Pakistan 139 for 2 (Afridi 54*, Akmal 37) beat Sri Lanka 138 for 6 (Sangakkara 64*, Mathews 35*, Razzaq 3-20) by eight wickets…

Pakistan won the ICC World Twenty20 in an exciting finish at a noisy Lord’s when Sri Lanka’s total of 138-6 was overhauled with 10 balls remaining.

Shahid Afridi, man of the match in the semi-final, was again the hero, hitting 54 not out from 40 balls to steer Pakistan to an eight-wicket win.

Sri Lanka’s star batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan fell in the first over and they were soon 2-2 after choosing to bat.

Kumar Sangakkara’s 64 gave them hope but Pakistan paced their chase well.

Sri Lanka had progressed through the tournament smoothly, winning all their matches and relying on the brilliant batting of Dilshan and some superb bowling led by Ajantha Mendis.

But on the grand stage, both their leading players fluffed their lines, and Pakistan ruthlessly seized the initiative.

Pakistan had lost two of their first three matches and needed a win against the Netherlands just to make the last eight. But they turned a corner when thrashing New Zealand – from which point they never looked back.

They began the final in ideal fashion, with a wicket-maiden from 17-year-old sensation Mohammad Aamer.
It wasn’t just any wicket-maiden – a rare event indeed in this format. The fact that the tournament’s leading run-scorer Dilshan had been been dismissed made Aamer’s over extra special.

Dlishan craves deliveries on a good length so he can sweep and drive, but keeping the ball short and straight, Aamer bowled four dot-balls then enticed a top-edged pull to short fine-leg.

The wicket seemed to scare Sri Lanka’s other batsmen, who had not enjoyed particularly good tournaments, and it was the fast-medium bowler Abdul Razzaq who reaped the rewards.

Jehan Mubarak, promoted up the order, skied a catch into the off-side, Sanath Jayasuriya crashed a six and two fours but then dragged on one, before Mahela Jayawardene edged an attempted late-cut to slip.

Sangakkara and Chamara Silva had a major repair operation on their hands, coming together with the score 32-4 in 5.3 overs. They put on 35 from 36 balls which at least stopped the rot, but the arrival of Umar Gul dented Sri Lanka’s renaissance.

Silva mistimed a pull to midwicket and Isuru Udana swished and missed the last two balls of a fine over. It got even better for Pakistan when Afridi bowled Udana to leave the score 70-6 from 13 overs.

Finally, some positive running between the wickets from Sangakkara and Angelo Mathews saw nine runs come off a Saeed Ajmal over and then Gul, so brilliant in Pakistan’s last three victories, suddenly lost his length and was hammered for 14 in an over.
Mathews played his part too, clubbing a couple of boundaries on the on-side before tucking into the final over, bowled by Aamer.
The decision to give the teenager the final over looked a questionable one, and with Mathews flaying a boundary through the slips and muscling a six through the on-side 17 more precious runs came Sri Lanka’s way.
Pakistan’s chase was given impetus by Kamran Akmal, who hit big leg-side sixes off both Mendis and Mathews to take his team to a very respectable 48-0 from seven overs.

Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka’s sixth bowler, then immediately had Akmal stumped, but the other opener Shahzaib Hasan, who had been so quiet, drilled consecutive boundaries off Mendis, the mystery spinner who Pakistan were playing so well.

When he fell to Muttiah Muralitharan, the required rate hit eight an over, but Pakistan still had eight wickets in hand and just 64 more runs were required.

Afridi, who had had time to play himself in, now hit Muralitharan into the Tavern Stand and then launched him over wide mid-off for four.

That made Pakistan hot favourites, but just 16 runs came off the next three overs, so 26 were still wanted from 18 balls.

But Afridi, with Shoaib Malik playing a quiet role in support, now smashed Udana for six over midwicket and pulled him past fine-leg for four more, leaving an easy seven runs needed from the last two overs.

Source: BBC

Sri lanka 138 for 6 (Sangakkara 64*, Mathews 35*, Razzaq 3-20) v Pakistan…

A captain’s innings from Kumar Sangakkara and a late charge by Angelo Mathews boosted Sri Lanka to 138 for 6 in the ICC World Twenty20 final after the top order were blown away by Abdul Razzaq. Riding on the huge surge of confidence Pakistan gained from dismissing Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck, Razzaq continued to make up for lost time after two years out of international cricket as Sri Lanka fell to 32 for 4. However, Sangakkara and Mathews added 68 in 43 deliveries to give their powerful attack a total to defend.

