ENGLAND "BOUNCE OUT" INDIA

England tactically beat india in their match at lord's which was exposed by the west indies......It was almost like playing in india as english fans were out numbered by the indians and the englishmen were boo'ed on their home country at the mecca of cricket..after put into bat by dhoni england lost luke wright early but pieterson ensured no more damage was caused as he and bopara build the innings..ravindra jadeja bowled with maturity and kept them under check by picking up pieterson,bopara at crucial times......but ishant was poor as he leaked too many runs which meant england reached a defendable 153 in 20 overs..THE indians made a shocking start as rohit and raina were tactically bounced out by sidebottom..the middle overs were too dry that jadeja and gambhir struggled to maintain the pace...once they went yuvraj arrived and started smashing from the first ball...but a brilliant stumping by foster ,probably the biggest of his carrer ended yuvrajs knock and narrowed indias chances..dhoni and yusuf pathan played brilliantly and took it very close but they left themselves too much to do in the final over..it was heart breaking as a fan to see your team getting knocked out before the semis ,when they were the favourites to win..

SOUTH AFRICA'S ROAD TO SEMI'S

South africa made a comfortable win against the host..after winning toss ,england choose to bat ,bopara and luke wright opened the innings ,but bopara fell victim for steyn's slow ball,wickets started falling in regular intervals....spinners prove to be a headache for english batsman,who kept the run rate very low....van der merwe and parnell's tight bowling restricted england to make a total of 111...then south africa who had a chase a wobble total ,got off a good start ,it was the day for kalli's ,who hammered the ball in all the sides of the field,gibbs gave him a right partnership and they made 70 runs on the board...english bowlers couldn't restrict flow runs as kalli's was in great form.. their partnership paved way for the south africa's comfortable win....kalli's was awarded the man of the match for his splendid 57 from 49 balls...

JAYASURYA AND DILSHAN MAUL THE WINDIES

Jayasurya and Dilshan were in murderous mood yesterday in their match against the windies which was anyway a dead rubber in the context of the tournament...west indies started without gayle,who was nursing a knee injury and were led by denesh ramdin...after winning the toss he put srilanka to bat... the only success he had in the match was winning the toss...their bowlers were blasted to every part of the ground by jayasurya and dilshan who recorded the highest opening partnership in the tournament....Lendl simmons was the only bowler who kept the batsmen under check and took almost all the wickets that fell..edwards had an off day as he leaked too many runs...srilanka eventually finished at 192 for 5...
West indies had a tough ask as the required rate was 9.8 at the start...the openers made a decent start....introduction of spin slowed the scoring rate and a resulted in a few wickets...bravo and sarwan batted well but the asking rate was to high...in the end sarwan and pollard hit some lusty blows but found themselve shoprt by 15 runs...jayasurya was declared man of the match for his 81 off 47 balls..

SEHWAG OUT OF T20 WORLD CUP

Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the t20 world cup after failing to recover from his shoulder injury..but there is a speculation whether it is the injury or the rift with the captain that has ruled him out...BCCI made the announcement in a press conference.when asked to dhoni about the reason for his exclusion dhoni was reluctant to answer..earlier in the week dhoni brought the whole team to the press conference to show the teams unity..but this issue has again raised doubts on relationship between dhoni and viru...it is a big blow for team india as sehwag is a match winner any day...the replacement for him is named as Dinesh Karthik...not a good news to hear..

AUSTRALIA AND BANGLADESH SHOWN THE EXIT DOOR

It was a day of upsets as australia and bangladesh were knocked out of the tournament...the first match was ireland vs bangladesh...bangladesh batting first got of to a good start but kept losing wickets at regular intervals...the innings never got going as trent johnston with clever variations troubled the tigers...however a breezy knock by mortaza saw them to a respectable total of 137/8.....ireland started of their chase very cautiously but neil o'brien once got his eye in played some glorious shots and targetted the short boundary...he eventually got out when they still needed a 77 in 10 overs...but the oher o'brien carried on the innings left by his brother..with some intelligent hitting he saw the irish thru and it meant bangladesh were handed a heart break.....

Neil o'brien with the man of the match award

















The second match was a do or die match for aussies....after put into bat by the lankans they got off to a horrible start as warner left early in the first over...ponting looked good until mendis came to bowl...the aussies found mendis too hot to handle and kept losing wickets...malinga also picked up wickets with his yorkers and slower ones...then some hitting from dave hussey,johnson and lee in the slog overs saw them to a fighting total of 159...srilanka opened with dilshan and jayasurya...but jayasurya left early and the pressure was on....dilshan's stroke filled fifty and sangakkara's crafty half century ensured that australia were knocked out...

A visibly dejected ponting in the dug out

PAKISTAN FACE A TRICKY SITUATION

Last years runner up pakistan are now in spot of bother as they get ready for their do or die match against the dutch..their poor show against england not only makes this one a must win match but also makes the net run rate a very crucial factor...if pakistan had to reach the super eight they have to beat the dutch by a margin of 30 odd runs..their top order is not performing to their potential and execution of plans is very poor...the captain has shown huge faith in afridi by saying that "t20 is fun game and its all about entertaining...and i hope afridi gets a hundred in the next game"...what ever said is history...can they come together and put a great show to make it to the super eights??..keep your fingers crossed....

SOUTH AFRICA TOO GOOD FOR THE SCOTS

After the opening match where england lost to minnows holland...there was a sense of expectation for more such upsets....but south africa cleared all such doubts by stamping scotland in their opening game ....south africa were put into bat and they accepted it gleefully as their batsmen made merry of the poor scott bowlers..smith and kallis opened the innings...the pair added 87 runs for the first wicket...gibbs came at three and was scratchy as it was unusual position for him to bat...de villiers who started cautipusly then smashed it to all parts scoring at a rapid pace ....with albie and duminy giving useful contributions from the other end the proteas got to 213 in their 20 overs...it was too much for scotland as they lost a flurry of wickets in the opening four overs..steyn and parnell bowled with pace and movement...then botha was tight in his line and chipped in with a few wickets...and eventually scotland were all out for 81...the south africans have made a rollicking start and are one of hte favourites to win the cup...