Perfect Sri Lanka bowling sweeps Windies away in World T20 semi

Sri Lanka crushed the West Indies by 57 runs in the ICC World T20 semi-final – and now face Pakistan in the final on Sunday.

The victory came on the back of another mighty innings from Tillekeratne Dilshan – tonight he batted through the 20 overs for 96 off 57 balls – and a sensational first over from the apparently innocuous medium-pacer Angelo Mathews (3/16).

With the Sirils defending a total of just 158/5, skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s throwing the ball to Mathews to kick-off the West Indies innings proved to be an inspired hunch.

Mathews’ first over saw three wickets fall – all bowled, all played on – to leave West Indies 1/3, with Xavier Marshall, Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Bravo all back on the bench without scoring. The dismissals suggested that the pitch, unusually for the Oval, lacked pace and left batsmen confused about the best way to attack the ball, which was not coming onto the bat.

Chris Gayle (63 off 50) batted through to the end, unbeaten, but received no support at all. No-one else hit more than Denesh Ramdin’s nine runs and though Shiv Chanderpaul stuck around for half an hour, his 7 from 15 balls – filled with pre-meditated (and generally failed) trick shots – did little to advance the cause.

With the innings already in disarray, Ajantha Mendis (2/9 off four overs) and Murali (3/29) applied the killer blows, mid-innings. The Sri Lankan attack is the most varied in the tournament, but the West Indies did not help themselves with their shot selection; their inability to get Gayle, their No 1 danger man, on strike was a major failing. Instead, he waited at the non-strikers end while a procession of batsmen came and went, going for glory trying to hit sixes themselves.

Dilshan had also fought a lone battle in the Sirils’ innings, though he had help early on from Sanath Jayasuriya. Jayasuriya’s 24 off 37 balls was, though, a very a typical innings from the Sirils’ veteran, who is 40 next week. Visibly frustrated with his inability to time the ball, he changed his bat several times before holing out in the 11th over and leaving Dilshan to carry the innings.

No-one else scored more than Angelo Mathews’ 12 runs, hit off four balls at the death.

Dilshan’s innings included 12 fours and two sixes and left him just short of completing the second-ever international T20 century. It was another versatile display from the tournament’s leading run-scorer, full of sweet timing, clever placement and ever-adaptable stroke play including his now trademark flip over the keeper’s head, this time off a Jerome Taylor slower ball.

Dilshan’s innings earned him the man of the match award – though the killer blows really came from Sri Lanka’s bowlers, and that remarkable first over from Mathews, in particular.

Afridi-inspired Pakistan storm to ICC World Twenty20 final

Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul were the heroes as Pakistan beat favourites South Africa in the first ICC World Twenty20 semi-final at Trent Bridge.

Pakistan (149/4) beat South Africa (142/5) by seven runs before a raucous, largely Pakistani crowd. For the tournament favourites South Africa, it was their first real test of the whole event. This was the fourth time the Saffers have been knocked out in a world event semi-final since re-admission.

Each side took the initiative by turn in in an epic, tense game. Having won the toss and batted, Pakistan raced from the blocks, with another brutal cameo from Kamran Akmal (23 off 12) setting the pace. Pakistan were 47/1 after the Powerplay and after Afridi, who again came in at No 3, had hit Botha for four consecutive boundaries in the 11th over, Pakistan were 86/2.

Yet Pakistan managed just three more boundaries in the rest of the innings, as South Africa appeared to seize back the initiative. With Afridi (56 off 34) hoisting the first ball of the 13th over, from J-P Duminy, to AB de Villiers and the Pakistan middle-order coming off second best against Dale Steyn (1/28) and Wayne Parnell’s (1/26) death bowling. Parnell, apparently able to bowl yorkers at will, bowled his last two overs, to Younis Khan and Abdul Razzaq, for just ten runs.

Despite Jacques Kallis’ 64 off 54, South Africa were stalled by two key wickets from Afridi (2/16), who bowled Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers in consecutive overs to leave the Saffers 50/3.

By the time, star bowler Umar Gul came on to bowl the 14th over, South Africa already needed 77 off 42 balls. After taking several balls to tune his radar, it was another brilliant display from Gul, whose control and ability to bowl yorkers excelled even Parnell’s. His three overs went for 19.

With the big-hitting Albie Morkel sat on the bench while Kallis and Duminy slipped further behind the run-rate – Morkel only made it into the middle for the 18th over – South Africa seemed to have misjudged the run chase.

The only concern for Pakistan fans seemed to be Younis’ miscalculation in bringing on left-arm spinner Fawad Alam for an over that went for 15. It was a weird decision that left Umar Gul unable to complete his allocation of overs and meant that teenager Mohammad Umeer bowled the final over.

By then, though, South Africa needed 23 off six balls and even a six from JP Duminy (44 off 39) could not get them close enough.

West Indies shock Aussies at World T20; Yuvraj blasts Banglas

West Indies blasted their way past an apparently shell-shocked Australia to produce the second upset of the ICC World Twenty20.

