The Indian women’s team finished an unsatisfying third in the 50-over World Cup in Australia after being finalists four years ago, and heads to England for the first women’s World Twenty20 with fewer expectations and less pressure than it did during the trip Down Under.

India were expected to be one of the top contenders in Australia; however, the highlight of a disappointing tour was a third place play-off win over the hosts. Three months on, things are different: None of the women’s teams have played a lot of Twenty20; New Zealand have played the most – 12, England 11, Australia 10 and India 2, so there is little past form to go by.

India have prepared for the tournament with selection matches and practice games against Under-17 boys in Bangalore. Sudha Shah, the coach, said the players worked on their fielding, playing combinations and on avoiding dot balls. “We have a very balanced side with experienced and young players,” Shah said a day before the team’s departure to England. “We have one of the best bowling attacks. Gouher [Sultana, left-arm spinner] has been bowling well in her first few series and Priyanka [Roy, legspinner] was our highest wicket-taker in the World Cup.”

Jhulan Goswami, India’s captain, was also upbeat about her side’s chances and didn’t believe Australia and New Zealand, who have power-hitters in their line-up, had an edge over the others. “They are taller and fitter than us”, Goswami said. “[But] Power is not everything, you need to play with your mind. If you’re mentally strong you can beat them and we are confident about ourselves.”

The success of their most senior batsmen – Anjum Chopra and Mithali Raj – in England is to India’s advantage. Chopra, who has scored a century and two half-centuries in 13 ODIs in England, is expected to contribute in a big way. “I think things should work to my advantage even though I wasn’t comfortable with Twenty20 initially,” Chopra said. “I really like it now and it’s like all our cricketing knowledge has been condensed into a smallish format. Since it’s shorter probably the wickets will come into play but at the end of the day you have to hit the ball. Twenty20 may be a new format but I would still think it’s best to play cricketing strokes. I know the aim is to hit the ball hard but not without timing.”

Chopra pinpointed fielding and running between the wickets as areas where India needed to improve. “In this format we need to be always looking to take singles and also not to concede any.”

Raj also said the changes she was forced make while batting in Twenty20 had made her uncomfortable at first but it was something she was getting used to. “I think for someone who is fluent in cricketing shots, this change can be difficult,” Raj said. “You realise that you need to find other ways of scoring which will get you more runs than what you usually rely on.”

Over the next few weeks it will become clear whether a level playing field will work in India’s favour, and whether they can return to the glory days of 2005 when they qualified for the World Cup final, and subsequently enjoyed a series of other successes.

Nishi Narayanan is a staff writer at Cricinfo

India 159 for 1 (Rohit 80, Gambhir 52*) beat Pakistan 158 for 6 (Misbah 37*, Younis 32, Ishant 1-11) by nine wickets…

India underlined their status as ICC World Twenty20 favourites with a crushing nine-wicket win over Pakistan at The Oval.

A ruthless performance with the bat allowed India to cruise to their target of 159 with 18 balls to spare.

Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir scored 80 and 52 respectively to beat Pakistan, who had been looking to avenge their 2007 final defeat against their rivals.

Pakistan had earlier looked to be in a strong position after they picked apart India’s pace attack of RP Singh and Praveen Kumar.

Misbah ul Haq (37 not out) and Yasir Arafat (25 not out) smashed 45 off 27 balls after Ahmed Shahzad (25) and Kamran Akmal (19) had set them on their way.

Younus Khan also chipped in with a quickfire 32 before being removed by Harbhajan Singh.

But India set about chasing their opponents’ total in emphatic fashion with Sharma and Gambhir giving the 23,000 sell-out crowd a masterclass in destructive strokeplay.

Yasir Arafat took particular punishment as he was dispatched for 25 off his opening three overs.

Umar Gul was also made to pay for his wayward bowling and was hit to the boundary four times before being hauled off by Younus after just two overs.

Younus changed his attack but neither of the four new bowlers, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Aamer, could stop Sharma and Gambhir from finding the boundary and racing towards the Pakistan total.

The pair brought up the 100 off 71 balls with Sharma reaching his 50 in the 11th over off just 37 deliveries.

India were scoring at more than eight an over by the time Sharma pulled Afridi over midwicket for six to take the score to 116-0.