Without the captain, Sri Lanka would have been waving the trophy goodbye, but Sangakkara ensured he was batting in the closing overs to give himself the chance of a late charge. He paced his innings expertly, reaching fifty off 44 balls despite the problems that surrounded him. Mathews’ display, though, was more unexpected and he was largely responsible for taking 17 off the final over, which included a six over deep midwicket, and the final five overs brought 59 runs.

In a stirring atmosphere, Pakistan were on top of their game from the start as 17-year-old Mohammad Aamer belied his inexperience with a tone-setting opening over. In a clear plan he bowled short at Dilshan who was distinctly discomforted by the approach. Against the fifth ball Dilshan tried to take the initiative with a scoop over short fine-leg, but only managed to pick out the man on the edge of the circle. He had middled virtually all his attempts at the shot during the tournament and what a time for it to go wrong.

With the tournament’s leading run-scorer heading off Pakistan were buoyed. In a change of order Jehan Mubarak was promoted to No. 3, but he couldn’t survive the second over when he came down the pitch and got a leading edge into the covers to give Razzaq his first.

Sri Lanka briefly rallied as Sanath Jaysuriya suggested he could marshal a turnaround. Favouring the leg side he swung Razzaq for six with a forceful short-arm pull and collected four more next ball, but it was a short-lived response when an inside edge crashed into the stumps. Razzaq was flat on his face at the moment of dismissal after slipping in his follow-through but it was Sri Lanka who were feeling unsteady.

Younis Khan went on the attack and his decision to post a wide slip paid rich dividends when Mahela Jayawardene steered the ball straight to Misbah-ul-Haq at ankle height. Razzaq was playing his cricket with a new lease of life after being giving another crack at international level. He wasn’t part of the original squad, but Yasir Arafat’s injury that prompted the switch now looked like a stroke of fortune.

Four wickets inside the Powerplay meant Sri Lanka had little choice but to play it safe as Younis turned to his spinners. Sangakkara was calmness personified amid Sri Lanka’s problems aware that the hopes of a decent total rested on his shoulders. He and Chamara Silva added 35 in six overs, but there was no let-up from the Pakistan attack.

Umar Gul, who came on in the 12th over, struck almost straight away when Silva’s weak pull looped to midwicket and Isuru Udana, surprisingly pushed ahead of Mathews, was twice beaten for pace. All Pakistan’s bowlers worked to a plan and even Gul momentarily shelved his yorkers to utilise the pace and bounce from the surface.

It’s hard to keep Shahid Afridi out of the action and just when he looked as though he would finish wicketless a googly was too good for Udana. Sri Lanka were fading quickly at 70 for 6 and Sangakkara desperately needed someone to stay with him.

Mathews has brought all-round value to Sri Lanka’s side and provided a sensible ally for his captain as he worked the strike while Sangakkara located the boundary. Than Mathews took over the striking with a thumping drive off Saeed Ajmal and a leg-side heave off Gul, who wasn’t quite at his pin-point best at the death.

Under normal circumstances you would still say the total shouldn’t be enough, but this is a final and with that comes a huge pressure. And, if any attack, can defend 138 it’s Sri Lanka’s. This could still be a classic.

Andrew McGlashan is assistant editor of Cricinfo

Sri Lanka 158 for 5 (Dilshan 96*) beat West Indies 101 (Gayle 63*, Mathews 3-16, Muralitharan 3-29) by 57 runs…

It will be an all-Asia final at the ICC World Twenty20 after Sri Lanka maintained their unbeaten record by crushing West Indies by 57 runs at The Oval. Tillakaratne Dilshan added another installment to his breathtaking tournament with an unbeaten 96, the highest score of the event, as his team-mates struggled for momentum. Angelo Mathews then stunned West Indies with three wickets in the opening over before the spinners strangled the middle order, leaving Chris Gayle forlornly unbeaten on 63, carrying his bat as no one else reached double figures.

