ICC Twenty20 World Cup News

Nuwan Kulasekara found the perfect lines and lengths for the slow and low track that the USA has dished out, and ripped the heart out of New Zealand's batting with three wickets in his first over. Although Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum, the only New Zealanders to reach double figures, avoided the ignominy of the lowest total in Twenty20 internationals, 81 was never going to test Sri Lanka even on this pitch.

The win was set up by Kulasekara's first two overs, three wickets in the first and no runs in the second. He made the necessary adjustments from the first match: everything was stump to stump, slightly short of a length, and offcutters were bowled aplenty. That the innings started with Kumar Sangakkara standing up to the stumps, with no slip in sight, said a lot about the pitch. It didn't help New Zealand that their top-order batsmen were looking to play around their front pad, and the bowlers were hardly missing. There was no bounce in the pitch to take anything over the stumps either.

How much of a shot in the arm will the World T20 title prove for English sport? Despite their renowned love of sport and their sportsmen, England has always underachieved. With the football World Cup here, TOI-Crest wonders if this will finally be their year, or will it prove just another mirage.

Success is infectious. And British sports fans are getting infected in voluminous numbers. The country's stunning success in the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean is being viewed as a good omen for England's two big team events in the next six months, the World Cup football and the Ashes, where they will play their oldest cricketing opponents, the ones they beat thoroughly last Sunday - Australia.

South Africa fought back from a difficult start to seal a two-nil victory in the Twenty20 series against West Indies on another scrappy pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

After the wretched encounter in the first game, this tense finish was a welcome change. The pitch wasn't conducive to the boundary-soaked Twenty20 cricket crowds routinely expect but it provided a low-scoring last-ball finish as South Africa edged home.

Once again there were only a smattering of spectators, with the powers that be opting to appease TV schedules around the world and stage the match in the early afternoon, rather than under lights in the evening. Those that did turn up would have been disappointed that the home-side's batsmen couldn't follow up a disciplined bowling effort that restricted South Africa to a 120, a modest total despite the pitch.

Jacques Kallis's 45-ball 53 set up South Africa's total of 136 for 7, and Ryan McLaren was gifted a five-wicket haul as West Indies sank to a 13-run defeat in the first Twenty20 at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium at North Sound. Coming in after the early dismissal of Loots Bosman, Kallis struck three sixes in his innings to take South Africa to 136 for 7 in trying batting conditions. West Indies' chase never really got going, and they were always behind the asking rate after Chris Gayle fell early, losing wickets at regular intervals thereafter.

Indeed, there was a certain staleness to proceedings with the match coming so soon after the World Twenty20 in the West Indies, and it showed in the low-intensity, sloppy performance from both sides. Add to that the abject quality of the umpiring, and the low attendance at the ground, and one was left with a distinct sense of disappointment at an international engagement that, at times, bordered on the embarrassing.

Disappointed with Australia’s loss in the summit clash of the Twenty20 World Cup, Test and ODI captain Ricky Ponting said the finals of such tournaments should be a best-of-three affair.

Australia won every match except for the all-important final in the just-concluded World Cup and Ponting said given the short format, the title should not be decided by just one summit showdown.

“I’ve always been of the belief in Twenty20 tournaments there should be a best-of-three finals. We know with the game, it can hinge on one over here and there,” Ponting told ‘Fox Sports’

“They dominated the competition all the way through ... I was disappointed for the boys; no doubt they were the best team right through the tournament but they stumbled at the last hurdle,” he added.

Craig Kieswetter struck a sparkling 63 as England were crowned World Twenty20 champions after crushing Australia by seven wickets in the summit clash to win their maiden ICC tournament title on Sunday.

Kieswetter made the much vaunted Australian bowling attack look like pedestrian with an explosive 49-ball innings which was studded with seven fours and two sixes as England chased down the target of 148 with three overs to spare in the grand finale at the Kensington Oval.

He was given able support by Kevin Pietersen who made a valuable 31-ball 47 which had four boundaries and a six in it.

The awesome pair brought the hitherto mighty Australians to their knees by stitching 111 runs from just 68 balls for the second wicket to set up the win for England.