Aamer then got the breakthrough in the 17th over when his short ball was mis-timed by Sharma, who sent the ball high into the air before being caught brilliantly by Shahzad at mid-wicket.

Gambhir reached his 50 in the 17th over before he and MS Dhoni steered India to victory.

Netherlands 130 for 3 (Kervezee 62, Zuiderent 46) beat Scotland 128 for 9 (Coetzer 39, Seelaar 3-25, Schiferli 3-33) by seven wickets…

In contrast to their previous game – a tie followed by defeat in the one-over eliminator against Ireland – Netherlands were clinical with ball and, to a lesser degree, with bat, executing a seven-wicket victory in their warm-up game against Scotland at the Oval. Alexei Kervezee led a calm chase, never letting the asking-rate get out of hand, and his century stand with Bas Zuiderent shut out Scotland. There was a moment of anxiety in the final over, when Zuiderent was dismissed, but Dan van Bunge hit the winning boundary with three balls to spare.

Netherlands’ victory, ahead of the tournament’s opening game against England on Friday, was set up by their bowlers, who performed impressively for the second game in a row. Dirk Nannes has proved extremely difficult for the Associate batsmen to score off and he conceded only 13 runs, although he did not take a wicket. Edgar Schiferli and Pieter Seelaar weren’t as economical but took three wickets each to trip up Scotland’s batsmen.

While Nannes was miserly, bowling 16 dot balls, his new-ball partner Schiferli made the breakthroughs. He sent Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton’s off stump cart-wheeling with his third ball, but he had overstepped. Not discouraged by his error, Schiferli had Hamilton miscuing a loft to mid-off in his second over. He picked up a wicket in each of his last two overs to finish with 3 for 33.

There were a fair number of people at The Oval for a match between two Associates and most of them were Asian, eagerly awaiting the ICC’s ‘Catch the Spirit’ clash between India and Pakistan later in the evening. The weather, which has been gloriously sunny over the last few days, had unfortunately turned cloudy and chilly, and the fans had a few hits to cheer as well.

Scotland’s batsmen hit only one six – Colin Smith hitting Schiferli over the long-off boundary before holing out to long-on the very next ball – between them and the innings’ top-scorer was Kyle Coetzer, who held up one end during the middle overs with 39 off 28 balls. Coetzer was done in by a well-flighted delivery from Seelaar which left him stranded outside his crease. Seelaar went on take two more wickets to finish with 3 for 25, his second consecutive three-wicket haul, and treated the crowd to his curious swaying-in-the-wind celebration.

Netherlands lost Darron Reekers in the first over of their chase, caught at mid-off, but that was their only setback for the next 15 overs. Zuiderent, who made his international debut as a teenager in the 1996 World Cup, and Kervezee, added 105 runs for the second wicket, denying Scotland the quick wickets needed to defend a small total. They took few risks, focusing on rotating strike, waiting patiently for the boundary opportunity from the bowlers.

Zuiderent and Kervezee hit only a six each and scored at about a run-a-ball. Kervezee was eventually caught and bowled by Majid Haq for 62, with 18 runs required, but Zuiderent ensured that Netherlands did not suffer any more losses until the final over, when he holed out while trying to hit down the ground. van Bunge came in and clouted his first ball to the long-off boundary to kill the possibility of another one-over eliminator.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

England 145 for 1 (Wright 75*, Bopara 60) beat West Indies 144 for 6 (Sarwan 46*) by nine wickets

England finally settled on their opening partnership to lead them into the ICC World Twenty tournament after Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara smashed them to a nine-wicket warm-up victory over West Indies at Lord’s.

Since playing their inaugural Twenty20 international against Australia four years ago, England have tried 11 different pairings at the top of the order with little success in 15 matches.

But in their final warm-up match before the start of the tournament on Friday, Wright and Bopara settled any issues with a 119-run stand off only 76 balls to secure a thrashing.

It was a brutal response to West Indies’ total of 144-6, which they passed with 32 balls remaining, and provided the most emphatic signal of intent by an England side growing in confidence and belief that they can upset expectations and challenge in this tournament.

Their display was all the more remarkable because there were doubts whether Sussex all-rounder Wright, who finished unbeaten on 75 from 48 balls, was best suited at the top of the order and if his clean hitting would be better towards the end of the innings.