After everything the two countries have been through, it is fitting that Sri Lanka will meet Pakistan in the final. However, unlike Pakistan’s campaign which has burst into life after a slow start, there has been a sense of destiny about Kumar Sangakkara’s team reaching the Lord’s showdown. Sri Lanka’s run has been a triumph of mental strength and character and they now have the chance to mark their return to the international scene following the Lahore terror attack with a trophy.

They have played as a team throughout, but their position in the final was down to Dilshan’s outstanding individual effort. His innings was the highest for Sri Lanka in Twenty20 and, in a quirky statistic, the innings briefly gave him the highest percentage of a completed innings before Gayle’s lone hand nipped ahead. Dilshan looked set for the tournament’s first century until losing the strike towards the end. However, with Dilshan set for the closing stages, 60 runs came from the final five overs with Mathews playing a valuable four-ball cameo with two final-over boundaries.

However, that was only the start of Mathews’ role in the game. It was a surprise when he was handed the new-ball at the start of the tournament, but has been a constant presence upfront. Nothing, though, had come close to matching this effort. With his second ball he removed Xavier Marshall – who had replaced Andre Fletcher following three consecutive ducks – via an inside edge. It would become a common form of dismissal.

Two balls later, Lendl Simmons was slightly unlucky when he went across his stumps and the ball ricocheted from his thigh pad onto leg stump. That was the end, though, and Mathews’ third was the vital wicket of Dwayne Bravo as he too got an inside edge into middle stump. A stunned West Indies were 1 for 3.

Gayle, too his credit, played the situation and even opted to leave a couple of deliveries as he collect his thoughts. Normal service resumed with three boundaries when Lasith Malinga came on early to bowl the fourth over and Isuru Udana was swung for six over long-on. Then came the spinners and coupled with some brainless shot selection, the game was over.

Ajantha Mendis trapped Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the sweep as he and Muttiah Muralitharan made the middle order prod and poke as though playing with their eyes closed. Ramnaresh Sarwan, who was dropped on 2 by Mendis running round from long-on, was soon held by the omnipresent Mathews and Kieron Pollard was made to look a novice when he was stumped off a wide. Mendis’ 2 for 9 were Sri Lanka’s most economical Twenty20 figures, but Murali’s 3 for 29 reminded everyone of where the mystery began.

Sri Lanka’s innings was a curious affair, none more so than when Sanath Jayasuriya was labouring over a 37-ball 24. He never looked comfortable, changing his bat four times, before top-edging to short fine-leg. That the opening stand was still worth a profitable 73 in 10.3 overs was down to how well Dilshan played. He drove, flicked and swept (but never quite scooped, although he tried) his way to a 30-ball half century while partners came and went.

Sangakkara was superbly caught at backward point and Mahela Jayawardene clipped straight to short-fine leg as three wickets fell for four runs. It was down to Dilshan to give Sri Lanka’s strong attack something to defend and he cashed in on two full tosses by Pollard. Placement was key to Dilshan’s display and each time the bowlers strayed he managed to make the most of it.

The innings found some important momentum in the 17th over when Bravo was taken for 18 as he struggled to find his length. Dilshan cracked three boundaries and Chamara Silva then joined in when he swung the final delivery one bounce to the square-leg boundary. Silva’s contribution to a stand of 50 in six overs was just 11, before he fell trying to reverse hit Sulieman Benn, but it put Sri Lanka on track for the type of score they have regularly defended and from there they never looked like losers. One more victory on Sunday would complete one of cricket’s greatest stories.

Andrew McGlashan is assistant editor of Cricinfo

Pakistan 149 for 4 (Afridi 51, Malik 34) beat South Africa 142 for 5 (Kallis 64, Duminy 44*, Afridi 2-16) by seven runs…

Shahid Afridi’s mercurial all-round talents carried Pakistan through to their second successive ICC World Twenty20 final, as South Africa yet again fell at the penultimate hurdle.

Afridi’s 51 provided the impetus in an oddly-paced Pakistan total of 149 for four – and he then took 2-16 in four overs of wrist-spin to help leave South Africa seven runs short at Trent Bridge, despite Jacques Kallis’ 64.

The first defeat of South Africa’s campaign eliminated them – the fourth time they have gone out at the semi-final stage of a major ICC tournament – and Pakistan will instead face Sri Lanka or West Indies in the final at Lord’s on Sunday.

