Thrill-a-minute cricket arrives
Brad Morgan
17 September 2007Whew! It's leaving cricket fans gasping for breath. The first Twenty20 World Championships is providing the International Cricket Council with some of the best marketing the game has seen, thanks to thrill-a-minute clashes and the sheer enthusiasm with which South Africans have embraced the event.
As fast-paced as the game has been out on the park, so too has the speed of the tournament been, with some sides playing on consecutive days and - as was the case in Cape Town on Sunday - the same pitch being used for two different matches on the same day.
There have been fantastic individual performances and great team performances, and one match decided by a bowl-out.
First T20 century
The records started early on, when Chris Gayle became the first player to score a T20 ton in the opening match of the tournament on 11 September. He slammed South Africa's bowlers to all parts of the Wanderers as he scored 117
from only 57 balls, including 10 sixes.
The Proteas responded with a record of their own, staging the highest successful run chase in T20 internationals as they hauled in the West Indies' 205 for 6 for the loss of only two wickets.
In Durban, the next day, in the tournament's second game, New Zealand thumped Kenya by nine wickets. The one-sided affair included an astonishing opening to the match as Kenya fell to 0 for 3, and then 1 for 4.
Mark Gillespie ended the outing with figures of 4 for 7 from his four overs.
Pakistan enjoyed a comfortable 51-run victory over Scotland in match three as both Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi captured four wickets.
Astounding victory
Then followed an astounding victory for Zimbabwe over World Cup winners Australia.
Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting, at the top of the Aussie batting order, all failed to make it into double figures. The Zimbabweans somehow managed to keep the pressure on the deep Australian batting, restricting them to 138 for 9 in their 20 overs.
Showing no fear when they took to the crease, Zimbabwe got off to a rollicking start, thanks to Vusi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor. After Sibanda departed, Taylor continued, playing an aggressive yet beautifully controlled knock to guide the minnows through to a sensational victory, sealing the win with four byes off his pads off the second-last ball.
The following day, the 13th, there was another shock in the T20's next match as Bangladesh handed the West Indies a six-wicket defeat, eliminating the Caribbean islanders from the tournament. Mohammed Ashraful was named man of the match for his sparkling 61 off only 27 deliveries.
England then stopped Zimbabwe, recording a convincing 50-run win after the southern Africans looked to be in with a shout at chasing down England's 188 for 9. They reached 74 before losing their first wicket in the ninth over, but collapsed after that to 138 for 7.
Highest score
India's match against Scotland in Durban was rained out, but the next day, the 14th, Sri Lanka and Kenya duelled in Johannesburg, where the Sri Lankans set a record for the highest score in T20 international history.
Batting first, they blasted 260 for 6 as Sanath Jayasuriya smashed 88 at two runs a ball, while Mahela Jayawardene cracked 65 off only 27 balls, and Jehan Mubarak an unbeaten 46 from just 13 deliveries.
The Kenyans folded meekly in response, tallying only 88 all out to lose by 172 runs.
Next up, Australia faced England in a must-win encounter. Ricky Ponting's men managed victory with ease. They dismissed the English for only 135 and then took a ball less than 15 overs to pass that total.
Traditional rivals' clash
India and Pakistan met in Durban in a battle between traditional rivals, with India desperately needing to win after their first game against
Scotland had been rained out.
They won, but only by the narrowest of margins as the contest went to a bowl out; a bowl out takes place when two teams tie. It requires five different bowlers to each bowl a ball, with the side that hits the wickets the most being declared the winner.
India triumphed by three hits to nil after they had scored 141 for 9 and Pakistan had replied with 141 for 7.
Sri Lanka underlined their credentials as potential titlists when they handed New Zealand a seven-wicket loss in the next match on 15 September.
They restricted the Black Caps to 164 for 7 and then, with Jayasuriya clubbing 61 off 44 balls, took victory with seven balls to spare.
In the final match of the initial group stages, South Africa won by exactly the same margin against Bangladesh, who had shocked the Proteas at the World Cup in the West Indies.
Super Eights
The following day, New Zealand, in the first match of the Super
Eights, scored a hard-fought 10-run win over India. After scoring 190 all out, they held the Indians to 180 for 9 in reply as Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori claimed man of the match honours with a haul of 4 for 20 in his four overs.
Australia then dominated Bangladesh at Newlands as they claimed a nine-wicket win. After restricting the Bangladeshis to only 123 for 8, they romped to victory with six overs and a ball to spare.
Then, South Africa, facing England on the same pitch, secured an impressive 19-run win. Batting first, the Proteas were in trouble on 94 for 6 in the sixteenth over, but Albie Morkel came to the home side's rescue, smashing four sixes in an innings of 43 off 20 balls. Two of his boundary-clearing shots were measured at in excess of 100 metres.
England, in response, came unstuck early on against Shaun Pollock, who finished with 2 for 17 off his four overs, while the Morkel brothers, Morne and Albie, further crippled England's batting effort to leave them well short at the end.
Sizzled
Through each match of the tournament the vibrancy and excitement that was missing at the World Cup in the West Indies has been on clear display.
For the International Cricket Council, the event has so far proved a massive success - just the kind of boost needed by a game regarded by many as staid and slow, even in its 50-overs-a-side format.
For hosts South Africa, it has been yet another outstanding advertisement ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
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