Those questions were answered in style after Wright overcome eight deliveries without scoring at the start of his innings to hit eight fours and five sixes, including three successive sixes off Kieron Pollard during an over which cost 22.

ICC regulations state none of the warm-up matches for this tournament are regarded as full internationals which leaves Wright’s 65-run partnership with Phil Mustard in Christchurch last year as England’s highest opening stand in a Twenty20 international.

But their dominance over West Indies tonight was so complete that it would be a surprise if do not overhaul it during the next few weeks of this tournament if England are able to sustain a challenge into the latter stages.

Essex all-rounder Bopara was the driving force at the start of England’s innings as Wright struggled for timing and fluency and hit Dwayne Bravo for three fours in an over.

But once Wright found his timing he delivered a brilliantly destructive innings, scoring his 31 runs off 11 balls to reach his half-century shortly before his opening partner.

Bopara, dropped on 29 by Sulieman Benn at mid-wicket off Bravo, finally holed out in the deep for a brilliant 60 off 35 balls, a setback which only seemed to strengthen Wright’s determination to finish the job off as quickly as possible.

Their performances justified England’s decision to give them a second successive run out together rather than look at Kent’s Rob Key, who sat out the Scotland match on the previous day, and decide on their best option for Friday’s opening match against Holland.

England’s faith was also rewarded in 21-year-old leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who had been hammered for 31 runs in only three overs during the six wickets triumph over Scotland at Trent Bridge, but responded to his inclusion today with a far more impressive display.

Yorkshire prospect Rashid began nervously again when he was introduced in the seventh over of West Indies’ innings and bowled a leg-side wide with his first delivery, but quickly found the right line and length to claim 1-20 from his four overs.

Rashid made an impact from an early stage of the game, helping to run out opener Andre Fletcher when he backed up to far with his throw from third man in the fifth over and Pollard ran himself out in his first over.

He built on that success by claiming the key scalp of all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who was caught at long on trying to hit over the top after becoming frustrated by Rashid’s accuracy.

His impressive spell capped another eye-catching display from England in the field as they build up to Friday’s opening match of the tournament against Holland at Lord’s.

West Indies would have been encouraged by an impressive unbeaten 46 off 34 balls from Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was batting at No 6 to give other players experience of batting up the order, which guided them to a respectable total.

Their line-up was also weakened by captain Chris Gayle, their most influential Twenty20 player, sitting out the match to allow Denesh Ramdin to lead the side in his absence, but he was unable to change the fortunes of a side who have lost every completed match against England on this tour.

South Africa 113 for 4 (Gibbs 48) beat Sri Lanka 109 for 9 (Botha 2-9, Kallis 2-12)…

The South Africans got home with five balls to spare despite only being asked to chase 110 after a dramatic early collapse in the Asian team’s innings.

Sri Lanka had to get early wickets and Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekera duly obliged by striking in each of their first overs to remove Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis cheaply.

South Africa had reached only 38-2 at the halfway stage although their paltry target meant they were still in the match.

Runs became easier to come by as a partnership between Herschelle Gibbs (48) and AB de Villiers (32) developed into a match-winning alliance of 70 before the latter fell to leave another 33 to get off 30 balls.

Gibbs fell with 14 needed but JP Duminy (12 not out) and Mark Boucher (8 not out) saw their team through with little fuss.

Sri Lanka’s innings never fully recovered from an early blast from pace bowler Dale Steyn, who finished with 2-14 from his four overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan dispatched Steyn over midwicket for six off the third ball of the innings before he was caught driving to cover next delivery.

Steyn struck again in his next over when he trapped Sanath Jayasuriya leg-before, as the left-hander attempted to work the ball away on the leg-side. Another wicket fell at the end of the same over when Jehan Mubarak was smartly run out by Gibbs as he went for a quick single into the covers.

When spin was introduced Mahela Jayawardena’s reverse-sweep went horribly awry as he was bowled through his legs by Johan Botha.

Wicketkeeper Boucher then took a fine one-handed catch diving to his right as Chamara Silva dabbed Kallis tentatively outside off-stump.

Botha came around the wicket to Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara (17) and had a vociferous appeal for leg before upheld as the left-hander played back.

Indika de Saram then skied Kallis to Smith at mid-off to leave the innings in tatters at 44-7.