South Africa remain desperate to shed the ‘chokers’ tag now inked in against them, having left themselves too much to do against Umar Gul et al in the ‘death’ overs.

Pakistan lived up to their own reputation for eccentricity, in a minor way, by bizarrely leaving only three overs for their most reliable bowler Gul.

But they had enough in reserve to ensure that self-inflicted disadvantage amounted only to a puzzling rather than damning statistic.

Pakistan chose to bat first on a pitch with more pace than most have had here in this competition – and less obvious assistance to spin.

Their innings, on a bright evening, was a curious stop-start affair which was nonetheless eventually vindicated.

It started at break-neck speed, Kamran Akmal blazing a succession of early boundaries despite the departure of Shahzaib Hasan for a second-ball duck when he mistimed a pull off Wayne Parnell to be well caught by Roelof van der Merwe running back at mid-on.

Akmal and Afridi bludgeoned Pakistan to 43 for two after five overs, the opener gone by then when he too miscued a pull to be caught at mid-on off Dale Steyn.

The relaxation of fielding restrictions explained a second five overs in which Pakistan could add only 25 runs.

But it was harder to rationalise the split of 52 in the next five and then only 29 in the last quarter, particularly because only one wicket fell in each of those sections.

Afridi had announced himself with a brutal four over mid-on off Parnell, from the first reachable delivery he received.

Though Akmal struck the pace of Steyn dismissively over long-off for six, it soon became apparent his replacement Shoaib Malik was content to push the gaps to get Afridi on strike in a third-wicket stand of 67 in 10 overs.

Afridi responded with four successive off-side fours in one over from Johan Botha, who has been the slow-bowling cornerstone of South Africa’s gameplan over the past two weeks but this time went for 23 runs in only half his scheduled allocation.

Afridi charged on to a 32-ball fifty, only to fall immediately afterwards when he aimed a huge hit at the first of JP Duminy’s off-spinners and skied a catch to short midwicket.

Malik never reached a run-a-ball tempo – and had still found the boundary only twice – before picking out long-off when he went after van der Merwe’s left-arm spin.

It was therefore down to Younus Khan and Abdul Razzaq to try to rescue the 160-plus total which had seemed likely.

Graeme Smith turned to his two frontline pace bowlers for the last four overs, and they took their cue for a series of impressively well-directed yorkers.

The impression was that Pakistan had failed to make par with the bat, and South Africa still looked favourites as Kallis and Smith got their reply off to a wicketless near eight-runs-an-over start in the first five overs.

Smith was dropped by Gul, who went down in a heap when he misjudged a skier at mid-on off Razzaq, but the South Africa captain went soon afterwards when he badly mistimed another pull to be caught and bowled by Mohammad Aamer.

It was Afridi’s entrance into the attack that changed the game, though. Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers were transfixed by his variations, bowled in contrasting but equally comprehensive fashion as he took two big wickets in four balls.

Kallis and Duminy responded to the loss of three team-mates for 10 runs with a stand of 61. However, the increasing suspicion was that they were falling worryingly off the pace.

So it proved, despite Kallis taking advantage of a spare over from seventh bowler Fawad Alam which saw him complete a 46-ball fifty and celebrate with a straight six to add to his seven fours.

Gul’s false start at the Radcliffe Road end had left him with only two more possible from the other direction.

But Kallis finally fell to the first ball of the 18th over, with an unlikely 38 still needed, when he lofted Saeed Ajmal high to long-on, where Shoaib Malik kept his cool to hang on to a tough, pressure catch.

Duminy did his best to narrow the margin, but it was always going to be too little too late for a team who had pushed perfection through the tournament yet were again found wanting when it mattered most.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in a confessional mode, blamed himself and his mates for not clicking as a unit in the ICC World Twenty20 but refused to blame fatigue as the reason for it.

“If three bowlers were on target then others were not, if some batters clicked, the others failed. A few individuals did well but as a unit we didn’t,” was Dhoni’s candid admission after his side had made a mess of a small target of 131 against South Africa here on Tuesday.

“The truth is we normally perform 80 per cent of our collective strength. Here we didn’t perform even 50 or 60 per cent.”

Dhoni was inclined to blame batting as the main falling of his side-rather than fatigue which has been the viewpoint of his coach Gary Kirsten.

