Australia face moment of truth

The world's number one Test side have got one of the beefiest batting line-ups in the game - David Warner, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin - healthy, even in the absence of Symonds. Their bowling attack looks good on paper as well- Mitchell Johnson with his newly acquired inswinger, Nathan Bracken, the top one-day bowler on the ICC rankings, and Brett Lee form one of the meaner pace trios in the game. And their fielding has always been sharp, irrespective of the length of the game.

What, then, is with Ponting's men and Twenty20 cricket? Their record, so intimidating otherwise, gets watered down as the length of the game shrinks. In the 22 T20 internationals they have played during and since the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 championship, they have won 11 and lost 11. Not quite the stuff world champions are made of.
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Wright show keeps England alive in World T20

Victory was a necessity, after losing their opening game to the Netherlands, and the hosts duly obliged with an outstanding performance with both bat and ball.

Kevin Pietersen, who passed a late fitness test on an Achilles injury, showed how crucial his presence was as he top-scored with 58 off 38 balls in England's total of 185-5.

All of the bowlers then played their part as England boosted their run-rate sufficiently to ensure their place in the Super Eights.

Shehzad Ahmed (4) went early in the run-chase when he sliced high into the off-side and Paul Collingwood took a fine tumbling catch as he backed off from his position in the covers.
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South Africa Crush Scotland

South Africa produced an ominously clinical performance to send Scotland packing in the ICC World Twenty20, beating them by the second highest margin in this format of 130 runs. AB de Villiers cracked a classy and authoritative 79 from just 34 in South Africa's 211 for 5, the highest total of the tournament so far, before Dale Steyn and Johan Botha tore through Scotland who were rolled for 81, the seventh-lowest Twenty20 total.

This was a champion performance from one of the tournament favourites. Unlike England, who were out-thought and out-played by Netherlands in the opening match, South Africa asserted themselves from the outset to lay bare Scotland's technical flaws, not to mention their lack of experience.

Chasing a daunting 212, Scotland were reduced to a hopeless 50 for 6 at the halfway point. Steyn knocked over Ryan Watson and Colin Smith (his second first-ball duck in as many days) while Wayne Parnell removed Gavin Hamilton, who decided to open the innings. Steyn rarely reached his top pace, but he needn't have: he was quick and menacing enough to sound a warning to the other teams in the tournament. Kyle Coetzer briefly stood in South Africa's way, the only Scotland batsman to take them on, smiting Albie Morkel over long-on for two sizeable sixes to give a hearty and patriotic crowd something to cheer, but these were the last desperate runs of an innings already terminated.

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India start with a win

Yuvraj Singh dazzled with the bat before Pragyan Ojha spun a web around Bangladesh as India thumped the minnows by 25 runs to begin their title defence with a bang in the Twenty20 World Cup here on Saturday.

Ojha's four-wicket haul in his maiden Twenty20 International broke Bangladesh's back as the minnows finished at 155 for eight, a total they owe to Junaid Siddique (41) and Naeem Islam (28).

Earlier, Gautam Gambhir (50) and Rohit Sharma (36) gave India a rollicking start but it was Yuvraj's violent 18-ball 41 that propelled them to 180 for five in the Group A opener.

Chasing 181, Bangladesh began on a positive note with Tamim Iqbal (15) hitting Zaheer Khan for two successive fours and Junaid (41 off 22 balls) pulling Irfan Pathan for a six.

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