Angelo Mathews (28) and Farveez Maharoof (11) restored a semblance of respectability for the batting side in a stand of 31 before the latter was caught on the boundary off pace man Wayne Parnell.

Kulasekara (24 not out) helped Mathews take the Sri Lankans close to three figures before the latter fell in the last over.

Kulasekera then took 10 off Albie Morkel’s last two balls to ensure his team avoided the ignominy of failing to reach 100.

Australia 151 for 3 (Ponting 56, Clarke 49*) beat New Zealand 147 (Styris 42, Johnson 4-20) by seven wickets…

Australia executed a perfectly-paced chase to brush aside New Zealand by seven wickets in their warm-up match at The Oval. Ponting led the way with a brisk half-century and received support from his deputy Michael Clarke who remained unbeaten to ensure victory was secured in the final over.

There was good news on the bowling front too with Mitchell Johnson taking 4 for 20 while Brett Lee bowled with hostility and took 1 for 9 off 3.5 overs. Their new-ball partnership left New Zealand’s top-order in shreds at 21 for 5 and it needed a feisty recovery from Scott Styris and Peter McGlashan, who was playing Australia for the first time, to set a respectable target.

Australia made a near-perfect start, with Lee and Johnson snaring the New Zealand openers in consecutive overs. There were an astonishing number of dot balls as both bowlers passed the bat with regularity. The New Zealand batsmen’s efforts to break free failed – Martin Guptill holed out after striking one boundary, as did Ross Taylor after hitting three fours in a row. Jacob Oram’s dismissal – run out without facing a ball – hurt New Zealand further but they recovered to 147 thanks to the depth of their batting line-up.

Australia also bat deep – Lee is slotted at No. 10 – but their lower order wasn’t tested on the day. They too suffered a minor hiccup at the start, losing both Shane Watson and David Warner within the space of five balls to James Franklin, but Ponting and Clarke prevented any further damage. They planned the chase masterfully, picking up singles and twos with regularity, chipping away at the asking-rate and then reducing it dramatically with the odd boundary.

Tim Nielsen, the Australia coach, was pleased with his team’s effort and said that they were improving with every game.

“Brett and Mitchell almost put the game to sleep in the first six overs. Then we chased the score down sensibly,” he said. “It is nice to turn the competitive juices on in a game situation.

“You can never replicate that in training no matter how hard you do it, so to play against another country gets the adrenaline going and some good stuff happened because of the competitive environment.”

He reserved special praise for Johnson, whose four economical wickets cut through New Zealand. “He is just starting to get some condition about him,” Nielsen said. “He has just come off a month in Perth, where he has been doing some work in the gym. He was beaming last night because of the fact he thought his rhythm was there and the ball was coming out fast without him trying hard.

“That’s always a good indication. It is always about three or four runs in that he bowls at his best and he is only two runs in at the moment.”

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

England 141 for 4 (Pietersen 53*) beat Scotland 136 for 5 (Smith 45) by six wickets…

If England had intended to lay down a marker in their penultimate fixture before the start of the ICC World Twenty20, this was not it. They duly beat the part-timers of Scotland by six wickets with an over to spare, with Kevin Pietersen allaying any lingering concerns about his fitness with a sparky performance in the field and a matchwinning 53 from 39 balls. But either side of his efforts, England were as flat as the atmosphere on a balmy evening in Nottingham. They lacked penetration with the ball, and at times were numbingly naïve with the bat. But at least they avoided humiliation, and that for the moment will have to do.

England did manage to finish with something of a flourish – Pietersen flogged the final ball of the match for six to bring up his half-century, having added 49 in 5.4 overs with Eoin Morgan, whose former team-mates, Ireland, have not had this much trouble in seeing off the Scots in recent months. At first, Morgan wasn’t required to do much more than hand the strike back to his partner, although as the winning post drew nearer, he unfurled a few of his trademark hurling strokes to finish on 23 not out from 17.

Up until that partnership, however, England struggled to make headway against a side that had been beset by off-field problems in the build-up to this tournament. Luke Wright epitomised England’s strange lack of clarity, as he fretted his way to 19 from 18 balls in his first England appearance since September 2008. Opening the innings with little domestic form to fall back on, he was horrendously dropped on 9 by his namesake, Craig, at mid-on, before picking out the diminutive Majid Haq with a similar stroke two overs later.

