Dimitri Mascarenhas, 7 James Foster (wk), 8 Graeme Swann, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Ryan Sidebottom, 11 James Anderson.

West Indies have a settled line-up after the successful return of Lendl Simmons at the expense of Xavier Marshall in recent games. Making up the overs for the fourth and fifth bowlers can prove an issue, but Kieron Pollard's all-round skills should keep him in the side.
West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Andre Fletcher, 3 Lendl Simmons, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Jerome Taylor, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Fidel Edwards.
Stats and Trivia

Familiarity could breed contempt for the two sides as this will be their 18th meeting (including the T20 warm-up) since February.
England and West Indies have played two previous Twenty20s in this country, both at The Oval, and it finished 1-1 in 2007.