T20 World Cup.....match updates !!!!

Third day of the Super Eight contests, with South Africa scoring a facile victory over West Indies & Pakistan shocking New Zealand.

South Africa vs West Indies :

Chris Gayle won the toss & put the South Africans to bat, on a pitch, which promised to provide early swing & movement. However, openers Smith & Kallis went off to a rollicking start & smashed boundaries with disdain as the score kept piling at a brisk pace. Smith was the first to go with 54 runs on board after 6 overs & then Kallis left in the 12th over with score at 105. From here, the Proteas batting stumbled a bit as batsmen could not convert starts into a big innings. However, there was still enough willow hitting the leather as the Proteas ended up with an imposing total of 183 for 7 wickest. Gibbs had put up a sterling 55 of 35 deliveries, Smith had made a lovely 31 of just 18 deliveries & ageless Kallis stroked a brilliant 45 of 31 deliveries. The Windies had actually been superb in the field for the last 6-7 overs & did not allow the score to go past 200. What the Windies needed was fearless hitting by Gayle at the top to stay in the contention. However, the South African seemd to have done their homework well & the opening bowling attack was spot on from the first ball. Steyn & Parnell were accurate & attacking & got rich rewards in the bargain. Fletcher was out in the 2nd over & the dangerous Gayle holed out in the 4th over & the Windies were left rattled at 13 for 2. Simmons & Bravo put up some resistance for the 3rd wicket before Bravo fell with the total at 70 in the 9th over. From there on it was a losing battle as the Windies batters could not find enough boundaries to boost their total. The final score of 163 for 9 was only because of a fighting 77 of 5o deliveries by Simmons, but still way short of the target. Parnell with his accurate left arm seam had demolised the batting with 4 wickets for just 13 runs in his quota of 4 overs. he was the deserving man of the match. The South Africans are looking better & better, with semifinal slot looking almost assured.

New Zealand vs Pakistan :

Daniel Vettori returned from injury to the Kiwis squad & elected to bat after winning the toss. It seemed to be a correct decision as McCullum started with a bang in the first over, hitting two wonderful boundaries. But Abdul Razzaq, back in the Pak squad after quitting ICL, celebrated with some fine swing bowling. He first removed the dangerous McCullum in only the 2nd over of the innings & then consumed Guptill in the 6th over, as the Kiwis faltered with score reading 37 for 3 in the 6th over. Umar Gul, introduced in the 13th over was simply devastating. He cleaned the Kiwis with astonishing figures of 5 wickets for 6 runs in 3 overs. The Black Caps were bundled out for a paltry 99. None of the Kiwis could make an impression & the innings folded in the 19th over. Shocking display of batting, made the task of run chasing very easy for Pakistan, in their must win match. What New Zealand needed were a couple of big wickets early in the innings, expecting the opposition to wilt under pressure, but the total in the kitty was hardly anything & the Pakistan batting line up managed to hit the winning runs in the 14th over itself. There was a flutter in the batting camp, when three wickets fell quickly, & the score read 71 for 4 in the 10th over. But Captain Younis Khan along with Afridi took the team to a much needed victory with a 29 runs partnership & kept hopes alive of a semis berth. It was a shocking defeat for the Kiwis. They now need to get back to the drawing board & plan well, to have any scope of reaching the semis. Umar Gul, with his brilliant bowling was the obvious choice for the man of the match.

The T20 tournament has truly opened up with many possibilities of a semifinal line up. Lets look forward to some exciting cricket.