It was with the ball, however, that Haq really laid into England. Ravi Bopara had begun to bat with his customary sparkle in reaching 32 from 29 balls, but he gave his start away with a slog to long-off, whereupon Owais Shah drilled a wristy drive straight into Callum McLeod’s midriff at short cover for a first-ball duck.

Scotland turned to spin at both ends, with Ryan Watson so nearly compounding the collapse when, first, Pietersen survived an agonisingly tight appeal for lbw, then two balls later, Collingwood poked tentatively at a length ball, and chipped a leading edge into no-man’s land at silly point. On 7, Collingwood survived a stumping opportunity when Haq speared one down the leg-side, and his dire innings ended two balls (and another half-chance) later, when Fraser Watts made good ground at long-off to give Gordon Drummond a wicket with his second delivery.

But Pietersen endured, and so long as he was at the crease, the situation was never quite critical. He started tentatively with 7 from 13 balls, but a vast blow off Watson landed in the top tier of the stands at long-on to transform his momentum. A well-placed four past point followed in the same over, before Haq was subjected to a superlative pummel through extra cover. Pietersen then stepped across his stumps to clip Drummond through midwicket to haul the asking rate below seven an over. Only at that point was the result a foregone conclusion.

England’s lacklustre day had started in the field, where, with James Anderson and Graeme Swann both resting minor niggles, they lacked a killer instinct. Scotland, however, lacked the firepower to make them pay for their reticence, even though Colin Smith did his best with a handy 45 from 32 balls.

Scotland’s fortunes have been in freefall ever since they failed to reach the 2011 World Cup in the in qualifying tournament in South Africa earlier this year. Though they saved their one-day status by the skin of their teeth, the ramifications were clear for all to see when their veteran seamer, John Blain, stormed out of the camp on the eve of the competition following a bust-up with his captain, Gavin Hamilton.

Hamilton memorably scored more runs for Scotland at the 1999 World Cup (217) than any player in England’s ill-starred campaign, and a decade on from that performance, he showed glimpses of his past glories in a run-a-ball 20, including a clean slap for six back over Dimitri Mascarenhas’s head. By that stage, however, Mascarenhas – armed with the new ball – had already struck the first blow for England, when Watts tried to slog a length delivery over long-off, but instead had his off and middle stumps demolished.

At the end of the Powerplays, England turned to their surprise selection, Adil Rashid, who had been called into the squad late as a replacement for Andrew Flintoff, despite having played a minimal role in Yorkshire’s Twenty20 Cup campaign. In Swann’s absence, it was a handy opportunity to assess Rashid’s temperament, and though he started nervily with a series of full-tosses, he nevertheless struck with his fifth delivery, when Hamilton got underneath a slog-sweep and picked out Wright at deep midwicket.

At the other end, Pietersen’s offspin was brought into the attack, which in front of a disappointingly sparse crowd, lent the atmosphere something of an exhibition feel. Smith and Kyle Coetzer soon gave England something to think about, however, with a flurry of boundaries including three sixes in five balls, as they put together an enterprising stand of 62 in 6.4 overs.

Their performance was punctuated by a lucky let-off for Coetzer on 22, when James Foster gathered brilliantly way outside off stump to create what should have been Rashid’s second wicket of the innings. Foster was one of the few unqualified successes for England, but with no TV replays in this match, he was denied a second mention in the scorebook when he threw down the stumps with Ryan Watson short of his crease. He did, however, earn an assist from the penultimate ball of the innings, as Stuart Broad prevented Neil McCallum from stealing a bye in a final over that went for only two runs.

For much of the innings, England persisted with their medium-pacers, and Collingwood cut down the scoring options with a series of accurate offcutters. He eventually ended Coetzer’s enterprising stand when Pietersen plucked a simple chance on the long-on boundary, and three overs later he added the scalp of Smith as well. Becalmed by the departure of Coetzer, Smith added only seven singles to his own score before climbing into Collingwood and sending a steepling top-edge straight back to the bowler.