Having restricted the Aussies – who won the toss – to 169/7, the Windies, fired by skipper Chris Gayle on top form, chased down the runs within 16 overs. Brett Lee’s first three overs went for 51, as Gayle (88 off 50) and Andre Fletcher (53 off 32) put on 133 for the first wicket – a record for international T20s.

Gayle’s innings included six sixes, one of them possibly the largest ever seen at the ground. He left the park to a standing ovation when he was finally out with the Windies just 12 runs short of victory.

Australia were on the back foot from the off, thanks to an extraordinary first over from Jerome Taylor.

The nine-ball over included three wides, two wickets and no runs off the bat: first, Shane Watson was caught at mid-off by Sarwan trying to hit over the top; then Ricky Ponting – having faced two consecutive wides – was trapped lbw by the first legitimate ball he faced.

When vice-skip Pup Clarke went, the Aussies were 15/3 – but then David Warner (63 off 53) led a fightback that brought them to apparent repectability.

But they were blown away by Gayle and Fletcher’s onslaught, with Ponting using seven different bowlers in the 15.5 over innings.

“We spoke about getting the first over of each innings right and as it turned out we lost two wickets in our first batting innings and they took a lot off our first bowling over as well,” said Aussie skip Ricky Ponting afterwards.

“With the game being as short as it is, you can’t afford to give momentum like that away in either innings and we did it in both.

“I thought 169 was going to be a competitive total if we could take wickets up front with the new ball but they took us on, hit some early boundaries and got the momentum going their way. They outplayed us for sure.

Australia must now beat Sri Lanka on Monday to have a chance of staying in the competition.

• At Trent Bridge, India beat Bangladesh by 25 runs. Having won the toss and batted, they looked in danger of being bogged down as Gautam Gambhir took 46 balls over his half-century. But a majestic display of big-hitting from man of the match Yuvraj Singh (41 off 18 balls) changed the momentum of the game.

India finished with 180/5 off their 20 overs. Banglas opener Junaid Siddique hit 41 off 22 including three sixes to give Indian fans something to worry about: but when Siddique fell to Ojha in the ninth over, Bangladesh were 77/4. They lacked the firepower down the order to pursue the chase and the game fizzled out as a contest, with Ojha finishing with 4/21 off his four overs.

In the first game of the day, New Zealand (90/3) beat Scotland (89/4) in a seven-over shoot-out with an over to spare. With the Black Caps still needing 22 runs off the last two overs, another upset, after England’s debacle on Friday night, had seemed on the cards. But Scott Styris and Ross Taylor blasted the penultimate over from Jan Stander for 22 to finish the rain-delayed game in no-nonsense fashion.

MOTM Swann inspires England to win inside three days

England beat West Indies by ten wickets at Lord’s, chasing down a target of 32 to win the first Test, shortly before the scheduled close of Day 3.

Graeme Swann, who took six wickets in the match as well as hitting an unbeaten 63, was named man of the match.

England bowled out West Indies for 256 this afternoon. After a delayed start due to rain, West Indies resumed on 39/2 this morning. By lunch they were 80/5 and, still 145 behind after following on, appeared heading for defeat sooner rather than later

Swann had dismissed the Windies rock Chanderpaul (4) cheaply for the second time in the match, emphasising the apparent hold he has over the West Indies’ six left-handers.

But with Brendan Nash (81) and Denesh Ramdin putting on 143 for the sixth wicket, England were made to work in the afternoon session. Stuart Broad broke the partnership, dismissing Ramdin on the verge of tea. Soon Nash, getting over-adventurous as he ran out of partners, fell to Broad too, caught in the deep by Cook.

West Indies had lost 2o wickets in less than 105 overs’ batting time in the match, a shabby performance in the light of their recent series win over England in warmer and more bat-friendly conditions

So Strauss and Flower’s new-look England start the season on a high. They were gifted momentum, first, by West Indies’ dropping six catches on the first day and then by a hapless batting performance.

Seeing England’s delight at beating one of the few teams ranked below their own No 6 place in the ICC table will not necessarily have the Aussies quaking. If England can’t beat West Indies in a home Test shortly after Easter, then they really should pack up and go home.

But at least, in the performances of Swann, Onions and Bopara, this England team have made a definite stride forwards; the grim aura of underachievement that surrounded the Vaughan-Harmison-Panesar-Moores axis over the last 12 months has, for the moment at least, been dispelled.

Episode 8: Hawkeye, dressage and stepladders

The Third Umpire and Jono Russell are joined by SPIN’s Hawkeye guru, Colin Spiro, in a candlelit Wetherspoons to discuss the Olympics – and a bit of cricket too. We talk to SPIN columnist George Dobell and one of the men leading the charge for cricket to be included in the 2020 Olympics, Shahriar Khan of the Asian Cricket Council. PLUS: the chaps debate their dream Test Match Special line-up – will Mike Selvey make it? Also: Colin the Janitor talks about stepladders.