“Key players, including me, were out of form. Our batting struggled and that hurt since we are always known for our batting.

“However, I never felt I was tired. You have to play 20 overs and you can manage it. It wasn’t like Sri Lanka (last year) where I thought I needed break and opted out. That was when I was really tired. Here I wasn’t even close to it.”

As for Kirsten’s suggestion that he might consider suggesting to BCCI to pull cricketers out of IPL ahead of national duty, Dhoni said the call ought to come from cricketers themselves.

“We cricketers are intelligent. I think we would know if pulling out is a better option. If you get injured, you are out of the game for three to six months. However, if you take a month’s off, you miss only a few weeks and that’s a batter option.

“I think more and more cricketers might do it so from now on.”

The Indian skipper admitted his side had niggles and injury but cricketers are battling it all the time.

“If you are looking for 100 per cent fitness then a cricketer might not play more than three or four series in a year.

“Sure very few were 100 per cent fit. Some had ankle, some shoulder injury. That’s why they were also not giving off 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 fitness.

The crowd, at the presentation ceremony, actually booed Dhoni but the Indian skipper was unaffected by it.
“It’s not the first time I have been booed. When we lost in 2007 World Cup, “mera antim sanskar” (my last rites) were also done. But I don’t feel bad. It shows the expectation levels of fans.

“I was told by a senior a few years ago. He said if somebody is appreciating you, don’t hit seventh heaven. If you fall on floor, it wouldn’t be good for you. So adopt a central path.and I try to do so.

South Africa 130 for 5 (de Villiers 63) beat India 118 for 8 (Rohit 29, Botha 3-16, Steyn 2-25) by 12 runs…

South Africa tonight booked a semi-final return to Trent Bridge with a fifth successive ICC World Twenty20 victory as defending champions India drew a Super Eights blank.

India were already out of the equation after their defeat against England at Lord’s on Sunday.

But if their millions of supporters were hoping for a winning response against the tournament favourites in Nottingham, they were disappointed again as their heroes could muster only 118 for eight to lose by 12 runs to the batting of AB de Villiers (63) and then a collective effort from South Africa’s slow bowlers.

India, who had no answer to a barrage of short balls from England at the weekend, faltered this time as spin increasingly dominated and dictated events.

On a pitch which helped the slow bowlers all day – Ajantha Mendis held the key for Sri Lanka against New Zealand this afternoon – South Africa’s exponents were superior.

Their combined spin-bowling figures were 9-0-32-5, to India’s 14-0-75-4 – and that was more than enough to decide the outcome and ensure Graeme Smith’s men will face Pakistan here in the last four on Thursday.

After restricting their opponents to 130 for five thanks to a hard-working performance in the field, India were exactly up with the early run-rate established by their opponents – on 47 for none at the end of the six overs of powerplay.

But it was at that point Smith turned to the off-spin of Johan Botha (3-16) for the first time, and with only his second delivery he had Gautam Gambhir caught at extra cover.

Four wickets then fell for 14 runs in 28 balls as a succession of batsmen failed to deal with spin on and pace off the ball at both ends.

Even the big-hitting Yuvraj Singh, dropped on nought when he offered a return catch to off-spinner JP Duminy, could not make the difference, and by the time he went caught behind off fast bowler Dale Steyn in the 19th over, the game was up.

After winning the toss, South Africa began the contest by losing Herschelle Gibbs to an under-edged pull on to his stumps off RP Singh in the second over, and Smith followed in the ninth when he holed out in the leg-side off Harbhajan Singh.

De Villiers found near immediate fluency, but South Africa still lost a little momentum as they added only 21 runs between the five and 10-over mark.

Their number three struck Yuvraj over extra-cover for his team’s first boundary in nine overs, and added a second – his sixth in all – wide of long-on from the very next delivery to bring up a 41-ball half-century.

Despite the departure of Duminy, stumped after missing some turn from occasional left-arm orthodox Suresh Raina, De Villiers tried to up the ante, and when he skied a return catch back to Ravindra Jadeja he had made significantly more than half his team’s 110 for four.

South Africa managed to add only 32 in the last five overs. But India always seemed unlikely to have an easy chase in the prevailing conditions, and so it proved.