The lack of penetration in England’s bowling was a concern, although Ryan Sidebottom – in his latest comeback from injury – gave a reminder of the reasons why the England management rate him so highly, bowling full and swinging late to concede only 19 runs in his four overs. With Swann and Anderson waiting in the wings, the team surely has more wicket-taking options for later contests. It’s fair to say, they will need them.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo

Sri Lanka 152 for 6 (Jayawardene 43, Shakib 2-18) beat Bangladesh 151 for 6 (Raqibul 38*, Mushfiqur 34) by four wickets. Sri Lanka came close to suffering surprise defeat in their opening warm-up match for the World Twenty20 before securing a four-wicket victory…

Sri Lanka came close to suffering surprise defeat in their opening warm-up match for the World Twenty20 before securing a four-wicket victory over Bangladesh.

Chasing Bangladesh’s total of 151 for six, Sri Lanka looked set to underline their credentials as potential winners when they raced to 112 for three in 13 overs.

But their innings lost all momentum between the 13th and 17th overs, during which period they added only five runs and lost two wickets – included Mahela Jayawardene for 43 – and it needed a wide with two balls remaining to clinch victory.

Having rested two key members of their side – prolific spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and strike bowler Lasith Malinga – Sri Lanka dominated Bangladesh throughout their innings despite using eight different bowlers.

It took a determined 70-run partnership off 55 balls between Mushfiqur Rahim and Raqibul Hasan to ensure Bangladesh reached a respectable total in their second match in as many days at Trent Bridge.

Sri Lanka debutant Isuru Udana earlier claimed the key scalps of Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful and Mahmudullah, both smartly caught behind by Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara in the space of three balls.

Rahim and Raqibul enabled Bangladesh to a competitive score, only for Sri Lanka’s powerful top order to lay the platform for what should have been a comfortable triumph.

The loss of four wickets in five overs, just as Sri Lanka sensed victory, stalled their progress, however, with left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan impressing with 2-18 from four overs.

Jehan Mubarak finally regained the momentum for Sri Lanka by hitting successive fours in the 18th over of the innings, bowled by seamer Mashrafe Mortaza, before falling to the next delivery, leaving Chamara Silva and Angelo Mathews to secure an unconvincing win.

Sangakkara confirmed afterwards that his team’s return to the international stage is a tentative step in the right direction, following the attack on their team bus during a Test in Lahore in March.

He predicts security will continue to be a major issue not just for Sri Lanka but all international cricket teams.

“Since Lahore, we’ve accepted the fact that there is never a 100% guarantee,” he said. “But we have to move on and play cricket. That is what we’re here for, and that is what we’ll be doing.

“We’ve got to have that mental strength and fortitude to get on with our business, not just for us but for all teams.

“In the current world climate, security will be an issue – in some countries more than others. Worldwide, there is a threat.”

Sangakkara has been happy so far with security measures – and was satisfied too with his team’s performance on the pitch.

“We probably should have finished it with maybe one over or nine balls to spare,” he conceded. “But it just goes to show if you play a couple of overs in a negative mode you get back into that chasing frame of mind.”

Shakib, who revealed he is hoping to join an English county in the near future – pending negotiations between his agent and prospective employers – conceded Bangladesh still have work to do.

“We did well to recover after our poor start with the bat – and then we bowled very well,” he said. “But our fielding is not up to the mark yet. We need to learn from these warm-up games and we will.”

Source: ECB

West Indies 134 for 1 (Gayle 88*) beat Ireland 130 for 7 (Bray 30, Benn 2-24) by 9 wickets…

Captain Chris Gayle led the way with 88 not out off 56 balls as his team got home with four overs to spare.
Openers Gayle and Andre Fletcher began their pursuit of 131 at a steady pace but there was no need to take undue risks with such a small target.

Kyle McCallan made the breakthrough when Fletcher (19) top-edged to third man but Gayle then hit the off-spinner for a six and a four in his next over, during which time the left-hander brought up a 35-ball 50. Gayle then took another two maximums from the slow bowler in this third over.

The West Indies skipper was given useful support by Ramnaresh Sarwan, in an unbeaten stand of 79 for the second wicket, and it was the latter who ended the contest at the conclusion of the 16th over when he pulled John Mooney to the boundary.

Ireland had earlier made 130-7 after winning the toss and electing to bat.

Captain Will Porterfield (5) suffered a second failure (on the back of his brief innings against Netherlands the previous day) when he edged Fidel Edwards to point in the second over.

