ICC Twenty20 World Cup News

An outcast in international cricket, Pakistan were crowned the World Twenty20 champions after they spanked continental rivals Sri Lanka by eight wickets in a lop-sided final here on Sunday.

Younus Khan and his men gave their terror-stricken countrymen something to cheer about as they first confined Sri Lanka to 138 for six and then went on to chase down the target in 18.4 overs to put behind the heartbreak of losing the crown to arch-rivals India in the 2007 edition of the tournament.


Chasing 139, Pakistan got off to a flying start with Kamran Akmal (37 off 28 balls) taking the Lankan attack by the scruff of its neck and then Shahid Afridi (54 not out) went ballistic as the side cruised to 139 for two.

This was a memorable win for a nation which has been shunned by the visiting teams because of the volatile security situation there, resulting in their virtual isolation in international cricket.

The Sri Lankan juggernaut crushed West Indies by 57 runs in Friday's lop-sided semi-final to set up a summit clash with Pakistan in the final of the World Twenty20 at Lord's on Sunday.

Put into bat, run-machine Tillakaratne Dilshan hit a sublime unbeaten 96 to help the Lankans overcome a mid-innings collapse and post 158 for five. And when they returned to defend the total, Angelo Mathews sent down a sensational first over, claiming three crucial wickets, and West Indies could never really recover from the setbacks.

For them, Chris Gayle (63 not out off 50 balls) waged a lonely battle but none of his teammates could manage double digit score as West Indies eventually folded for 101 in 17.4 overs.

Opening the attack for Sri Lanka, Mathews emerged as the man with the golden arm with every second ball of his first over managing a deflection before crashing into the stumps.

Pakistan relied on Shahid Afridi's brilliant all-round show to stun favourites South Africa by seven runs in their semi-final match of the World Twenty20 here on Thursday.

Afridi first hit a 34-ball 51, his maiden Twenty20 half century to prop up Pakistan to 149 for 4 after electing to bat and then took two key wickets -- AB de Villiers and Herschelle Gibbs -- for 16 to guide his side to second successive final in the showpiece event.

Chasing 150 at a slow Trent Bridge pitch, South Africa choked again at the big stage after a brilliant run in the tournament, managing just 142 for five.

Veteran Jacques Kallis, who became the highest run getter of the tournament in this match, waged a lone battle with a 54-ball 64 but with little support from his other colleagues, South Africa fell short of the target.

The loss meant South Africa miss out a World Cup final yet against besides snapping their seven-match unbeaten streak in Twenty20 Internationals.

Pakistan, runners-up in the inaugural edition, were not a consistent side in the tournament but came up with their best against South Africa.

A pathetic India could not salvage their lost pride and sunk to a 12-run defeat against South Africa to end their miserable World Twenty20 campaign on a losing note here on Tuesday.

Supposedly playing for pride, India's star-studded batting order could not chase down the 153 runs that would have spared them the embarrassment of finishing the Super Eight campaign without a single win to show.

In the end, 118 was all they could manage losing eight wickets.

This was after India's disciplined bowlers -- eight of them were pressed into action -- had restricted South Africa to 130 for five on a sluggish track and the Proteas owed nearly half of their total to AB de Villiers (63) alone.

Gautam Gambhir (21) and Rohit Sharma (29) gave India a strong start but it was Yuvraj Singh's run-a-ball 25 that actually rekindled India's hopes of a win in their swansong tie before the defending champions faltered.

Ajantha Mendis spun a web around New Zealand as a clinical Sri Lanka stormed into the semifinal of the Twenty20 World Cup, thumping the Kiwis by 48 runs in a crucial Super Eight match here on Tuesday.

Mendis (3/9) ran through New Zealand's middle order to trigger a batting collapse as the Kiwis, in their pursuit of a 159-run victory target, were bundled out for 110 runs in 17 overs.

It was an abject batting capitulation by the New Zealand with just three batsmen - Martin Guptill (43 off 34 balls), Aaron Redmond (23) and Brendon McCullum (10) - managing double figures as their last eight wickets fell for just 48 runs.

Earlier opting to bat, Mahela Jayawardene struck an unbeaten 41 while Tillakaratne Dilshan's made a classy 48 to help Sri Lanka post 158 for five on the board.

Defending the total, Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara's experiment to start with Sanath Jayasuriya did not really click as Redmond got New Zealand off to a flier, picking up 14 runs of the third over.

West Indies beat England by five wickets in a rain-reduced run-chase to reach the semi-finals at the expense of the hosts.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (19 not out off 9 balls) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (17 not out off 10 balls) saw their team home in an unbeaten partnership of 37 in 20 balls after England had reduced them to 45-5.

A second shower of the evening delayed the start of the West Indies innings as they looked to chase down an original target of 162.

Play eventually got underway again at 8.25pm with the batting team set a revised total of 80 off nine overs.

Chris Gayle cut the second legitimate ball from James Anderson for four but only one more run came off the over plus, off the last ball, the bonus of a wicket.