Sri Lanka 158 for 5 (Dilshan 48, Jayawardene 41*, Sangakkara 35) beat New Zealand 110 (Guptill 43, Mendis 3-9, Udana 2-17) by 48 runs…

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 and cementing 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.

The result ensured Sri Lanka finished first in Group F, winning all three matches in the Super Eight, which means they will play their semi-final at the Oval. New Zealand, whose World Twenty20 campaign was blighted by a bizarre succession of injuries, bow out of the tournament having beaten only Ireland in the second round.

A curiously conventional innings from Tillakaratne Dilshan and substantial contributions from the experienced pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara led Sri Lanka to a challenging total in their knockout game against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. A total of 158 might be about par in the Twenty20 format but Sri Lanka have the best bowling attack in the competition and are likely to stretch the New Zealand batsmen all the way.

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 Sanath 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 36 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.

New Zealand came into the match with injury worries about Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor but named both batsmen in the XI. Their batting line-up is as strong as it has been in the tournament and they will need all of their resources to negotiate the threat posed by Murali, Malinga and Mendis.

George Binoy is a senior sub-editor at Cricinfo

West Indies 82 for 5 (Sarwan 19*, Chanderpaul 17*) beat England 161 for 6 (Bopara 55, Pietersen 31) by five wickets (D/L method)…

The experience of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul guided West Indies into the ICC World Twenty20 semi-finals after the top order threatened to lose their heads in a reduced 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 to complete the victory with four balls to spare and send the hosts out.

Chris Gayle wanted to have the final say in the extended duel between these two teams which dates back to February. He briefly threatened to carry the chase on his own but was yorked by a beauty from Ryan Sidebottom and he was grateful for calmness of his two senior batsmen. A second brilliant piece of glovework from James Foster to stump Dwayne Bravo had put England on top, but Sarwan and Chanderpaul showed there is room for sensible batsmanship even in a nine-over thrash.

When Sarwan hit the winning boundary with four balls to spare the rest of the team – apart from Gayle who strode out at his own pace – sprinted onto the outfield in scenes reminiscent of their 2004 Champions Trophy victory on the same ground. Weeks of moping around England for the Tests and one-dayers were long forgotten.

A heavy thunderstorm after England’s innings concluded on 161 for 6 meant Duckworth-Lewis came into use. It would have been understandable if West Indies were nervous at the prospect after John Dyson’s embarrassing error during the one-day series, when he handed England victory, but the calculations benefited West Indies as much as they knew what was needed and could attack hard.

However, they almost went too hard. Andre Fletcher bagged his third duck in a row when he top-edged a pull off James Anderson, although Gayle was only going to play one way. He slammed Sidebottom’s first ball over midwicket and then cracked him over cover, but the bowler responded in fine style as he speared a yorker under Gayle’s bat.

Stuart Broad struck with his first ball when Lendl Simmons carved to third man and there was a manic nature about the run-chase that threatened to unravel West Indies’ hopes. Paul Collingwood used his bowlers in one-over spells and when the three-over Powerplay was finished he brought Graeme Swann into the attack. The offspinner responded with five excellent deliveries that yielded three runs, but the sixth ball was lofted over long-off for six by Kieron Pollard.

Collingwood then gambled by tossing the ball to Adil Rashid – preferred in this game to Dimitri Mascarenhas – and his first delivery was magnificently driven over extra cover by Bravo. In two shots, West Indies were back in front and the pressure was on a young spinner. That Rashid responded with a top-spinner to bowl Pollard is a huge credit to him and shows great promise for the future.

Then came what looked a pivotal moment as Bravo was beaten by Swann’s flight and Foster made a split-second stumping as the batsman raised his foot. At that moment West Indies needed 35 from 22 balls, but this time Foster wasn’t a match-winner.

Sarwan drove Anderson through cover and whipped him behind square for a second boundary and that was to prove the final twist. Chanderpaul nudged, nurdled and responded to his partner’s screams to run hard (despite an injured thigh) and swung a priceless boundary past fine leg that meant Sidebottom would have little to work with in the final over.

England will look back and think the reduction in overs was harsh on them, but once again the batting had failed to build on a solid start against an attack lacking Fidel Edwards who was forced out moments before the toss with a back injury.

As Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen added 56 all was looking good, but once Pietersen picked out deep square-leg with a top-edged lap the innings stalled and nearly went backwards. There wasn’t a boundary from the 11th over until the penultimate ball of the innings, when Broad swept Sulieman Benn and followed it up with a clean straight six as the bowler struggled with a wet ball.

Bopara’s 55 from 47 balls was full of elegance and class, with two on-drives as perfect as you could wish to see, but at times it seemed as though others were playing with hollow bats. Bopara and Pietersen managed 10 of the 13 fours between them and a lack of power in the middle order was cruely exposed. It is that absence of brutal hitting that was decisive, not the rain.

Andrew McGlashan is assistant editor of Cricinfo

Pakistan 159 for 5 (Akmal 57) beat Ireland 120 for 9 (Porterfield 40, Ajmal 4-19) by 39 runs…

Requiring a win to move into the semi-finals, Pakistan accomplished just that with an efficient performance, easing past Ireland by 39 runs at The Oval. The margin was also sufficient to lift their net run-rate to 1.19, ensuring there’s no way both New Zealand and Sri Lanka can finish with as many points and a higher rate.

Pakistan’s last World Cup game against Ireland had ended in grief, but here they seemed aware of the threat posed by their feisty opponents: after winning the toss Pakistan played within themselves but yet managed 159, thanks largely to a well-paced 57 by Kamran Akmal. Ireland’s batting is clearly their weaker suit, and considering their highest in the tournament so far is only 138, a target of 160 was always likely to be a tough ask. And so it proved, as they finished on 120.

Apart from Akmal, none of the other Pakistan batsmen got big scores, but there were reasonable partnerships for almost every wicket, ensuring there was no repeat of the collapse which had knocked Pakistan out of the 2007 World Cup. Ireland, as usual, made the opposition work for their runs, with Boyd Rankin being the stand-out bowler, but the inability to get wickets meant Pakistan finished with 27 more than they had managed in the 50-over game in Jamaica a couple of years back.

Akmal held the innings together with a measured knock. The confidence of having scored runs in the earlier games was clearly on display, and he was decisive with his footwork and generally sound with his shot selection. He began with a pick-up shot over midwicket for six off the hapless Trent Johnston, and continued to play both the meaty shots and the deft ones: a scoop over fine leg off Alex Cusack went for four, as did crisp drives through cover off the left-arm spin of Regan West.

Shahzaib Hasan and Shahid Afridi, promoted up the order to No.3, didn’t go on to get bigger knocks but they provided the early impetus. Shahzaib kept lofting the pitched-up deliveries over the infield with varying degrees of success till his luck finally ran out, while Afridi thrashed Cusack and West through the off side before Kyle McCallan deceived him with a superb slower, tossed up, offbreak.

Along with Rankin’s fiery burst with the new ball, McCallan’s clever bowling was the highlight for Ireland in the field. Rankin kept it tight and was desperately unlucky not to pick up a wicket, while McCallan’s outstanding flight and change of pace ensured none of the batsmen dominated him. Johnston had a nightmare game, conceding 20 in his second over and 12 in his third, as batsmen picked him off their legs quite effortlessly, but even he redeemed himself with an excellent fourth over, picking up Akmal with a yorker and conceding only four runs.

Ireland gave little away in the field, and yet a target of 160 was always beyond them. William Porterfield fought gustily for his 36-ball 40, but hit his first four in the tenth over of the innings, by which time the asking rate had already climbed to nine and a half. Paul Stirling, playing his first game of the tournament, showed some promise in his 17, which included an impeccable cover-drive to get off the mark, but the big difference between the two sides was in their boundary-hitting abilities – Pakistan struck 13 fours and four sixes; Ireland only managed six fours.

Pakistan’s bowlers were all disciplined, with Mohammad Aamer getting rid of the dangerous Niall O’Brien early. Afridi and Saeed Ajmal offered few scoring opportunities, while Umar Gul continued from where he had left off against New Zealand, knocking over the stumps thrice, including once off a free-hit ball, and then scoring a direct hit to run out Regan West.

A dropped catch by Abdul Razzaq late in the innings was a small blot, but overall it was a polished performance by a team which is increasingly looking like a sound bet for the title.

S Rajesh is stats editor of Cricinfo

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.”

Nagraj Gollapudi is an assistant editor at Cricinfo