Niall O’Brien (22), who was rested against the Dutch, quickly got into his stride but couldn’t provide the substantial total his side needed as he pulled Dwayne Bravo to midwicket.

Left-arm spinner Suleiman Benn then struck in successive overs to keep the Irish in check, including top scorer Jeremy Bray, who yorked himself and was bowled for 30.

Kevin O’Brien (20) and John Mooney (23) chipped in with useful contributions but their total was never likely to trouble the potentially explosive West Indian batting line-up.

New Zealand 170 for 7 (Taylor 41, McCullum 31, Franklin 27*, Ishant 4-25) beat India 161 for 6 (Raina 45, Jadeja 41*, Vettori 3-24) by nine runs…

New Zealand’s unbeaten record against India in Twenty20s continued today by beating the world champions by nine runs in their warm-up outing at Lord’s. Several New Zealand batsmen chipped in with aggressive contributions to post an imposing total which their bowlers, led by the reliable Daniel Vettori, defended tenaciously against a powerful Indian batting line-up.

The India team had faced questions regarding fatigue and fitness because of their players’ involvement in the lengthy IPL and they took the field without Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. Yuvraj Singh also did not play a part in the match although he was on the team sheet. However, it was because of the batsmen that performed in the IPL – Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja – that India challenged New Zealand’s total of 170.

Sharma, who opened with Gautam Gambhir, slotted seamlessly into his new role and attacked from the outset against Iain O’Brien. With an extravagant follow through, Sharma deposited the ball into the stands at midwicket, pierced the in-field at point again, and launched the ball over long-off to take 18 runs off O’Brien’s second over. The Indian fans had been gathering from the latter stages of the Ireland-Netherlands match, making themselves heard whenever the players were shown on the giant screen and now were shouting themselves hoarse.

Through all the excitement, though, Gambhir remained almost unnoticed, catching the attention only when he spooned Ian Butler to Martin Guptill at extra cover. India, however, raced to 55 in six overs and New Zealand needed more to curb the momentum. Vettori duly did the needful. He slipped one down the leg side as MS Dhoni advanced and had him stumped, despite a fumble from Brendon McCullum, before bowling Sharma a few balls later as the ball bobbled off the pads.

India suddenly had two new batsmen at the crease and New Zealand had an opening, but for a while it seemed Raina had slammed it shut. He plundered 19 runs off Vettori’s second over, slog-sweeping twice over the midwicket boundary and drilling the ball straight down the ground.

He and Jadeja produced an impressive stand, adding 69 off 48 balls for the fourth wicket. It was only Raina’s dismissal – caught by a diving Jesse Ryder off Jacob Oram for 45 – that turned the match in New Zealand’s favour. Vettori bounced back strongly to dismiss Yusuf Pathan in another miserly over to finish with 3 for 24 and left India with too much to do in the last three overs.

That the New Zealand bowlers had enough to defend was due to a collective performance from their batsmen. While no one went on to make fifty, New Zealand always had a well set batsman at the crease to keep the momentum going. Brendon McCullum provided the impetus at the start, while Ross Taylor continued his good form from the latter stages of the IPL during the middle overs. Scott Styris chipped in with a useful innings and Franklin enhanced his newly-developed status as a batting allrounder with massive strikes towards the ends of the innings.

Most of the New Zealand batsmen favoured the leg-side boundary and some perished while trying to clear it. McCullum eventually skied a catch to midwicket, while Ryder, who failed to get out of his IPL rut, was bowled trying to swing across the line. Ishant Sharma was the bowler who dismissed both, making up for the void created by the shoulder injury to Zaheer.

Taylor carted Pragyan Ojha for two consecutive sixes over deep-square leg and dispatched the left-arm spinner to the deep midwicket boundary as well. Ishant returned to peg New Zealand back by inducing a top-edged pull from Oram, which was held by Harbhajan.

Taylor, too, fell in the 16th over when one slog-sweep against Harbhajan did not clear RP Singh. Styris kept the momentum going with a breezy 29 off 19 balls but it was Franklin who hurt India in the end. He laid into RP in the 20th over and deposited the ball beyond the straight boundary twice before pulling to midwicket for four. New Zealand managed 50 runs off their last four overs and that acceleration proved to be the difference.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo