By Adrian Meredith
VICTORIA, Australia (TheSportsNEXT) September 29, 2012: A total of four matches have been played in the Super Stage of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 and we have already watched some of the classic matches out of which one went to the extent of Super Over. Adrian Meredith details reviews of the first four matches of the ICC World T20 Super Eights:
13th match, Group 1: Sri Lanka vs New Zealand was expected to be a one sided affair, with Sri Lanka at home huge favourites, not the least because they are ranked much higher than New Zealand. Sri Lanka's early tactics seemed to be to make sure that they didn't see Brendon McCullum, as they missed many chances as New Zealand's streaky openers managed to add 57 runs at almost 8 runs per over. But McCullum didn't fire, and from there wickets fell steadily. Ajantha Mendis, yes, the same guy who managed the best ever bowling figures of 6/8 in his last match, against Zimbabwe, was the weak link, conceding 48 off his 4 overs. New Zealand did what they do best though, managing to claw their way to a very competitive 174, against all of Sri Lanka's best bowling efforts. But soon into the Sri Lankan innings, it all looked too easy, with Mahela Jayawardene and Tillekeratne Dilshan cruising at well beyond the required run rate without looking like losing a wicket. But when one fell, it all fell apart. Tillekeratne Dilshan was there until almost the very end, scoring 76 off 53 balls, but around him it was all falling apart, with the next highest score, other than Dilshan and Jayawardene, being only 12! Sri Lanka even fell behind on the run rate, and then, with 1 required off the final ball, they went for the suicidal run, but seemed to have made it, with the bowler dropping the ball and seemingly broke the wickets with his foot. Replays eventually confirmed that the ball had, very luckily for New Zealand, landed on the bails, and it was actually a run out. New Zealand and Sri Lanka had already agreed that it was not out! So we had a tie. But with momentum all Sri Lanka's way, the Super Over was never going to be close. Jayawardene and Dilshan again smashed it to all corners for 13 runs off Tim Southee, while New Zealand, in response, couldn't get Lasith Malinga away as Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum could only manage 7 runs. It was, in a sense, a victory by 6 runs.
14th match, Group 1: England vs West Indies was the first time that West Indies actually played a match not affected by rain! While all eyes were on Chris Gayle, he only scored 58 off 35 and it was his opening partner Johnson Charles who shone, scoring a surprising 84 off 56 balls. The opening partnership was a blistering 103 in 11 overs, and the match looked over even at that stage. West Indies only managed 76 more runs off their last 9 overs, to England's credit; but 179 looked too many to chase too, especially with West Indies boasting two spinners in Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree, and we all know how England folded against spin from India. After Ravi Rampaul took 2 wickets in the first over, it looked very, very over; but to England's credit they fought it out. Alex Hales managed 68 off 51 balls while Eoin Morgan threatened to steal the game, managing an impressive 71 not out off 36 balls. But there was ultimately too much to do and England fell 15 runs short.
15th match, Group 2: Pakistan vs South Africa started off badly for South Africa, who, after deciding to bat first, struggled hugely early, not scoring quickly and ultimately losing wickets too; but then JP Duminy eventually shone, scoring 48 off 38 balls to lift the total to something competitive. AB de Villiers did his part too, scoring 25 off 18; but 133 looked inadequate, and with 4 wickets still remaining at the end of the innings, it looked like they hadn't taken enough risks. The 3 spinners of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez had all bowled well, all going at around 6 runs per over and taking wickets too. Pakistan started well when they came out to bat with Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir handling things easily. But then, just when it started to look easy, a casual wicket fell. Then two lazy stumpings in quick succession. Then Kamran Akmal was clean bowled. Shoaib Malik, after trying to simply preserve wickets, also fell. Shahid Afridi took the opposite approach and was out first ball. And then Yasir Arafat was out cheaply too. At 7 for 76 it looked all over. The only hope was with Umar Akmal, the last of the batsmen. Three bunnies in Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Raza Hasan were all that was left. It was a question of whether Umar Akmal was good enough to score at 10 runs per over while farming the strike. 58 required off 5.3 overs. It looked very unlikely. But then, after blocking his first 3 balls, Umar Gul came back onto strike and suddenly and unexpectedly chipped it over the boundary for 6. A lucky 6 and next ball he would be out? Having fun? Well, the next ball was chipped over the boundary for 6 too. And then, showing great maturity, he blocked one, and didn't get too excited. Umar Gul finished with 3 6s and 2 4s on his way to 32 runs off 17 balls. Umar Akmal didn't have to farm the strike - he just had to give it to Umar Gul! Umar Akmal did well too, finishing with 43 not out off 41 balls, and ultimately he was there when the winning runs were scored - by Saeed Ajmal edging for 4! But it was definitely Umar Gul's day. There was a bit of luck involved but he had given himself, and the team a chance, as Pakistan snatched an unlikely victory from the jaws of defeat.
16th match: Group 2: Australia vs India had India as huge favourites as they decided to go in with 3 spinners, and 5 bowlers in total, at the expense, controversially, of the underperforming Virender Sehwag, the man with the highest strike rate in Indian cricket, and usually the opener. Australia went in unchanged, again resisting the urge to bring back David Hussey. Irfan Pathan and Gautam Gambhir started well enough but were outdone by the bowler, who refused to allow the "drop and run" single. Australia kept up the intensity and pressure too. While normally India's batting line up ignores such pressure tactics, since they had one less batsman than normal, they knew that ultimately they had to give in to it at some point. Irfan Pathan ended up top scoring with 31, but off 30 balls, at a poor strike rate by T20 standards. Shane Watson finished with 3 for 34, with the wickets of Pathan, Yuvraj Singh and Raina. But Cummins and Starc were probably the best bowlers, with Cummins going for just 16 runs in his 4 overs, and taking 2 wickets - Kohli and Dhoni - as well. In the end, India ran out of batsmen and while they got to 140 it never looked close to being enough. India started off well enough with the ball, but Warner and Watson were simply preserving wickets, as they knew that that was the only way that they could lose. Once they had settled in, they really went for it. Shane Watson hit 7 6s and just 2 4s in his 72 off 42 balls, to make it an easy choice to give him the man of the match award - most runs and most wickets - his 3rd man of the match award in 3 matches - surely a leading contender for player of the tournament! David Warner did well too, finishing with 63 not out off 41 balls, including 3 6s and 7 4s, while Glenn Maxwell came in at the end to finish things off, as Australia won with more than 5 overs to spare. Australia aren't looking like the 10th ranked team anymore!
Other than the Australia vs India match, these matches all looked fairly close, much better matches than the matches in the group stages. You might expect that, I suppose; but it was good to see it in reality. And the amusing thing is that the only one sided match was the biggest upset - at least on paper - as Australia were ranked 10th vs India ranked 3rd, and in the subcontinent close to India's home India were huge favourites. But while Australia seem to be a bit of a one man team, with Shane Watson easily the best player of the tournament so far, nonetheless, thus far at least, it has been enough.
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